Rental suggestions near Austin Hospital (Melbourne)

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Depending on the outcome of my fellowship application, the family might be moving to Melbourne early next year. I would be working at the Austin Hospital. I'm in the process of looking at suitable suburbs to rent so it would be good to get some feedback. Here are some details:

1. There will be my wife, 2.5 year old son and 10 month old daughter, two dogs (labs) and me.
2. We anticipate my wife would be working part time given that a post-doc salary isn't the greatest. Not sure on how many days kids will be at daycare
3. Rent: wouldn't want anymore than about $350/week but may have to adjust depending on your responses.
4. Minimum 3 bedrooms but maybe a small study (spare room) will be required
5. Ideally close to transport to go to Austin Hospital

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Forgey (Paula)]

Hi Dan have a search on realestate.com.au, it might give you an idea.
http://www.realestate.com.au/rent

The first seach i did for heidelberg came up with a 3bed house for $350pw
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...berg-407335533

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Yeah I'm currently doing that . But also happy to get some feedback.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

A few nearby suburbs that might be worth a look.

Heidelberg of course, but surrounding it (Headed away from the city rather than towards it as that would presumably mean higher rents) you have the likes of Greensborough, McLeod, Watsonia, Rosanna, all those are sort of clustered around the likes of Greensborough Rd which is presumably a regular bus route as it is a major road and that feeds onto Rosanna Rd, which is near the hospital. Also possibly convenient to the train line (The hospital is opposite Heidelberg Station)

I don't live in the area but have family around there

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Thanks Paul. Watsonia was mentioned by my potential supervisor and prices are around the $300-$400 mark.

[traveller (Bo)]

Hi Dan, I live in Preston which is 3-4kms west of the Austin. I think your main problem would be the price. Heidelberg is ok, but there are some places I'd steer clear off.
Assuming you will have a car, i suggest you also try kingsbury, some parts of reservoir, watsonia as someone suggested.
If you can stretch your budget to $400, you might try Rosanna, Preston, or even further north such as diamond creek, montmorency, greensborough and eltham. The advantage of these areas is that you will get bigger blocks, which will be great for your dogs and kids.
Out of interest, what will your fellowship be in?
Let me know if you need more info.
Cheers, Bo

[traveller (Bo)]

Re transport, there is the eltham and hurstbridge line, buses along bell st and also through Rosanna and McLeod. There are also a number of bike lanes but stay well clear of major arterials like bell st unless you want b doubles as your riding partner.
Bo

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

We will probably only have one car and my wife will be the primary user of it, meaning I will need public transport to get to work. I live approximately 25km away from my current work now. I bus it to work, which takes about an hour (2 buses and a 20min walk from home to the bus stop). Therefore, living close to work won't be a major factor, as long as it doesn't take hours to get there by bus/train.

I will have a look at the places you suggested. $400/week might be pushing it. It just depends if I can get a top up salary.

Most of my work (Honours and PhD) has been looking at factors that may contribute to obstructive sleep apnoea in the obese population, mainly obese males. I will continue this work if I'm successful with my fellowship application.

[traveller (Bo)]

Good luck Danl hope everything pans out. Melbourne has good bike paths, so don't be afraid of riding your pushie.
Great stuff re sleep apnea. Mate of mine suffers from it and sleeps with a c-PAC machine.
Let me know if you need more info, I am an ex adelaidian, so happy to help out where I can.
Bo

[mishku]

Hi Dan,

Hot tip for you from a former Royal Melbourne Hospital-ite and Monash Medical Centre-er...

Most hospitals have an online, staff only trading post type thing on the staff intranet. At my last job at RMH, there were ALWAYS places up for rent near the hospital that were listed only at the hospital... ie, in some cases taking over leases from hospital staff who were going overseas, or the landlord was a hospital staffer also (thus, had access to the listings), and preferred to lease to other hospital staff. From memory, there were some quite nice places.

Hope this helps, especially if you already have your email access, or a friend who can help you out

Mish

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Happy to ride if the weather is good.

Yeah sleep apnoea is quite common, with around 5% of population being diagnosed, with many more undiagnosed.

My concern re rental are the two labs. It's hard enough getting a place to rent without dogs.

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Mish: Interesting and I will follow that up.

[mishku]

PS. I'd be thinking about finding out if you can access subsidised hospital based childcare onsite (or nearby...) and waitlisting now, if you can

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

I won't find out if I'm successful until around Oct-Nov. I guess there's no harm in going on a waiting list soonish though.

[traveller (Bo)]

Mish also reminded me that most hospitals allow staff to salary package, and sometimes that inludes child care fee and rental. Check with the Austin once you are being offered a fellowship.
Bo