Billpipstar1

Hello Guys and Girls,

Just thought i would write this as it will be my last post on here. Over the last year me and my wife have been seriously thinking about moving to WA. I applied a while ago and was one of the lucky ones to be able to go to Perth to do my testing as i had not been to Australia before.

If you have been to Australia before then i wouldn't worry about reading this as it would be insulting you. I am only writing this as if like me you hadn't been before and may have one closed if you get my drift.

I recently did the testing. The trip went really well, in fact i could not fault it. I met some nice people, traveled around Perth a lot and if even watched all the politic shows to get some insight into WA. The only problem i felt was that my heart did not belong there. I dont know why this was. There were a lot of pros and only a few cons but the reason i am writing this is because if i did the testing in the UK and was lucky to get through we would of gone and it would of cost a lot of money not to mention anything else.

I was aware Perth was expensive but i am not kidding when i say going to the local supermarket shopping for myself was more like shopping in Harrods (A box of basic cereal $6). If you are going with your partner and he or she works you will get by but the mining boom is just slowing down and locals are now trying to get into the police force.

I trained hard for the fitness test and lucky enough had no problems, however i was surprised how strict they were. They don't give you your score but they say yes or no if you reached under the time limit. A lot of people failed the agility test, and i noticed it was the bigger guys who i know i would probably want as my back up in certain situations. It was for no fault of their own they gave it there best shot but i just think it was to hard for them to get just because of their size and they were not fat.

Anyway if you give your best shot im sure you will be fine, just don't go in as a lot of people have said before thinking the grass is greener if you haven't been, as for me it wasn't. I know most people it will be and i wish them the best. Good Luck to all

EC182

I'm not sure where you were buying your cereal for $6 or what cereal it was, but I did the assessments over in Perth in July and when we did our shop for the week at Coles in Joondalup, the whole thing came to about $115. The weekly shop at home is usually around €100.
Also, Aldi and Lidl are supposed to be moving into Australia in the near future.

I don't mean to contradict you, and yes, some things are expensive over there, but the biggest single expense - rent - is going to come down a fair bit in the coming months; certainly in time for when the current batch who successfully pass their assessments move over.

So I don't think it'll be as bad as all that.

deadlyminimee

Just wondered how you know the rent is going to come down over the coming months? I hope you are right as rent is huge! If successful then I would be looking at long term furnished rentals which at the moment would be the majority of my pay.....

Thanks

Deadly.

old.sparkles

There's been speculation that housing will fall because of the slump in the mining industries - but it is just speculation.

I don't know why you would be renting furnished - that's gonna be expensive. It would probably be cheaper to rent unfurnished and buy new furniture to fill it - Ikea, Amart and fantastic furniture wouldn't be too expensive.

Or look for a share if you're single

deadlyminimee

Ok, I guess we will have to wait and see on the prices, I'm married with 3 kids so no chance of sharing. There is the possibility of buying from ikea and the like. Would need everything though!! Not planning on shipping what we have here.

old.sparkles

I shipped over 3 bed house - think I paid around 4K. It's balancing what you have with the cost of replacing things. The difference in what you would pay in renting fully furnished or renting an empty property covers the cost of shipping pretty quick. Plus renting furnished is a very limited market so there isn't as much choice I think. And if you don't ship them are you going to sell or put in storage. Even then I would think there are things you would want to bring - kids toys, bedding, etc. Worth at least getting quotes

Maddjose

Prices will always fluctuate depending on the local economy. As for buying new and not shipping your worldly goods across.... bad move, it'll cost you a fortune in the long run. I've had shipping quotes that'll get most of my house contents across for a third of the price it'll cost to replace them. Simples.....

EC182

Seems to be the way to go all right. Got a quote there today for €1,800, that's shipping most of our stuff except furniture, which we can't really bring as we'll be renting the house out.