Hi Beth,
We pretty much love most suburbs around Wellington and the great thing is it has excellent public transport.
I couldnt comment on pricing for a house to fit you all in as Stu and I have only ever rented small places but certainly some nice places to rent are:
Kelburn - By the botanic gardens, 3mins by cable car into Lambton Quay (centre of wellington) 10-15mins by bus ($2.50 one way tix). This is a cute very family orientated village and has a local school in the centre of it. We lived there for a few months when we first arrived and met lots of young families. Only problem is it is about 2 degrees colder than the rest of Wellie!
Hataitai and parts of Kilbirnie - It's about a 10min bus ride into town again only $2.50 lovely family homes there but I'm not sure what the schools are like. Again it has a lovely little street with a local dairy, some eateries chemist etc everything you need. And is close to Pak n Save and Woolworth for food shopping.
Island Bay - About 20-25mins by bus $3.50 one way fare. It's georgous but pricey there. Again not sure about schools.
We stayed in Miramar for 6 months which is about 15mins by bus $3.50 one way and we liked it there. Its more affordable for your money and is an up and coming area. The only issue we had was the noise from the planes. There were a couple of schools in walking distance but I dont know their reputation.
Mt Victoria is also lovely just quite expensive and hilly if you have a few kids.
Unfortunately I dont know much about the other area's in Wellington. You would most certainly get more for your money further a field in Johnsonville, Petone, and the Hutt Valleys but I dont know much about those areas.
As for pricing I can only tell you what two bedrooms places cost:
Miramar we paid $350 a week this was fully furnished, own carpark, private back garden
Kelburn we paid $200 a week fully furnished, no views, no garden or parking and it was attached to our landlords house
Te Aro, Central Wellington $650 fully furnished, all bills included except internet no parking very noisey at night!
If you need anything else just yell!
To be honest there's not really an area you should really avoid most in central and around Wellington are decent.
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