Moving to Daylesford

[TraceyandAlan]

Hi all

i was an active member of this site all through my visa application,that was 4 years ago now.

we have been living in Melbourne since April 2010 had our first baby 6 months ago and loving every minute of it but we now would like to buy a house and find prices out of our reach .

we were looking around daylesford/Hepburn springs and really love it out there and was wondering is there anyone out there already that could give us a heads up on life there.

thank you

[Petals]

Nice area and popular with weekend visitors etc. I guess you will not be commuting to Melbourne if you move out there. Reasonably priced property can be found on the fringe of the city in most areas. Depends on your budget of course.

[rosiew]

I live at Mount Macedon. It is a hard daily commute if you live beyond Kyneton. Daylesford is great if you can work in Ballarat (or you are a chef!). I have relatives up there (it's where my parents come from). It is a quiet place Monday to Friday but very community minded.

 

It is also not really cheap and houses take a while to sell if you change your mind. You also face icy roads etc but if you are used to village life in the UK that will not worry you.

 

Have you looked at Castlemaine as a commutable alternative with more services and probably cheaper houses? Also very cool these days...with a better range of school options too.

[Quoll]

Nice touristy little town, excellent second hand book store. Don't think I'd want to commute into Melbourne from there though, it'd be a hard daily slog.

[TraceyandAlan]

Thanks for the reply

I work at a concrete yard about 5k past Bacchus marsh which takes about 40 mins from daylesford so not too bad ,we were actually looking at a house in hepburn springs which is much the same time wise.

our budget is 400,000 and I was very surprised to see a lot of of places for that price on good size blocks.

Ido agree with you that you may have trouble selling at the moment as there dose seem to be a lot for sale around there but then we would commit to country live for a few years and there is always the option of renting it out if things were not for us.

the problem with melbourne for us and I am sure with so many others is 400,000 is not a lot of money here and will get you a

House very deep in the western suburbs which having spent several weekends driving around them dose not appeal to us so they country might be a good option,anyway thanks for your time as you probably figured out we are very undecided so feel free to sugest a few places if you like.

thanks again

[rosiew]

I can see the appeal if you are working in Bacchus Marsh. I am presuming your wife is at home at the moment. Hepburn may be a bit quiet for her but Daylesford is close by. If you like a bit of a hippy/ alternative feel then she could have a great life there. Be aware that the hospital is not full service but it does do quite a few things and there is a local ambulance.

 

I guess it is about the type of place you want to live. I'd choose a small village or town over a new estate in Bacchus Marsh as well. You can always move and then keep an eye out for a job in Ballarat down the track.

 

Just be aware if you are looking at houses up there that they have heating and cooling and that all of your heating does not come from wood. Wood is getting more expensive each year and is currently around $150 per cubic metre which will last 3 weeks if you are lucky in a wood burner. Ideally there would be a split system air con/ heating unit as well. It snows!