House hunting in south-east melb

So we have starting house hunting! :dance: We are finding it very overwhelming and nerve-wracking and at times, depressing. We are first home buyers so we really feel like amateurs! We are currently living in the Caulfield area but unfortunately to buy around here is not within our budget so we are looking a little further away.

Can anyone tell me about Dingley Village, Keysborough, Aspendale Gardens or Patterson Lakes? Alternatively, what about beachside...Aspendale, Edithvale or Chelsea? What are selling points of these suburbs? I am so tied as to whether I want to live near the beach but have a smaller house, or have a larger and newer house and live more inland :dunno:

We went to see the display homes at Waterways today and they were so lovely...BUT they have a "no cats" rule because of the wildlife! *cry*! We are cat lovers so this meant no deal :(

Anyway, any advice and information (pros and cons) on the aforementioned suburbs would be greatly appreciated :)

We live in heatherton near Dingley

its lovely and its not far from the beach! and southland lol

gl darls

Thanks NurseKobeh, I hadn 't thought of Heatherton. I just had a look on the net for houses in the area but there aren't many for sale at the moment. Will keep an eye out though!

Any other experiences/advice/info of the other suburbs? :)

Keysborough is quite and old suburb. - the new area where they have built an estate actually used to be old stock yards for cows and sheep and also was quite an industrial area too (Grendas bus service and other businesses have set up in the area too)....having said that it is close to Parkmore shopping centre as well as maybe a 10min drive to Dandenong....if i had the choice though, i would look at the beachy subs!

we live in chelsea & i love it. it does get busy around the beach & shops on hot days, but we live maybe a 15 minute walk from the beach & i have no idea that it's busy unless i go to the shops. there's buses & the train (also a 15 minute walk), heaps of parking for the train if either of you need to commute to the city.

there are quite a few primary schools around & there's a great park with lots of new play equipment, bbqs etc. there's also a bike path if you guys are into cycling.

edithvale & aspendale are quite similar, they just have smaller shopping strips - but they're all so close to each other, it doesn't matter.

aspendale gardens is nice. but i do prefer being in an older suburb - i feel like a car would be more necessary in AG than it is in chelsea (although we do both have cars).

it's great for walking with a pram too cos it's flat :lol:

Hi I am interested in this discussion, we are currently starting looking at buying something around Edithvale, Chelsea, where DH grew up, starting prices for 2 bedroom units/apartemnts does anyone have any idea or a small house 2/3 bedroom house????

SIL lives in Aspendale Gardens and its really nice - local shops close, and public transport not far away.
MIL lives in Keysborough - to me its a bit too far out, but I guess now with Eastlink its good!
I have good friends in Chelsea and they LOVE it!
Can you tell I used to live in Melb? :lol:

Thanks guys! Well we are inspecting a few places in Chelsea, Aspendale Gardens and Patterson Lakes this week. Chelsea is looking a good choice at the moment!

Last week we inspected a house in Dingley and it was so lovely. It was under offer already though and the price we were willing to pay was a little under their asking price. BUT today the real estate agent called and said the previous offer fell through and that they now want our offer in writing! I'm stressing out! I don't know if we should just go for this one because it's such a nice house, needs nothing done to it, but location wise we'd prefer near the beach and train line, and this is not. But if we keep looking we will miss this one and then might not find another one as good :( However, this won't be our "forever" house, so it's not the end of the world if we aren't near the beach or train. We only plan on living in this house for about 4 years and then moving somewhere (yet to be determined) ideal for us when DS starts school.

What to do?! Keep looking or make formal offer?? :o

we currently are renting in springvale... I wouldn't buy here but we are up near mulgrave and in a really nice quiet crt with a park at the end of the street so love it for now. DH and I would love to buy in Dingley as it has such a community feel about it. I love going down to the cafe there on a sunday morning. There is a phenomenal vet in dingely village who we use. (seriously amazing guy) We just love the fact whenever we drive past there are families out walking their dogs with there prams.. It just seems like a really nice family suburb..

I think Dingley is a nice area - if you love the house put an offer in! :)

Thanks Mrs Hendo and sneakysparkle :)

We are going to inspect it again tomorrow just to help make up our minds.

blackduckies, from what I've seen in the area, you're looking at $400k plus. For $400-$500k you will most likely find units/townhouses but there are some houses too. For $500-$550, there are a lot more.

carrum downs is nice. can still get a good sized house/block. fairly green and leafy too. only downer is public transport. but seaford station isnt too far off. plus they're haveing a bit of a boom around here with houseing estates. not sure if it helps but the industrial area around here is growing and it looks like they'll have the bi-pass to Mc crae here soon(ish) too. and i've seen a fair few houses for sale round near my place as well...it seems that carrumdowns is becoming the place for new familys ...but if its too far out...

Dingley is nice. i grew up there. its got alot of change in the wings atm, but all of it good (so my father said who heard it from some one down the shops :rolleyes: ) public transport is good, to both park more, chelt station and southland. three primary schools, a good bus route for high schools. (theres one in park dale, plus 4 in mentone and one in Mordi plus another on springvale road heading towards frankston freeway.) umm and just fairly nice. Ohh and you'll get used to the planes flying over head. its also got the cntr dandy and lower - so traffic is fairly good around there too. Ohh they also have one kindy right over the road from one of the primary schools. and first sunday of every month they have a brillaint market. with heaps of home-made goodies. and if your DH is anything like my dad - he'll know all the 'girls' at the local bakers delight. and there is one brillaint hairdresser in dingley too - he did my hair for my wedding and it was better then i could have hoped for ;)

my aunt lives in Keysborough, and its fairly nice around there. can be a little rough (depending on where you live there) parkmore has good shops (i spent the first 6 years of my life across the road from parkmore!) it also a really nice park with a nice play ground next to park more as well...

if you want me to pick up some local realestate mags/paper work for you i can and send them to you if that'll help you? just PM me and ask :)

HTH

Thanks for that $$$ idea..
I reckon if you feel like you really like the house and you are not thinking its forever go for it, the market is going up and it would be awful to miss out. After all you still may not get it...
Good luck with the decision.

Thanks for the info Dansta and thanks for your support blackduckies!

Well they accepted our offer and now we're in day 1 of the 3-day "cooling off" period and will hand over the deposit next week :o Settlement is in 90 days, so early April. Wow I can't believe it!! We are buying a house! :D We really like it and like the location and it's not *too* far from the beach! I still am a bit nervous and worried we rushed into it and didn't look around enough, but oh well, I know I'd regret it if we missed it.

Thanks all :)

Ohhh congratulations Holly!! - how exciting for you guys :D

congrats that is awesome!!!!!!

I just saw this now about your having the chance to put an offer in and was going to tell you to "Do It!!!"...

And then I scroll down and: You have!!!

How awesome for you Holly - I'm so excited for the 3 of you and can't wait for the Housewarming Party! ;)

S xo

oh wow! that is fantastic!! and so straightforward by the sounds of it! sometimes the house chooses you!