VIC PPOR Suggestions - Young Family, Eastern Suburbs

Hi all,

This is my first post here (just created my acct), although I've read quite a few posts.

Here are the parameters I'm working within, and I'm open to any suggetions.
Budget: ~$1.5m maximum

Requirements:
- East Melbourne Metro (currenty renting in Ashburton)
- Near-ish a train line (a 5-10min bike ride is fine)
- Good schools nearby
- Close to a cafe and small strip of shops (10-15min walk)
- Flat house, (pref. weatherboard, but that's a nice to have)
- Near-ish the Monash freeway


I was looking in Mt Waverley and was close to making an offer on one, but the lockdown brought the auction forward and NAB still haven't fully approved my application for finance... so I don't want to risk bidding without.
(FWIW: I'm self employed with some complex financials, so it has taken them a LONG time)

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks to all in advance.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm probably being precious, but catching the bus makes me nauseous. The motion sickness gets to me. For some odd reason, the train is fine though.
City access without a car is critical. Most of my roles are in the city or nearby, and I don't want to add $10k/yr living expenses to drive to work and back.

 

Anywhere near mount waverley station is good and fits your parameters, nice strip of shops near station, good bike path that starts at jordanville station through ashwood and eventually connects to the monash fwy bike track and anniversary trail. Flat blocks would be south of station or along wadham parade but may be outside of your price range, you may be able to get something on a slightly sloped land - 12 Bruce St or if you move further up north closer to the high school there are some really nice views being on top of the hill.

Otherwise as Yman suggested, Koonung is one of the best up and coming public high schools with a $5-6m rennovation grant from government (won the Age high school award this year for eastern suburbs). If you go Mont Albert, there is a nice strip of shops with wine bars/bakeries/cafes on Belmore rd, mont albert station and surrey hills station - but not much up for sale at present. Good bike paths in area too. Be tough to find much within your price range unless you push towards mont albert north (check out orchard cres and belgravia ave, top streets) or box hill north (some very nice streets and some not so much, used to be quite an undesirable area but is cleaning up). Not very close to Monash freeway but close to Eastern fwy which is better if need quick access to city as it is entirely free to use and will be upgraded/including the surrounding bike paths.

If you dont need the train at all then Balwyn North (if you are lucky) or ESDC zones (should find plenty of options) could work. Both have plenty of rapid express lane bus services to all parts of the cbd.

If you are looking for old school california bungalow style weatherboards, then they may be hard to find in these areas. I've seen some around box hill south within your budget.

 

Thanks all, they're very helpful responses. I really should have posted here sooner...

For some added info, this is the property I was interested in:
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-mount+waverley-133982254

It's near the freeway, which is why I wasn't 100% on it yet. That and finance stood in the way. The change of auction dates gave me an answer to that one anyway.


Also - I can up the budget some more if anything is really appealing. $1.5m is more of a self-imposed maximum.
I used to live in Surrey Hills, so I'm familiar with the surrounding suburbs. Will check out Mont Albert too as suggested, once the lockdown is over and some more stock becomes available.

 

Nice looking house, area is pretty good been for walks there a few times, also has a nice bike/trail path and close to a pretty popular cafe Stanley. Might be in Ashwood high school zone though.

In terms of being close to freeway, it looks to be slightly shielded from the noise being below the freeway level, so shouldn't be too bad. It will be pretty hard to gauge what the base noise level would be in peak traffic at present due to lockdowns, but other factors such as wind direction on the day would need to be factored into the noise you are experiencing when inspecting (noise may also come from ferntree gully rd) and best to do a test at night also when all is quiet. Unfortunately these roads will attract many trucks which are the main culprits!

Another thing to consider is that the nearest primary school is right next to the freeway and looks to lack any natural barriers to deflect, the dust and pollution.

 

Yes, this was part of my concern. I went by on two mornings at ~8:30am (granted its lockdown) and measured sound levels. Roughly the same as my current house, which is 900m away from the freeway. Although it was done on my phone, so who knows how accurate that is.

On the Ashwood school zone - I am more concerned about primary school at this point. If high school fits as well, great. Otherwise I'm happy to rent the required residence for a year or two come highschool years (9 years away) and qualify that way. So long as the highschool isn't too far away by car.
That said, Mt Waverley Heights is not as good as other schools in Mt Waverley, so that's something to factor in.

 

Just following up - my apologies, I should have clarified what type of school in my initial post.

That said, I still appreciate all the responses. Very, very useful.

 

Very nice looking property.

Just be aware that in that spot - difficult for freeway access to the city as no inbound freeway entrance at Huntingdale Rd, would either need to get to Warragul Rd or go back to Forster Rd to head inbound.
Otherwise cycle to Jordanville Station for train access as mentioned.

Good luck.

 

That's a gorgeous house. Love it

 

Having looked at and lived in multiple Eastern and South Eastern inner Melbourne suburbs and also looked at both 'quality of life' and 'appreciation of asset value and rental in long term' here are my views on your ask.
Good public schools, peaceful neighbourhoods, connectivity through major arterial roads and stations, walking distance to supermarkets (Woolies/Coles/Bunnings) and good cafes define the 'always in demand' suburbs. In the budget that you have (within 1.5M) you will get wonderful houses in a very very good (second best in Victoria) public primary school zone and walking distance to supermarkets (Woolies/Bunnings), cafes, stations (Oakleigh/Huntingdale/Southland).

The location you need to look at is Oakleigh South (these streets - Berryl Ave, Terrigal Ave, Golf Road, Delia St, Delos St, Devoy St, Bossington St, Joyce Ave, Bakers Rd).

As an example check this - https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-oakleigh+south-134106630

 

How much did that go for? its gorgeous

 

Interesting insights! You have narrowed it to a very tight pocket.

It would be great to hear what other suburbs you have lived in and why this one trumps them all.
I.e. where would one go for a leisurely walk or a decent feed without getting into a car?
Where do you see prices and yields in 10 years time?
Also what would be your plan B and C if nothing comes up for sale?

 

I have lived in Ormond, Caulfield South, Hughesdale and Ashburton amongst other suburbs. Rented in all these places and finally decided to buy in Oakleigh South for the Oakleigh South primary school which has been consistently getting top scores for last 6 years. Probably only one of of two primary public schools in Victoria. There is very high demand for this school zone and so a rush of first home buyers and investors (for rental in the school zone). There are plenty of hikes and parks around. Not to mention 3 golf courses. This is a blue chip suburb where there is always demand...so rest assured price will only go up (may not be like new developing suburbs but value for money).

 

This is on sale - auction coming up later this month.

 

Says under offer