Am i imagining this??
 

HI all,

I have just seen this

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin...&tm=1172572355

Which is apparantly £189,000 GBP!!!!??? This is enough incentive in itself to move to Melbourne!

Is this correct? I have heard that mornington is a nice suburb too!?

Im astonished! Maybe because i'm in London at the moment and our one bed flat (2 rooms in total flat) is worth £180k! lol

How bizarre!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Housing is much cheaper in parts of Australia than parts of London.

However don't believe everything you see on Realestate websites.....they are masters of smoke and mirrors.

You really need to see the place for yourself....things often look different in real life....it can be quite enlightening to compare the real thing to the estate agent spiel

G

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Yes of course i totally agree and understand that, but honestly...living in London as a young professional couple at the moment is soul destroying! To see that we could potentially afford something like this just seems crazy when it wouldn't even buy us a shoe box in London!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Well , using that logic, why not move to parts of Africa or the far east where you may be able to buy a mansion?

Try buying a house for that price in the centre of Melbourne or Sydney.

You are not comparing like with Like.

G

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Actually i am! I live one hour outside of London and our flat is worth £192k, we rent at the moment, but it is literally 2 rooms!

I would not want to live in the centre of Melbourne or Sydney, i like the outskirts/Suburbs.

Im sorry if you have taken offence to me being a bit excited about the possibility of my new life and what it could entail! I was just generally astonished at this.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

I have not taken offence.

Remember many people on this site would find £180000 expensive.

there are still many parts of the UK where you can buy a decent house for that price.....such as here in the midlands.

....but my youngest son has just looked at buying a house in Cambridge for £360000....it is all relative.

G

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Yes your right, it is. Ahhh i feel like had a mad 20 minutes of over excitement! I cant wait to leave this country! lol

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Good luck then.

G

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

You couldnt afford to live in the centre of Melbourne or Sydney - you need closer to £500K before you start looking:sneaky:

But seriously cheap property is cheap for a reason - look in more detail at the map. At look at the photos without the marketing facade and see what value is really there.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Is this correct? I have heard that mornington is a nice suburb too!?



It certainly is a nice area, however, this part of it. St Mitchells Circuit is not the greatest part. It backs onto an industrial area and the houses are all very nice and quite large, but who wants to look out their back garden onto a warehouse.

As an estate agent said to us when we were looking for a house, you can do a lot better for your dollars than there.

John

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Have you ever lived in oz grayling????

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

No....why do you ask?

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

You just seem to know alot about Australia:confused:

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

My son has lived there for about 7 years and I spend a few weeks there each year.

Probably moving over later this year.

G

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

I get that all the time ( usually after a few wines!)
It's ok to be excited about trying to improve your life. :)
We all know that Australia isn't Utopia and we all know that houses can look better on the internet.Hopefully though ,our English pounds give us a bit of a boost when it comes to buying property so we can get excited about upgrading.
You will not get a 5 bed house that looks like that one even in the roughest part of England for £189000.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Hi Kapri!

Glad im not the only one who has a mad 10 minutes :)

I think that was what i was trying to put across really. I mean, i just feel so frustrated living in the UK right now.

Both my boyfriend and I went to uni (about 30k of student loans between us), but we worked hard, both got 1st class degrees, moved to London as only place where we could get jobs easily really, and now we live in something that could only be described as a tin can, thats on a crossroads looking out on the traffic lights/very main road, but that is apparantly an 'excellent area'. Its just madness. We started looking at buying a property late last year, it got postponed and now everything is about 10k more expensive in the area!

So i think thats why i was really excited. Ooh i get all giddy thinking about it.

Anyway sorry for rambling on!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

When you look on the satelite map it does look like warehouses nearby. It looks like the house is an ex show home by the photo's.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Its still nice to think you could afford it though. I could just about stretch to that and be mortgage free. Not bad at 30 yrs of age. Im one of the lucky ones that bought before the prices went up and made a nice bit of proffit!:thumbup:

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

We were also a professional couple from London and we have bought ourselves propertry that was cheaper, and a mortgage that is considerably lower than what we could do in London.

This mitigates for some what will be a income drop. (as it happens I've increased my income).

Research before you come.
You say you don't want to live right in the middle - in that case you will probably do quite well in what you swap.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Hi,

Yeah it is nice to think at least we could afford something like that! We are prepared for the fact our salaries will probably take a dip, but as we are both at the beginning of our careers we are not too worried. My OH is a software developer, and from what I've seen salaries seem about the same for someone with his 3-4 years experience.

Mine is a different ball game, I work as a fashion buyer, but seems as thougb it is all based around the UK fashion industry, i think i'll have to do some serious research on their industry before anyone will employ me!

Thanks for all the good posts, really appreciate it.

x

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Guys.....it really is all relative!

Salaries may seem similar n'all that, however, after a few years of research now (and being as excited as you two are when we first started out) we now realise that its not all roses. Yes, it is highly likely that you will afford a MUCH nicer house.......but just remember, it is all relstive. :)

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Hey from what iv seen the oz fashion it could do with a kick up the arse! Its a bit dodgy!
All hell will probably let loose now iv said that:rofl:
Well at least top man deliver to oz now, that will do me!

Stu

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Believe it or not...Damart is pretty big in Australia:lol: :rofl:

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Don't mean to be anyway offensive but if the house in aus is your main reason for leaving the UK...wake up and smell the coffee!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

It's a bloody good incentive though.....and to be honest (we are both actually very level headed), it's a HUGE part of our decision!

You trying living in Guildford - you would understand!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

I know but guildford is not the only place in the UK!

We are normal couple (hubby Paramedic) me part time Office Manager and mum of a 2 year old but we have a good financial life and a gorgeous house (small mortgage) in an equally beaut part of the UK, 2 new cars (no finance/loans) - how did we acheive this by the age of 32? Damned hard work and sensible heads! Personally I think if you struggle here - not much will improve in aus. You'll just be warmer! but good luck anyway!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Despite recent rises in house prices in Australia, houses are generally still cheaper here than in the UK. Including Perth.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

47kms from the CBD as the crow flies.
Might have something todo with the low price.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Your right, it is about a 1-1 1/2 hour commute into the city.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

But its a good start! And the coffee here is generally so much better quality ;)

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Hmmm. careful with this: if that house opens up a whole new lifestyle then it is worth it. We came not for a bigger house - bricks and mortar- but so we could get a family home on a lifestyle block in an area which lends itself to all that sort of stuff but no further away than what we would have to do in the UK.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Hey Fluffy,

I totally understand, we live in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. Its very tough!

And no, of course a house is not the only reason but its a very big incentive! Its where we spend most of our time. We both have good jobs and work extremely hard, no loans or debts other than university loans.

I know there are nice places in the UK also, but our jobs means we need to be near to a big city (we are an hour, hour and a quarter into London at the minute) so that means that in the UK, our standard of living is rubbish basically!

I know its not all roses and i would never suggest it is, but from my experience of this country/lifestyle as a young adult trying to start out in life, it certainly feels like Oz offers a much better standard of living anyway!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Aahhh, I was wondering where you currently live. There's good infrastructure in London and the South East, so you can live an hour or more away from the city centre and commute in. I knew someone who commuted from Ipswich to London on a daily basis, for example.

Australia's infrastructure isn't so great. The train journey from some of the further suburbs in Sydney for example can be long and unreliable. A great deal of western Sydney does not have public transport, so you'd have to drive to work and your workplace may not have parking on site - and if you're working in the CBD that's going to add up to a lot in parking costs. You may be living out in Baulkam Hills, for example, but get a job over in the Eastern Suburbs. Public transport - there isn't any. Driving - road tolls, parking costs at the other end. Time spent commuting - probably an hour and a half.

Also, outer suburbs tend to be housing - and that's it. If you're used to having shops, bars, cafes, etc close by you might have to get used to getting into your car and driving a bit.

That's why housing in the outer suburbs is so affordable. 200k GBP will get you a house in Sydney's inner cities, but it will be similar to what you could get in London - small and in one of the less salubrious / 'up and coming' areas. If you're willing to consider a flat instead, you won't have so many problems finding something but would still have to compromise a bit.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

200k sterling will get you a very nice 2 bed flat 1/2 hour commute to Melbourne CBD.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

I think a lot of people forget how tough it is for younger couples having sat in their own family homes for a while. That next big step up is hard in London. I do not envy you! I'd give Melbourne a go certainly.

Nothing wrong with Kingston! In a part of the world getting more and more expensive and there's nicer parts!

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Do you mind if I ask what you did in Uni/what your occupations are?

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Why are you going to Australia?
I'm sure nobody would go just for a bigger house but it will be part of the decision for many.
I'm hoping for same size house, smaller mortgage personally. I'm also looking forward to better weather, meeting new people, having the experience of living abroad.

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Take no notice of this herbert,because his son lives here, he's an expert.

Well we do live here and if your willing to adapt , embrace the Aussie way of life and work hard your life will be so much more rewarding then living in grubby old blighty.

We have a smaller mortgage than we had in UK but the property is beyond compare, our son is thriving as are we. It is difficult when theres kids involved (i.e Leaving grand parents etc ) but as you've wrote you are a young professional couple and i no doubt you will do all of the above, so DO IT, you will only regret you did'nt do it sooner....

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Ah....here is another one who didn't have the wherewithall to make a decent living in the UK:lol:

Re: Am i imagining this??
 

Mr BE Anorak, you really need to get out more chief.........

Preferably not to Oz though, we poms have a bad enough reputation for Whinging as it is...no doubt you will keep up the tradition.

I can't wait for your response...................