diddy

Agreed, maybe 20 years ago, but these days you may as well believe in the Loch Ness Monster and the Tooth Fairy as well.

goldcoastblue

its a myth alright, this place is well expensive, I mean who pays $65 for a carton of stella that is brewed in Australia!!!!

usual employer tactic, your employed too much, being an immigrant , there is also the thinking you are desparate to come here, so you will have the piss taling out of you till you suss everything out.

My feeling though is , there are too many people here who are greedy bstards, far more than in the uk, and for a country to give a fair go, is a load of bolloxs.

There are so many small businesses, there arent many corporate jobs, so you are going to get the piss taken out of you.

Combined income of $150 k i about right, for a fair standard of living on easy street.

otherwise you will drive a banger around, rent some crappy old unit, and drink xxxx gold for the rest of your life,

but you will have the sun

ABCDiamond

It was $120k a little while ago, for your "adequate" standard of living
Now $150k for your "fair" standard of living

If "adequate" is "a lifestyle of holidays, fast cars, and a good social life", may I ask what your definition of a "Fair" standard of living is ?

Complicated having two similar threads at one time

goldcoastblue

I cant do more than one thing at a time, and your too good at this forum thing for me to keep up for typo's

Fair standard of living for Aus standards is around $80k by the looks of it

ABCDiamond

To put that into perspective with my situation:
If we took a pay rise up to $80k, we would have about $1,600 per month extra, which would be about the repayment for a mortgage of about $220,000. But if we got rid of the Investment properties and put that cost with the $1,600, we could repay a $300,000 mortgage.

So $80k would give us a $300k mortage, private school for 1 child, an overseas holiday per year, 2 decent cars (both 2001), and a reasonable living. But nothing flash.

goldcoastblue

ok,

my mortgage is $2700 a month,
After bills, travel exp, child care , food, rego and running two shite cars pre 1994 is around $100 a week disposable.

buys a carton of beer and around $20 of bait , if I am lucky I buy some refelctive flashy lures!!!

not complaining , just whinging!!!

diddy

Don't you think it's time you moved to a smaller house?

Paul.

goldcoastblue

No chance...

Buy the biggest you can afford it will get easier, that is the rule, and if I had listened to that and stuck buy it, I would have a lot more green now, and have two investments in the UK and one here, instead of watching property rise and rise, and missing the boat, squandering all my equity on bullshit.

I am only messing about affordability,
i have what I deem is an affordable mortgage, just about, for now, and I am prepared to eat shite for a year or so, that is the investment I made and choice I made coming to a country where you have no history and really no identity.

Vash the Stampede

Who needs a $2700pm mortgage? That's $32400pa!

Ridiculous - and quite unnecessary!

No wonder you think life in Australia is expensive. :scared:

MrsDagboy

Vash, unfortunately for some, if you have no deposit then a $350K mortgage ($2782/month over 20 years) is necessary.

That's an average sort of price for something in a half decent neighbourhood here in Brisbane - something that someone like him would aspire to . Sure, he could live in a cheaper suburb, but they are cheap for a reason :scared: . He's chosen the Gold Coast, but the same thing applies.

Also remember that you have to factor in stampduty & legal fees & all the rest of the stuff that pushes the total price of a house up a fair bit.

steve99

I'd say anyone who wants to live in a half decent area with no deposit would need to be looking at around a $400K+ mortgage.
Anyone who wants to live in a real decent spot would need the same again as a deposit.

Vash the Stampede

Sure, but come on... given the value of the pound against the dollar, surely the average Brit would have at least something in the way of equity/profit from the sale of their house in the UK? I mean, you'd have to be in a pretty bad way to end up in Australia without a penny to your name, wouldn't you?

I keep reading posts from people on this forum who insist that salaries are higher in the UK, and the cost of living is cheaper; well if that's the case, then the average Brit should be sitting pretty by the time he moves down under.

Buzzy--Bee

OK, let's suppose that I am "sitting pretty" as a result of the humungously high wages and tiny costs in the UK.

Supposing I took all my equity with me to OZ..............How much salary would be reasonable to have a life with no worries about paying the USUAL bills if I was MORTGAGE FREE? (the dirty words I know).

Cheers

Buzzy

ABCDiamond

I does depend on the expected lifestyle that each individual wants/needs, how many in the family, how much they spend on food etc etc.

We can do it on one average wage, but i've read that others would need twice that. (Especially in Melbourne )

NickyP

We are in the same position here as we would be in the UK as we haven't got a house to sell and would be starting from scratch in both countries. I would say that we will probably have a similarly large mortgage here in Australia but will have a bigger house for that money. We have 4 kids so are starting having to look for the sort of house that most people have built up to over time which makes things more difficult. We have a small deposit which we have saved but it isn't really a significant amount at all when you look at the housing market. It is a worry as I have got to wait until next year to do my teaching diploma before starting work so although hubby is on what we think is a good wage it will be tight for us to buy at the moment.
We are going to rent for a while longer until I am earning and hope that the rising prices here don't catch us out and leave us unable to live where we want to live. We are not expecting things to be easier here than in the UK but it would be nice to own our own home sooner rather than later as it would help me personally feel more settled. We have been offered mortgages of up to $330K which scares the s**t out of me :scared: . It is a question of priorities for us as we can't get a house that would be right for us for a similar amount mortgage as we are paying in rent so we wait until our income can be increased to allow for that. (I am still looking though )
Nicky