QLD Where to buy if looking for good school catchment in Brisbane City Council.

Hi All,

I am looking for OP around 750-850K. I don’t mind any sub but need to be in good school catchments.

any suggestions

thank you in advance

 

I agree with Wylie. More info needed to be able to provide input.
Is there a minimum size for the home. Renovator or does it need to be move in ready?
Are there commuting factors that need considering? Is walkability, good public transport important?

I would probably focus on the higher ranking high schools if you are looking at public catchments, even if your kids are in primary school. It is getting very expensive and difficult to get into the higher ranking high schools. And generally, if the high schools are good in an area, the local primary schools in the same area tend to be pretty good.

Domain has a great option where you can search for property for sale in specific school catchments, which makes it easier to get a feel for the stock available and asking prices in those areas.

I did some research for a couple who were clients of my husband in mid 2019. Good school catchment was the highest priority for them. Some of my observations from back then may assist.

Brisbane State High is a state school that selects on academic merit, so is always on top of the list of public high schools. But super expensive inner city real estate.

Kelvin Grove, Indooroopilly, and Cavendish Road are also expensive if you want a decent sized house in good condition. Kelvin Grove probably the most expensive of these three catchments. Might be doable on the budget if willing to make some compromises such as not in premium street, a renovator.

Catchments for Mansfield State High, Mt Gravatt and The Gap State High School and Kenmore might offer more options. Middle ring suburbs.

I am in The Gap, and love it. Lots of parks, very leafy. I think it offers such great value compared to the nearby suburbs Ashgrove, Paddington, Red Hill and Bardon. There can be a lot of variance in pockets within the suburb, size of land, condition and style of house. So prices can be hard to get a feel for because they can vary so much.

Kenmore State High includes some areas of Moggill and Bellbowrie in its catchment. I suggested these suburbs to my husband's clients. They had a significantly lower budget than yours and wanted large, lowset, modern home (Asian family with parents likely to stay with them). Commuting and access to city might be a downside due to it being in a bit of a pocket and buses likely to need to use Moggill Rd during peak hour. But for them this was not a concern, and there was no other suburb that could compete on value for money. The ended up buying a house in Moggill and love the suburb. Very family friendly, peaceful, low crime rates.

 

Thank you for

Thank you for points out those questions.
Looking for public school for pre-years 12

house prefers bricks house

transfer is not a big deal as both of us have cars but prefers to have buses near by for kids in the future.

 

I am not familiar with the gap but this is one of sub which I have considered. I researched a bit but there is not many houses available to compare with. However, I will definitely include those sub you have mentioned and do research again.

 

Yes, not a lot of houses on the market in The Gap to allow good comparisons at the moment.

Rental options are usually quite limited as well. Which is a shame, because otherwise would suggest renting to get to know an area before committing, particularly at a time when it is likely to be a fairly subdued market for a while.

Below the 800k mark was motoring along very nicely with homes selling quickly at the beginning of the year. But then Coronavirus restrictions hit, and I think a lot of people who may not need to sell have pulled out from selling right now.

I went to one of the first OFIs since the lock down today. Not packed, but I think in the 10 minutes I was there, there were 4 other couples there. Usually September is when it gets busy with more buyers looking with an eye to getting into the catchment. So will be interesting to see how the next few months play out.

I have noticed an uptick in more agents emailing me with properties before they hit the market. I think some potential sellers are more tentative and want to test the waters a little before they decide whether to properly list.

So if you investigate the area more and like it, I would recommend getting to know some agents and get on their mailing list. Let them know you are serious, give them an idea of what you are looking for, and the good ones should loop you in on some off-the market listings or listings before they go to market.

Ray White and Harcourts seem to have the majority of the listings, and have some agents who are long term locals.

 

Brick - Inner city like Kelvin Grove have a lot less brick - more timber and tin.

I don't know a lot about Mansfield and Upper Mt Gravatt, but have the impression there are is a higher proportion of brick houses, with some timber as well. The Gap and Kenmore does have a mixture of Brick and timber. A lot from 1960s and 1970s. Some pockets have 80s and 90s era houses - those tend to be brick more often.

Moggill and Bellbowrie have a much larger proportion of brick homes due to more recent subdivisions in the 80s onwards.

All primary schools in The Gap are in The Gap State High catchment. If looking in The Gap, look to the primary school catchments of The Gap State School and Hilder Rd. I have friends with kids in Payne Rd, who love it and whose kids have blossomed there (very small school). But the other 2 have tight catchments and have higher rankings. Payne Rd currently doesn't have such issues with tight catchments.

There is also a little pocket of The Gap - East of the golf course, that might even be in the very highly regarded Ashgrove State School catchment, and has brick houses because it is a more recent subdivision. Pender St area. Check Floodwise report though - it is close to some creeks.

Transport with the middle ring suburbs can vary a lot, depending on which pocket of the suburb you are in. I can highly recommend having good public transport options close by when you have teenagers. It is great to have them not so dependent on you driving them everywhere. We have a high frequency bus stop 200m from us, and it has mostly been worth the compromises we made with this house for convenience over some of the other more appealing features of other houses we saw in our hunt. Always easy to check options using Translink or even google maps.

Also should make sure kids can walk to high school easily, or there are good public transport options. Life is so much easier not having to battle the school traffic and drop off points when school is an easy walk away.