Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 15, 2014 6:38 pm Hi We made a trip to Shell Cove over the school holiday period and really loved the area. We are currently living in the Shire and are now looking to move to Shell Cove, but would love to get some advice from those who have moved and built there. If anyone could share there experiences we would be really grateful * Does anyone commute from Shell Cove to Sydney? if so how train or car or bit of both? and how do you find it? * Shell Cove looks lovely, but what is it actually like to live there? what's great about it? Any downsides? * How have you found the building process in Shell Cove? Does anyone have any glowing references (or definite no no's) for choice of builders? Mainstream builders or better to go with a custom builder? Many thanks Jo Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 2Mar 01, 2014 4:14 pm MJEK-UK Hi We made a trip to Shell Cove over the school holiday period and really loved the area. We are currently living in the Shire and are now looking to move to Shell Cove, but would love to get some advice from those who have moved and built there. If anyone could share there experiences we would be really grateful * Does anyone commute from Shell Cove to Sydney? if so how train or car or bit of both? and how do you find it? * Shell Cove looks lovely, but what is it actually like to live there? what's great about it? Any downsides? * How have you found the building process in Shell Cove? Does anyone have any glowing references (or definite no no's) for choice of builders? Mainstream builders or better to go with a custom builder? Many thanks Jo Hi Jo, although we don't live in Shell Cove (we live in Gerringong, 15 minutes south of Shell Cove) so can't comment on what its like to live there, I can say the area is generally great. It would be generally quiet, as its not a drive-through type area. People only drive in there if they live there, or are visiting people there. It's close to beaches, large shopping centre (Stocklands Shellharbour), movies, restaurants, childrens play centres, roller skating rink..... lots of things. Yet very peaceful. My husband works in Sydney CBD and he drives to Sutherland, then catches the train from there. Heaps of trains going to & from the City, so if he misses one, its only a few minutes till the next one comes along. I have met a few people who live in Shell Cove, and they all love it. We have lived here for nearly 20 years (also from the Shire!) and would never return to Sydney. I personally hate going back there..... far too hectic! We are also in the process of building a new home in Gerringong and we are building with Masterton. They are very helpful. Our block has a slope but we wanted to build a single storey home.... most of the builders just said no, yet Masterton were happy to alter the design we liked to split it to allow for the slope of the block. The only downside was we had to travel to Sydney a few times for colour/product selections. But that may have also been necessary with other builders too. Hope this helps little!! Masterton Overture 17/12/14 - Handover ...... we got the keys !! blog - http://www.mcnamaraadventure.blogspot.com Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 3Mar 01, 2014 6:05 pm Hi I am also not in Shell Cove, but my partner and I live in the Shellharbour LGA and we are about to commence building in Seacrest Estate at Flinders which is about 2 minutes from Shell Cove & is the next Suburb over. I did the commute to Sydney for 3 years by car (Liverpool, Marrickville & Bella Vista). It wasn't AWFUL but I was extremely glad when an opportunity to work locally came up. Commuting by car is bearable when the weather is fine and there are no traffic issues / incidents. Throw rain, accidents, breakdowns into the mix and its not so good. I used to spend 4 hours a day on the road, ot great for quality of life or worklife balance. Dont want to go all negative on it, but it is osmething to weigh up and seriously think about whether its something u are willing to commit to in the long term, especially if the likelihood of finding work closer to home isnt high. All that being said, Shell Cove is a beautiful area as is the whol eof shellharbour itself, and I wouldnt live anywhere else, hence why i chose the commute over moving closer to work in sydney. You are close to the beach, includig killalea state park which is beautiful. You have Stocklad Shellharbour which is now as good as any major sydney shopping centre, and shellharbour village has plenty of nice restraunts / cafes etc. Then you have Kiama to your south and the far south coast for weekend getaways / camping etc, and wollongong to the north. All of these places are just so much more relaxed compared to sydney. In terms of builders, we are going with mcdonald jones. It will be our first home which is very exciting! They have been great - like GillyM, we have a sloping block and only wanted a single story home which many builders told us flat out no that they wouldnt even consider it. Mac Jones were happy to alter their plans for our block whilst keeping it within our budget and have been more then helpful so far. Hope this help! Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 4Mar 01, 2014 6:07 pm btw apologies for my poor typing! Dodgiest keyboard :/ Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 5Mar 08, 2014 1:17 pm Thank you GillyM for taking the time to reply. It's good to know about the area and the thoughts of people that live close by. My hubby was particularly in interested to find out more about your hubby's commute. Where does he park for the train station as I know the parking in Sutherland isn't great. Also, how long does the commute typically take and what sort of time does he leave in the morning? Sorry for all the questions - but the commute is pretty much the only negative about the move, so we'd like as much insight as possible! Thanks Jo Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 6Mar 08, 2014 1:25 pm Thanks Michnchris. Yes it's about finding the right balance I guess. Long commute vs a more relaxed place to live without the ridiculous prices in the area we are now. When we lived in the UK my hubby used to commute into London everyday, that took about 4hrs of traveling too - not great, but tolerable. Jo Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 7Mar 08, 2014 7:02 pm MJEK-UK Thank you GillyM for taking the time to reply. It's good to know about the area and the thoughts of people that live close by. My hubby was particularly in interested to find out more about your hubby's commute. Where does he park for the train station as I know the parking in Sutherland isn't great. Also, how long does the commute typically take and what sort of time does he leave in the morning? Sorry for all the questions - but the commute is pretty much the only negative about the move, so we'd like as much insight as possible! Thanks Jo Hi Jo..... hubby leaves home about 5.15am (nasty, i know!), but he is in management and needs to get to work early. It takes about an hour from here to Sutherland, so it would be about 40 minutes from Shell Cove. He parks on the street at Sutherland, although there is a multi-level commuter car park near the train station as well. He says he usually parks only a few minutes walk from the station. Then its about a 45 minute train ride. Sutherland is a good station as all trains on the Illawarra and South Coast lines stop there, so trains come often - particularly good when coming home in the evening..... if you miss a train, another one is only a few minutes away! We moved here from Sydney about 18 years ago.... I used to be concerned that one day he would say that he has had enough of the travelling and wants to return to Sydney, but he says he never would go back there. The quality of life here is so much better..... more relaxed, so little traffic (except holiday periods!), very few traffic lights (too many in Sydney!), yet pretty much everything you need is also here. Great shops, schools (not sure if you have kids or what ages they are, but Shell Cove has a fairly new primary school), beaches, lots of weekend sports, cafes.... all quite close by. I avoid going back to Sydney - my Sydney friends would rather come down here to catch up! My daughter & I used to go to Miranda Fair for "special" shopping adventures (Christmas, etc) but since Shellharbour Square expanded we haven't even needed to do that! Good luck with your decision! Masterton Overture 17/12/14 - Handover ...... we got the keys !! blog - http://www.mcnamaraadventure.blogspot.com Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 8Mar 08, 2014 8:25 pm After living in Sydney for 36 years we made the move south just under 3 years ago and will never return. Unfortunately the land at Shell Cove was a little expensive for us but where we built is still only 15-20 minutes from anything the area has to offer. What I wanted to mention was that the company who was building our house had also built one of the same model in Killalea Drive. Before our build was completed that house was put up for sale so I asked the SS why they were selling and he said they couldn’t stand the noise of all the surfers driving to the beach at sunrise every morning. It may be wise to buy something a couple of streets from the main drag. Regards, Grumbles Re: Calling all Shell Cove home owners 9Mar 19, 2014 10:59 am How's the decision going? Masterton Overture 17/12/14 - Handover ...... we got the keys !! blog - http://www.mcnamaraadventure.blogspot.com A question. Im in Queensland and building a new home. We managed to reach practical completion 6 weeks ago but we haven't heard any date for handover yet. Who should we… 0 5733 This is one of the reasons I decided to go overseas for my double glazed windows. As the builder indicated, he's worked on many upmarket builds, these were the most well… 13 19076 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16084 |