Hi,
Moving to Canberra - What are your suburb recommendations?
Have a car, so will not necessarily be relying on public transport.
Want somewhere quiet & safe.
Prefer to live in a house rather than in an apartment.
Budget~$680 (2+ bedrooms)
Any and all recommendations welcome.
Current listings
https://m.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-between-0-67…
Taking out the apartments, theres a couple in Ainslie, Campbell, Reid, Turner and Narrabundah Id look at.
Good transport, local shops, close to Civic etc.
If you prefer to live in a house then basically anywhere that isn't Braddon, some parts of gungahlin and inner belconnen.
$680 should get you 2 bedrooms in any of the less expensive suburbs (ie not inner south - Yarralumla/Deakin/Griffith etc, and not inner north - downer, O'Connor, Turner etc). Tuggeranong (ie Fadden and everything south of it) will get you the most for your money, Gungahlin is reasonably priced too but places are newer so could be a little more expensive than Tuggers. Queanbeyan is even cheaper but you need a car even more than anywhere else as it takes forever to get to Canberra by bus from there.
If you have a car, you can live anywhere. The whole city is traversable top to bottom in 45 minutes. The market is fierce so you will generally have to take what you can get. But apply near where you're working to start with.
For $680 pw, house, 2+ you be heading away from the city. Best bet would be Gungahlin/Tuggeranong try allhomes.com.au
For any property you like the look of, also look at a few of the properties on either side and behind. Use google maps at the very least if you cant see in person. Neighbours can make your life hell. So look for maintained properties/yards, and are not an eyesore.
Which area from your experience is the safest/ quietest? I don't mind going a bit over 680 or even an apartment if its good.
I keep hearing horror stories about Tuggerong & Dickson & Phillip etc. I don't know which suburbs are bad and I really don't want to find out first-hand.
Your horror stories are bit old, places has change and good luck finding a house in Dickson lol
Dickson used to had lots of trust houses, government demolished them all and spread the people around the territory.
Do you know where they were moved to (i know around the territory, but any specific places have a higher percentage?)
Im not sure, but they were spread around, which is actually good thing but not good if you are the neighbours for some, one near me was a nice family, but messy in front yard.
Canberra is a beautiful place and most parts are quiet (with the exception of areas immediately adjacent to public housing). I own in the inner north because I love the proximity to Civic, the boho lifestyle and the tree lined streets. But it’s not cheap and finding a house to rent there will be a battle. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be bored witless in the burbs and spend all your time in inner city anyway. Might as well bite the bullet and stump up an extra $100 per week. Will make a world of difference.
Charnwood.
But in all seriousness, it has a reputation, yes - but it's a fantastic, convenient and cheap suburb.
Belconnen area - Aranda and Cook are nice
Weston Creek - Anywhere except Rivett. Duffy is nice but too close to Molonglo (Wright, Coombs etc) which is an absolute hole
Inner south - Avoid Narrabundah as you won't know which is the nice part and which is the rough part
Woden Valley - most of it is nice
Tuggeranong - Fadden and some of Kambah is nice
At the end of the day, move to an area that has school/work/facilities that match what you need. Sign a 12 month lease and after you live here for a year, you will know where you should go to.
Yield is notoriously low in ACT so a lot of landlords do not put a lot of money into their properties so the investment is worthwhile.
Barton