Tauranga suburbs for starting a family, which suburb would you choose and why?

[fudoc5]

Those familiar with Tauranga, could I possibly pick your knowledgeand advice, the wife and I are relocating from Sydney back to NZ (Tauranga) inNov to settle and start a family. I have secured a job in the Mount, the Wifeis an Early Childhood Teacher and currently looking for positions available. Wehave researched various suburbs across Tauranga to find the right fit for us.

Our Criteria is :
4brms; 2 bathrms
Bit of backyard 600m2 plus
Good schools
Safe neighbourhood
Close-ish to the Mt and CBD
$1M or under
Quite-ish neighbourhood
Potential for self contained unit to rent or Airbnb
Potential for good growth and CG (hold for 10-15yrs)

So far our research (based on talking with Friends livingthere, and google) has come to the following conclusions:

Papamoa (far end of Papamoa around Nautilus drive): ~30m tothe Mt, Congested traffic, but close to beach, prone to floods (which areas??)

Bethlehem: nice schooling, similar commute times to the Mt

Welcome Bay: affordable, lots of new builds especially Ballintoy,but commute times to the Mt can be bad

Otumoetai and Matua: underthe flight path, close to the Mt (~15-20min), good schools, older houses andolder infrastructure

Whakamarama and Omokoroa: 1M can get us a nice lifestyleblock, but long way to the Mt, and kind of in the middle of nowhere, any potentialfor CG here?

Would appreciate your guys thoughts on these suburbs, if youwhere in our situation, which would you choose and why?

Thanks,
Nick

[RollingCloud]

Ha ha congested traffic, everywhere, and getting worse, no matter what suburb you are travelling from. I wouldn't say anywhere is better than elsewhere particularly.
Good luck with getting 600m2 section with any new build.
I wouldn't get too excited about air bnb, the market is saturated with them here, especially over summer. I know, I ran one, subject to pricing wars. Only very close to the Mount guarantees a good occupancy. Careful with self contained to rent, council don't allow it and unless it has fire walls or CCC for separate unit then you could run into problems (tenancy act).
Papamoa flooding? I would be more worried about slips in Omokoroa (especially as they have a type of clay that is more prone to erosion) or other hilly areas of Tga. Papamoa has been designed in the newer areas that any water inundation pools to the roadways. Sand base is quick draining anyway.
Bethlehem is touted as the potential new $1 mill suburb, good choice for CG.

[Joshua Fong]

i personally like pillans point. it has a good school, is very close to the city, and close enough to the mount.

[Nick G]

There is a quite a lot of choice at that price point. Why not rent for a year and take your time. Papamoa, Mt M, Bethlehem etc all have a different vibe.

[fudoc5]

There is a quite a lot of choice at that price point. Why not rent for a year and take your time. Papamoa, Mt M, Bethlehem etc all have a different vibe.

Agree Nick, that is probably our most likely bet, to rent for the first year and check out the feel and vibe of each suburb. The hardest part is trying to avoid FOMO and just keep a passive eye out on new listings. Havn't been tracking the market back home, but from what I've read, it's flattening out atm? Market sentiment here is Sydney is shifting slowly, lisitngs take longer to sell, oversupply of apartments coming up too

[fudoc5]

Thanks RollingCloud, yeah I quite like Bethlehem also, been there once, nice family friendly neighbourhoods, good schools, malls, proximity. Papamoa, only worry is earthquake,sand and liquefaction, but then same thing can be said for all NZ coastlines.

Ha ha congested traffic, everywhere, and getting worse, no matter what suburb you are travelling from. I wouldn't say anywhere is better than elsewhere particularly.
Good luck with getting 600m2 section with any new build.
I wouldn't get too excited about air bnb, the market is saturated with them here, especially over summer. I know, I ran one, subject to pricing wars. Only very close to the Mount guarantees a good occupancy. Careful with self contained to rent, council don't allow it and unless it has fire walls or CCC for separate unit then you could run into problems (tenancy act).
Papamoa flooding? I would be more worried about slips in Omokoroa (especially as they have a type of clay that is more prone to erosion) or other hilly areas of Tga. Papamoa has been designed in the newer areas that any water inundation pools to the roadways. Sand base is quick draining anyway.
Bethlehem is touted as the potential new $1 mill suburb, good choice for CG.