My budget 700- 750k ( 4/2/2). We are health professionals working in public hospital and intend to move to Brisbane in next 12-18 months. We are looking at Brisbane suburbs 1. Good state primary and high school ( In Top 10) 2. Close to public hospitals 3. Suburbs with capital growth potential Have shortlisted the following suburbs 1 . The Gap - Pros - Good suburb, very good schools Cons- House prices may be bit above my budget, closest hospital is Royal Brisbane and then Prince Charles hospital- both are bit far 2. Mansfield/Mount Gravatt, Cavendish Pros - Good schools, hospitals in south for work Con - house price 3. Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills, Arana Hills Pros - affordable houses Cons - far from work ( Royal Brisbane and Prince Charles) , Okay school 4. Mcdowall- Pros - Good primary school, houses within my budget, Prince Charles hospital 4kms, 20mins to North Lakes hospital Con- No good High school. Appreciate experts view on this in a bit of dilemma. I prefer Mcdowall because of good primary school and proximity to work and there also Northside christian private college and Carigslea High school. We "might" even convert this into an investment property and move to North Lakes after 2-3 years
I think it will be really important to work out whether you will be working Northside or Southside. If working on the opposite side of the city, commuting can either get very long and tiring, or expensive (if using the toll tunnels to cut down on commute time). If you secure work at Southside Hospitals - option 2: I am thinking given your budget and the public hospital options on Southside, I think option 2 is the better option. Properties in the catchment areas are really the best option for good public school access. The catchments have some really nice areas that are family friendly and nice to live in. Any further south on the southside, and lower socio economic areas tend to impact on the overall rankings of those schools, which will make them much more desirable to live in than the further out suburbs. Of course, that might depend on what you want from the house. 4brm, 2bath, 2 car garage may be more difficult for that budget, particularly if you want it renovated as well. If possible, try to get something that has good access to the busway that goes along the South East freeway, or bus route options that feed into that busway. The busway makes commuting so much more efficient - it is as good as a train line. Buses can easily get from CBD to Garden City in 15 minutes. Suburbs with transport that use this busway will have an important tick in the box when it comes to supporting future growth potential. Good public transport options will always make a property easier to rent if you want to convert to investment property in future. Would recommend checking translink.com.au for public transport options for any house that you are looking at. There can be some pockets in suburbs where the transport options really suck. I have seen some areas where the time taken to commute to the city can be double that of suburbs further out due to the nature of the particular route, or the transport is much less frequent. The cluster of good public high school catchments you have nominated is another big tick. Upper Mt Gravatt also has large shopping centre includes an entertainment precinct (restaurants, cinemas etc), which makes it an attractive option to have nearby. Doing a search in the Cavendish Road catchment shows a few options in your price bracket: Cavendish Road State High School Catchment QLD 4121 | Domain, although some are on busy roads, or might need some work. Given your budget, I would probably keep my search across all the areas within the catchments in the schools you have mentioned. If you happen to secure jobs in Northside hospitals: My guess is that McDowall will offer the least in capital growth of the three options compared to others, because it has less of the attributes that often underpin growth compared to the other Northside suburbs you have identified. But then if it suits schooling preferences and you are happy to use the private school options for high school, perhaps factor in interest you might save on the more affordable housing options into calculations? And factoring in commute time and costs, it may also worth considering. According to this page, vacancy rates are below 1% and median gross yield is a solid 4%: Investment Property McDowall, Queensland, 4053. It also has some areas within the catchment for Craigslea, which may not be in top 10 public high schools, but is pretty close. Perhaps widen search to consider Chermside and small areas of Stafford Heights that might be in the Catchment for Craigslea? Stafford Heights has seen some reasonable growth, and increases in demand recently, although median yields seem to be a little lower and vacancy rate higher than McDowall. Has seen some funky little cafes spring up in the recent years, which is a good sign for lifestyle growth. Particularly if you could bag something with decent elevation and views. Stafford is a good basic shopping centre without pay parking, but has a cinema. Chermside Shopping Centre is also close and has had the lifestyle precinct added in recent years that make it an attractive destination. Craigslea State High School Catchment QLD 4032 | Domain Should be possible to find something in the Craigslea catchment that would also have good public transport links to Royal Brisbane - quite a few of the routes do so. Sometimes they also use tunnels or busways closer to the city. Perhaps also keep an eye out in the Kedron State High catchment? Kedron State High School Catchment QLD 4031 | Domain - less likely with your budget, but the catchment does include some areas of Stafford, and from a socio economic perspective the school catchment, it is higher than Craigslea. Some good public transport options should be available to Royal Brisbane. Ferny Hills/Ferny Grove - I have heard that Patricks Road is an very good little primary school, but it is slightly further to Northside Christian College than McDowall. I think that Ferny Grove may be a public high school that will be up and coming in the future, but isn't in the top 10-15 yet. With the train and proposed redevelopment of the train station, I think there are some better potential than McDowall. Train only takes about 25 minutes to get into city. I think these suburbs offer some good value for money give these fundamentals. But I would only buy in spots handy to the train station (within 900 metres). However, Ferny Hills/Ferny Grove is not so handy to public hospital options for work. Although, if working at Prince Charles, google shows it can be about 16-20 minutes, and the route is across horizontally on the northside, rather than heading directly into or out of the city. This might mean that congestion at peak times may impact, but might not be as bad as if you were having to head with the general flow of traffic at peak times. Note that Craigslea appears on the top 14 public high schools in this list: Top Public High Schools in Brisbane - 2019 However, Ferny Grove High is ranked higher than Craigslea on this list of OP 1-5: Top Public High Schools in Brisbane - 2019 The Gap - I love it, but definitely not so handy for commuting to the public hospitals given your situation. You may already have it, but this map is handy for looking at catchments: School Catchment Maps
Do you really need 4 bedrooms or just plenty of space? I think Mansfield will only continue to go up! https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/na...rant-and-retail-precinct-20191015-p530s6.html Might be in your budget. 13 Danina Street, Mansfield, Qld 4122 There has been strong demand for the past couple of years and I can't see it slowing down. I made some enquiries for my mum to sell a couple of years ago but she's changed her mind but the agents still keep me up to date.
A friend has just listed in Mansfield (4x2x2). In the catchment for good schools I’m sure they will sell fairly quickly. Her children didn’t go to the local school (were already at another school).
If you intend to work within the Southsides Hospital area's then maybe come within walking distance.. Inner-South-side ..Annerley 4103x Dutton Park xYeronga .. All the above would be within your price range ,if i was starting out again then Annerley --one side is all knock-down development ,the hill river side is still queens-landers walking distance if you like walking to the Mater and various other hospitals within that area ..Plus there is a massive new school being built at Dutton Park with the slabs just starting to go down..Big selection of public private schools within that small area and further down the road in your life for your family walking distance to the Q-uni ..imho..
