HEllo Guys,
I am moving to Sydney soon and I thought may be I should ask the fellow OPs in Sydney, if they can suggest a cheap rental place in Sydney. I am going to work in Sydney CBD and I am looking for a 2bedroom apartment, my threshold for rent is around $450 - Would I be able to find a nicer suburb where I can be in the city in less than 25 minutes?
Regards
You'll freak out at the prices for Chippendale right now…
It was 5 years ago, $280/wk for a 1 bedroom apartment with undercover parking. On Cleveland street just in front of Mundine's boxing gym.
2 bedroom apartment for $450 less than 25 mins away? Good luck. Really…
Maybe now in Waitara or Hornsby like 45 mins away. It's okay area.. bit far away.
What about strathfield ? It's only 25 mins away from the city by train and the apartments usually cheap but the area not that great, I prefer burwood but the prices there really high
Advantage of living in Strathtfield is the express trains direct to the city. Also a few handy restaurants near by.
Personally, I think Strathfield is good if you are Korean.
Otherwise… very average.
I'm also looking at similar prices. :)
Moving back to Sydney after a 2 yr stint in Perth.
I'd suggest Petersham, Ashfield, Stratfield and Burwood. If OP looks hard enough, he/she should be able to find a place.
The problem is if you are looking for a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom there are heaps of them under thr price range … As soon as you put the selection to have 2 bathrooms/toilets … The search goes kaput!!!
Could look for a Sydney granny flat on Gumtree (near the beach and commute). Usually includes electricity but on street parking.
I dont have any suggestions on where to live, except as donga100 said it is definitely worth considering what public transport is available, and the cost comparisons of living close to/far away from the city. This website may assist in general information about what individual suburbs have to offer http://www.cityhobo.com/index.php; transport info is at at 131500.com.au. Unfortunately rental in Sydney is not cheap. All the best - Sydney has a lot to offer.
I would also consider living somewhere with more than one transport option, particularly as the trains are so often affected by the weather (I live on the North Shore with great buses, but not a cheap area to live). See for example today's train problems http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/delays-hit-sydney-train-network-20…
With all due respect, I would have to disagree. I lived on the north shore for 20 years. I have since moved to the inner west and Inner city. The North Shore's transport should be described as patchy at best [this variates greatly form suburb to suburb]. I loved living there but the lifestyle costs did not outweigh the pleasantries.
Is west really bad to live in? Like lidcombe or westmead or homebush?
That's not really the west. Those suburbs are still quite nice. West is like Penrith, Blacktown, Liverpool, Cabramatta
I live in Homebush West, its quite convenient to get to the city from there. 25 minutes train ride and short walk to the station. However, it's not one of the prettier suburbs. There are a lot of units for lease.
3 years ago, i rented in Annandale, $500/week for a terrace home. Not sure what the prices are like now but its a very convenient place to live. Walk out to Parra road for a 10 min bus ride to central.
Look at Alexandria,rosebery,mascot,wollicreek,rockdale,kogarah.
All within your budget and 25 min or less from city
Mascot is abit pricey kogarah is nice … Is there express train there??
I heard sydney is also zoned out by cultures? Is that correct too? So suburbs like hurtville is more asian oriented and others cannot live there?
Same goes for Harispark or granville all indian oriented?
The so called enclaves are natural, people let the media restrict them out of those suburbs. Most ethnics are great people, its their confused kids that are generally a problem… like all kids really. Having said that ethnics kids are generally more respective of older people.
Those suburbs don't really evolve much, because the younger folks move on/are westernised. Notice all the ethnics criminals speak English…
Your 450 limit is quite tight. If you really want that nice suburb, I hope you're fine with a tiny apartment.
You didn't mention if you need a car spot? That add 50-100 per week
You need to pay extra for a car spot? I would assume its included in your appartments rent? I just want to spend $450 tops for a decent size appartment its just me and my wife anyway… Will buy something better once i am there… Dont want to waste money on rent … I can afford upto 600 but i dont want to pay that much and extra $200 a week is 10,000 a year saving …
It is, I'm just saying you'll be looking at more. 450 without carspot might be possible, with you'll need to 'give up' something
It depends.
Some owners will lease out their apartment and car spots separately.
IN GENERAL, if you're the sole tenant renting an apartment, you should get car spot as well.
Try not to assume anything.
I have my Kogarah two br unit rented through the same local agent for the past ten years. It is a security block of 12 units in Guinea street with a one and half size LUG. The unit is very sizable with around 100 sqm total space. The agent has only very recently increased the rent to $385. BTW, walking distance is only 5 mins to the station.
Isn't your train time to the City really long
20 minutes max from Kogarah to city
That does make teapot's description really attractive…
How's noise from the flight path?
didnt the recent train time table changes screw over kogarah?
no more express?
No flights go over kogarah area.
Yea i have been lookin at Kogarah area… Find it pretty nice
Maybe i should contact u for the bedroom lol
Revesby has express trains that take 25 minutes to Central. Not a huge number of apartments around though.
start out by doing a mega search on domain and filter by 500 or less.
homebush/Strathfield/burwood/croydon/ashfield have loads of 2 bedders for 450 or less. they're all around 20-30mins depending on distance from the train station.
lidcombe/auburn is 30-40m will be bigger/better but is DODGEY.
consider the north shore. north sydney, chatswood, artarmon, cremorne, crows nest, st leonards. very small but sneaky 2 bedders pop up and are snapped up quickly.
Actual city? Nope. doesnt exist. $450 gets you a studio or a meth den.
maybe in the inner city like newtown/alexandria/redfern if youre lucky. but it wont be pretty for $450…
homebush/Strathfield/burwood/croydon/ashfield
I tried finding props under 450 nothing :(
The problem is if you are looking for a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom there are heaps of them under thr price range … As soon as you put the selection to have 2 bathrooms/toilets … The search goes kaput!!!
is the need for 2 bathrooms a definite?
2 bathrooms in a 2 bedder are pretty rare in itself
they usually go out at a premium and get sub leased to overseas students
Yeah this is an odd requirement for a couple - care to explain? Drop a bathroom and a car space.
The op hasn't stated that has he?
I don't know why manno has mentioned it twice
Manno is the OP.
haha,
Ok ok i ll mention it … I expect my parents might come and live with us for sometime during the year ad that is driving the extra bathroom/toilet :)
How long would they be staying with you? If it's for a week, it might be worth paying for a studio apartment at places like Quest Apartments and put them there instead. The $1500 you might be out of pocket (my guesstimate) could still be better than paying extra rent or choosing a place that is less convenient for your lease period.
Atleast 5 months in a year
only way your going to stay under budget would be to house share, get something bigger and closer to the city.
I signed a lease on the 2 br apartment I live in now in Hurstville just two months ago at $500 pw. We have 1.5 bathrooms, 2 balconies, and a car bay and it's about 8 min walk to the station. Hurstville is a very convenient place to live with shops, restaurants and transport all close at hand. Unfortunately some of the people here unfortunately don't take much pride in their neighbourhood and so it's not as clean as it could be. We also saw this when we were viewing apartments as some of them were in terrible condition.
Last place we lived was St Leonard's where we also paid $500 (contract signed Aug 2012) but only had a 1 br apartment. It's a nice area but beware of the helicopters that regularly fly in and out of the Royal North Shore Hospital on Herbert St at all hours of the day and night as they are hugely noisy.
Hurstville to city by train = 25 min
St Leonards to city by train = 12 min
My friend just separated from his wife and needed an affordable place to live. He moved from Artarmon to Hurstville. He describes it as being a dirtier version of Chatswood.
But if you can look past first impressions it's really not bad at all. Fantastic asian food, especially dumplings!
Sorry to info you but Cheap-Sydney = OXYMORON
Had anyone lived at Campsie?
As of now i am lookijg at following options
1- westmead
2- homebush
3- lidcombe
How soon should i start applyin if i want the house by end of feb?
all three area are rubbish and far from the city. sounds like you want something more trendy living closer to the city. try innerwest on a bus line.
Yeah, you could also try Marrickville if you don't mind living too closely under the flight path.
Close to 550 a week … :(
Again people differ in opinion massively. Some people say its nice … Some people say its the west….
I've lived in Westmead and Lidcombe and I'd say they're better than some areas closer to the city.
Lidcombe - 35 mins to city by train. Trains quite frequent (as close as 5 mins apart). Lots of nice restaurants, shops and Dooley's club. Mix of people but Korean dominated. I'd consider that a good thing. They're nice people and seem to keep to themselves. Station is always busy well into the night. Never had a problem when I was there. However, did hear of several instances of bag snatching. All from Lebanese Youths from Auburn targeting women who were walking alone. Nice pub near the station.
Westmead - Station can get quiet especially at night. Nothing to see except for the hospital, subway and a few fast food shops. Quite boring. No problems when I was there but have read of people being robbed at knife point in the paper from time to time.
Homebush - Trains from lidcombe seem to skip Homebush. Station always seems deserted. 1 or 2 more shops than Westmead but nothing great. Station area can get pretty dark and quiet as well. Haven't lived there but seems like there are better places to rent.
I'd recommend looking at Marrickville too. I've lived and worked there as well.
more like 19-26 minutes by train
Also how quick should i start looking? I will be getting 1 month free accomodation…. Would that be enough to find a rental property?
one month should be enough, however it is a tough market at the moment, so maybe you should just try a little earlier or at least have a list prior to coming to sydney.
like my previous comment if your by yourself and not with a partner, think about a large apartment or house and just share the rent. if you like privacy then go it yourself, probably happier for it as i couldnt share with anyone.
gumtree for share rentals is pretty good.
I cant go for shared rental … Would prefer privacy :)
Completely respect that. It is quite challenging (and a bit ghettolike) I'd imagine. Especially for a couple.
Any particular reason why you can't go 1 bedroom?
What about Belmore? 25 mins to the city and well within your price range.
Is there a train around there?
Belmore is next to Campsie. More trains stop at Campsie, I think. Belmore neighbourhood seems nicer, but you might find yourself shopping in Campsie more.
Seldom do any fast trains skip Belmore but stop campsie (after new time table)
2 trains every 15 minutes during peak. 25 minutes to Central. Nice suburb on its way up.
What about Ryde/West Ryde/ Meadowbank in an older style unit?
I live in Sutherland and 2 bedroom units are about $400+ … its about 35mins to the city, but trains leave almost every 5 mins
fellow OPs in Sydney?
OP= original poster, theirs only one opening post so your pretty much asking yourself. Gotta get your head around the internet slang :P.
OP oops i thought it meant ozpal :$ or ozbargain Pal my apologies
No need to apologize. It's all good :P
It's quite funny that you think we're all pals :-D i like it.
you could also look at the bus lines - some quick rides into the city on the Dulwich Hill, Ashfield, Croydon Park or alternative bus routes.. there are alternatives to the train contrary to the popular belief of 'trains the way to go' :)
I was trying to find a TWAY map couldnt find one, i guess busses would be more consistent than trains? My work is next to town hall station…. Can someone point me to the map for TWAY please :)
What's TWAY?
Buses are WAY less consistent than trains. If you're next to Town Hall, go with trains (although a lot of buses do stop at Town Hall, some don't).
I'm biased though. I couldn't imagine catching the bus every day. Screw that.
t-way…mainly exists out west
basically a permanent bus lane
does exist everywhere, stick with trains
Oh ok. I've lived in Sydney all my life and have never heard of it, so basically it must be in shit areas.
Hillsdale & Kingsford is a pretty decent area, though its near government housing and the neighborhood is pretty hit and miss but it is cheap and close to nearly everything you would want. CBD, shopping centres, bus stops, beaches.
Public housing - you meant Hillsdale? Certainly one of cheapest suburbs to live in the south-eastern Sydney. However the housing is a bit run down there, and only 391/392 buses to the city.
Kingsford is much better, and lots of regular buses around 9 ways. More expensive though.
450 isn't going to get you anything in Kingsford, maybe a one bath one and a half bedder far from transport.
Suburbs around UNSW are inflated because of their proximity.
A lot of people in this thread who either don't live in Sydney or haven't looked for a place in a very long time. Suburbs like Waterloo, Kingsford, Chippendale are way out of your range.
To get to the city in 25 minutes you are basically looking at a place near a train station. Buses are f##ked during peak hours e.g. from Macquarie Park bus can take anywhere between 25 and 50 minutes depending on the time.
So look at the map of train lines and go from there. Stations between Newtown and Strathfield are a good place to start. Exclude Newtown of course, and Strathfield is a long shot too at that price.
Then look at the line going through Kogarah. Sydenham Rockdale etc. These two lines are your best bet.
Stretch your commute time by another ten minutes and a lot of places open up. Sutherland. Parramatta surrounds - Harris Park etc. Hornsby.
As for suburbs being segregated based on ethnicity, it depends on your own comfort level. For me, within half an hour of the city I wouldn't really care. And frankly, in a place like Sydney, it's a crying shame if you look for a place to live where people look like you. The issue if you go out west is more high crime rates, and those crimes usually affect everyone.
Anyway, the bottomline is any place within half an hour of the city you really shouldn't care about whether a suburb is Indian or Korean or Chinese or whatever.
How about Waterloo? Close to city by bus maybe 10 mins top. But not sure u can get rent at that price. Prices been increasing like Sydney in general but more so in Waterloo due to new developments.
No way he'd get a place in that range. Waterloo is a boutique suburb now, you're looking at 600+ for a 2 bedder.
Eh? Its easy to find a one bedroom studio for around $500 or less a week in inner Sydney ex the CBD. I saw some at Bondi Junction for less than $400 earlier this week:
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-studio-nsw-bondi+junct…
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-nsw-bondi+ju…
Good for you but he clearly said he wants 2 bed 2 bath
Yea i am lookig for a 2 bed 2 bath and i know its slightly pushing … Couldnt find any under 25 mins of city commute zzz i have to push the time upto 35 minutes to get something …
Also what about the rental references etc? Can i get my friends to do that considering i havent rented in last 7 years … Also move from melbourne to sydney would they consider melbourne references?
Thirdly they want me to visit the property before i even pply for it .. Cant i just apply it by lookig at the pics?
I currently live in Alexandria and work in the city. It's 2 train stops from the city, 10 mins drive, and with walking too/from each station, it's just under 1/2 hour in. My place is a 1 bedroom loft and would probably rent for $450.
Factoring in everything else, unless you live right on top of a station and work right on top of one, living in Sydney you'll spend closer to an hour travelling each way each day. That's the cost of living here. Take a book/iPad/portable gaming device and you'll soon get used to it. In some ways I miss having 1/2 hour on the train, it was great unwind/reading time.
You'll never get 2 bed, two bath close to city for $450. I have a studio in Newtown that fetches >$450. A 2 bed place won't be cheaper than $650 and you'll never get 2 bath for that price.
Best to search with 2 bed, 2 bath and then deal with the suburbs you end up with.
I used to live in Chippendale which is 5-10 minutes walk to Central Station. Not exactly a "nice" area due to the drug addicts and other vagrants but cheap rent and convenient location. If you are working in the CBD try to factor in how much you spend per week on public transport and commute time by living further outside the city. If you spend $50 per week on public transport you may as well spend an extra $50 per week on rent to live in the city.