Moving your family to a new suburb

Moving to a different suburb is always a challenge. When you have kids in tow, it is even more so. What about your choice of suburb? Where are the schools and other amenities for children located? How do you make the transition easier for the whole family?

Choosing a suburb

When you have children, your priorities change. Yes, you want to move to a suburb that is good value for money and shows promise of being a good property investment, but your children come first: you are looking for a family-oriented suburb. Some of the most important things you might look for include:

• hospitals and medical facilities
• conveniently located shopping districts
• recreational facilities
• nearby schools.

As every busy parent knows, if services and amenities aren’t conveniently located, parenting can be more like running a chauffeur service than spending quality time with your children. If schools aren’t within walking distance or a short drive away, every day has to be scheduled around ferrying the children to school and back.

Finding schools

Traditionally, finding schools in an unfamiliar suburb is one of the hardest parts of choosing a home. Shopping centres are clearly indicated on maps, but catchment areas for schools are often difficult or impossible to find.

Domain’s launch of the new School Zones feature makes finding schools near the homes you’re after easy, with property listings now showing you the school catchment areas for that address. You can also click on a school to easily access their contact details. The new feature is available on the Domain website or, if you’re a parent on the go, you can find it on the Domain iPhone and Android apps.

Easing the transition

How do you juggle children and a house full of furniture when you move from one suburb to another? First, study the pros and cons of DIY house moving and add children to the equation. You might decide to let the removalist handle most of the work, but you will still have a lot of packing to do. Tip one in Five ways to prepare for your removalist suggests hiring a babysitter and getting the kids out of the house when packing.

Remember, too, that moving can be very stressful for children. Include them in your moving plans and explain all the positive elements of the new suburb. To ease the transition, take some of their favourite toys and belongings with you in the car when you move and get their bedrooms set up first to give them a sense of being in a new home instead of a strange and frightening new location.

As a parent, your first priority is always your kids’ welfare. Choosing the right suburb is a lot easier now that there are tools available to help you find what you need. Make use of all the available resources and both you and your children will be happier for it.