Sally Simpson

Only in QLD!

Sally Simpson

To the OP, life is a gamble wherever you are.
We moved out of the UK in 2000 (the first time) with everyone ( not BE) saying that the housing market was about to burst & put your money in shares. We did just that & guess what? The housing market went crazy & shares nosedived. We lost a lot of money & moving back from the BVI was very hard financially.
You can try to second guess all you like, but you can only make the best decision you feel you can at the time & you have to live with the consequences.
Frying pan to fire? Who knows? Certainly none of us mere mortals here on BE.
Look at what is good about your life here in Aus & ask yourself will it really be better back in the UK. Try to remember why you made your decision to move here in the first place.
Lots of luck

Officer Dibble

British and Proud!

Officer Dibble

Sorry, I got lost.

Sally Simpson

Too much or too much

Officer Dibble

Both.

Sally Simpson

Good for you I'm jealous!

betsyboob

Yes, i do think that Australia is set for recession...may deal with it better than UK - who knows? all i know is that we moved to Oz in aug 2008 after selling our house etc. but returned a year later as there was just no work, we struggled along but enough was enough, we went there for a better standard of livig OH got work straight away in the uK, i can;t say there's loads of work about but we are better off here...for now anyway. Most of the people we knew were struggling in Oz, whether that's because we're 'poms' dunno ..... I know a bricky in oz that had to retrain as a bus driver as there was no building work, he had been there for 3yrs, worked for 2 and then nothing, so defo a change.

BadgeIsBack

Agree about paying it off soon. I love the fact my 'rent' goes down year by year - and I can downsize and realise gains - and even use the house to help with cashflow at times. Be able to raise a family in a good area where the land represents our life, soul and creativity. Being able to nick 1000 bucks off the mortgage is easier than using a credit card. Fook me - I might decide that having my mortgage increase by 1k that time is a hit I'll take anyway.

This is what I don't get. Why would you want to pay rent in the twilight years and have that rent go up every year too.

There is, of course, one single flaw in my argument. Houses ARE ****ing expensive. It was not even 10 years ago that rent was always more, and that the biggest obstacle for many was that deposit.

wilf70

Based on anecdotal feeling I think the Australian economy is about two to three years behind the UK[ie recesiion in the offing].Property could well be the first thing to go bump--look at Ireland as an example.Vast over investment in property now bust.Around October Ireland has to rollover approx E71 billion;equal to half national income--that may be the straw to break the camels back[sorry getting off the point].Australia has put far to many eggs in the housing basket.Take the widest possible advice on here and elsewhere--but remember its is only peoples views and opinions.Look at some of the finance and economic threads on here;very wide views but interesting to read--and usually people gut honest views rather than 'we want to sell you a product' view.good luck

granada

I suppose it all depends what line of work you`re in - like anywhere else in the world some people will get on fine while others struggle.

In the past 12 months I`ve seen a lot of reference to people struggling in the building trade in Oz while at the same time I know people at various levels within IT industry who say they seen no decrease whatsoever.

The brother-in-law moved out to Oz about 6 months ago and took a job in Coffs Harbour (auto electrician). They recently decided they want to go to Brisbane and he sent out 5 CVs to companies he liked the look of. Out of the 5 he has been offered 3 jobs straight over the telephone within the past 10 days.

Just goes to show ones persons experience may be very different from another persons. Best of luck to ya!

Bernieboy

Not too long ago in London it was 'no dogs no blacks no Irish',so i told them i was a white south african with a cat

Kapri

Absolutely. We had to rent unexpectedly a few years ago, after we'd sold our house. We couldn't find anywhere that would let us have our dog so we just hid her.
Her walks were either very early, very late or we would sneak her into the car and drive somewhere
She is not dirty or destructive and we limited the rooms that she could go into so it wasn't a problem.

I'm not looking forward to renting again. I like to be able to (get my OH to ) decorate, put up pics etc, as I wish.

Steve2009

Your rent does not go down every year, you increase the amount of capital you personally have employed in your home every year. That capital could be earning more cash if employed elsewhere definitely in this market.

Your 'gains' by downsizing are purely the capital you have built up over years of mortgage repayments. Unless there have been capital gains in the value of your property, which are just as likely as capital losses in a rational market. In fact capital values in a rational market should decline because constructions have a finite lifespan and require maintenance and thus should depreciate over time. The Herengracht Index/Study examined real estate prices in Amsterdam over a period of roughly 350 years between the 17th and 20th centuries and found that capital values appreciated very little on an annualised basis.

As for being able to 'nick' a few quid off your mortgage every now and then. If the market continues in the current vein then the renter will always have abundantly more disposable income than you. If the renter saves on an ongoing basis to buy a house later in life then they will still have more cash than you.

If property does crash then the renter gets even more benefit. You would be stuck in negative equity unable to move house. You would be overpaying for your housing utility through interest repayments on an excessive mortgage principal and you would still be paying down that excessive mortgage principal. The renter on the other hand will have a lump of capital saved up if they are smart and can buy with a smaller mortgage or they can continue to rent in a depressed market.

Of course there is a possibility that the market could continue to spiral upwards, but unless the capital gains year on year are greater than 5 to 7 per cent then the renter is still in a better postion than the homeowner.

Of course renting has it's downside such as security of tenure and the possibility of dealing with an unreasonable landlord or agent. These are risks that are present with home ownership also. There is no risk associated with renting that justifies the premium demanded by the current market.

Suni&Jay

You would have to take each case on it's own.
70% of ozzies own or are buying their own homes. (Infofrom SIH) so it can't be that bad owning your own home can it?
Each to their own I suppose.