There are a lot of crew that live in South Perth, East Perth, Como etc and a lot of crew that share with eachother. I wouldn't bother going all the way out to Cottesloe etc, although a nice place, i have friends (crew) that live in Cottesloe that wished they lived a lot closer to the city and therefore the airport. I would be looking in the South Perth/Como/East Perth areas. I live about half an hour away from the airport, but it is very easy by just getting on the freeways and going! You'll soon find out that Perth is very easy to get around, it's either north of the river or south of the river, that's it! and if you're not from W.A, you're from the "East". There's W.A and then there's the east and the east is where all non West Australians are from and beware of W.A drivers, they are shocking! they have their own rules over here like not using indicators, that's just normal here.
Anyway, Perth is a great place to live. You'll enjoy it and it is what you make it. Don't come here and compare it to Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane etc because it's none of those, Perth is what it is and Perth people like it that way. You'll have fun!
Oz