Looking to relocate my young family to Benalla, but I have read mixed reviews. Please help me!

Hi I have lived in Benalla for the last 10 years and it is a wonderful place to live ....the crime rate is no worse than any country town and much lower than the Cities.

Benalla has three primary schools and a really good high school,there are two medical centres and the doctors are great they have it set up so you can get in the same day if needed.
Benalla hospital is wonderful and if you need a big op Wangaratta hospital is just 25 min away.

What I like about living in the country is there are no long waiting lists if you need selective surgery we dont need private insurance.

There is always something going on here and a lot of it centres around our lake ...there are many walking tracks and ample leash free area's to walk your dog.

If you need any other advice please just ask.

Oh we live about 4 min from the centre of town and we never lock our doors.
It saddens me to think that some are saying Benalla is not a good place to live .as its simply not true...I suppose it gets down to who you talk to I suppose.

sincerely Joan.

Thank you Joan for your help with this, you have eased my mind considerably. I was there looking at rentals on the weekend, I will rent for 12 mth so that we can all get the feel of our new environment. Try before you buy scheme, so to speak.

I would like to know if you have markets,Craft and Farmers markets. I am looking at places with some acreage so they have been 20-25 km out of town, I would like to purchase something a little closer come time but wait and see i Suppose.

I would also like to know if the community are of a friendly type and not territorial.

Thank you for responding to my questions,

cheers Kate and Family.

I look forward to more correspondence and I and my family thank you for your information.

Myself and my partner are trying to move to Benalla , we were met with a very rude and possibly the worst real estate agency i have ever come across. They were so rude in dealing with us , the city we once fell in live with ..is now trash.

We recently moved to Benalla and love the town. People are very friendly and helpful. Our neighbours have popped in and introduced themselves and even invited us over for dinner. We have joined a local sports club and met many new and lovely people through the club. I think you have to be open to make the first contact as some people are a bit weary about new people, especially from the city. We also have had a bad experience with a particular real estate agency in town but that didn't scare us off from settling here and we are happy now that we made this transition!

I moved my young family from Melbourne 7 years ago with no regrets, great people, great school and beautiful weather. Regrettably have to move to Qld for husband work and am selling my 2 1/2 acre property 2 minutes to twon with school bus pick ups out the front i have provided you with link to our house for sale - cheers cheryl http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-benalla-120934929

Hi, we are also looking to relocating from New Zealand and I will be teaching in Benalla so we too will be looking for rental properties. I have to approach the rental agents but now a little weary about this. I guess to be forewarned is to be forearmed. It would be nice to know which rental agency to avoid? PM at [email protected] if you care to share.

Please give me a clue as to the identity of the worst real estate agent. I am also considering a move to Benalla.

Living Here are the best.

I really enjoy Benalla, for the most part. Unfortunately, I can't always say the same for the hospital. Don't go there if you have an out of town doctor. The last time I was in emergency there, for pressure headache, the passed her sell buy date nurse was very authoratative and just downright rude to me. I casually had the nerve to ask what my temp was. As she walked away she responded 'none of your business' , I was floored. Then she turned and said ' my job here is to treat you, yours is to do as you're told.' Not impressed. Sadly, I was in too much pain to respond to her the way I wanted to. I was dependent upon her to get me to Melbourne to the eye and hospital. As a side note, it took all told, 16 hours to get rid of the headache.

We deal with Ray White. Excellent. We moved here 3 years ago. They were very responsive to us. No problems with them as a rental agent. Highly recommend.

Ray White-excellent?? Are you SURE...?

elizabethv1 do you know something I don't? Please share

What are the units like in Bridge st benalla

which units are you talking about Crystalm7?

bridge st west

Just wondering what crime rate like in Bridge st west

I got it through benalla rural estate agent damienpearce just wondering if it's a bad part of benalla

The Ensign has small article each week, it's not worth reading.
My parents have been in Benalla for over 30 years and it's never been a concern.

Ok just was told the part of bridge st west is a place to avoid

damienpearce what's the ensign please

What's the ensign please and just been told to avoid bridge st west

27 Bridge st west was an old Motel, so I wouldn't like to live there because it's old, 34 looks really old as well, but it's a nice part of town.

The Ensign is the local paper available each Wednesday

It was all I could afford to start with and the other units in town were going so fast but there wasn't many available under 350

Ok so a local paper and now I'm more anxious about unit as its old and cheap if there is trouble there ect

there's nothing to worry about, Benalla is a sleepy country town.
You're in nice part of town, within walking distance to the supermarket, the gardens etc

Ok thankyou it's just to start off I oy got it for 12 mths then find something better just was worried because cheap and old that there would be unsightly neighbours in other units but you have to start somewhere like my partner said and you can make any house a home

It is the most boring place you will ever live, there is literally nothing to do! A handful of cafes that close after lunch, 2 empty pubs that close early and never any events on apart from twice per year.

Half the people are really nice, the other half are really rude and snobby. The median age is 51, the population is 14500 with 50% of those aged 50 - 85+.

For the real estate, Ray White are super rude and BRR are even ruder - the lady owner will yell at you for even enquiring about a property.

As for the crime, its really not so bad. West Benalla is the bad part over the bride on the other side of town.

Hope this helps!