Hey guys,

Those of you considering the Move to Oz please be aware and prepared to set up your new life.

Me and my partner moved to Melbourne 3 weeks ago and you must be prepared to wait a while to find a home, the housing market here has a less than a 1% success rate, as many people are applying for the same properties. Buying is similar; with auctions or open days being the way to buy places.

It is a totally different system here than the UK - You will view places with other people, do not expect a private viewing in any major cities, also be aware that you are moving to a country where water is very highly valued; right now in Melbourne they have just announced a 95% hike in water rates.

However it is not all bad news - If you rent you DO NOT pay council tax!!! So remember to add that to your weekly budget and you will be amazed at the difference it will make to the places you are looking at. Electricity and or gas is also yours to sort out so you can shop around and get a good deal - most will sign you up for 24 months though (i got a 5% discount for this plus a further 5% if you pay on time!), same with phone (go telstra), internet, Sky (foxtel over here) etc... all of which is very expensive - try and bundle this all through one company to maximise your discounts!!!! Every cent counts.

Furnished places are rare but you will get bargain goods if you look down the side streets (electrical prices are NOT higher if you know where to look).

One a final note - get an idea of what you want by using websites such as domain to find properties and dates of inspection etc... Also use websites like seek if you don't have a job lined up.

Anyways we've been here 3 weeks like i've said and despite its differences we love it - just give yourselves time to adjust. All the Best and good luck!!!

Phill

Cheers for that Phil.....Good to know.

Save a House for us!!

Really good advice Phill - has anybody else got any advice like this

Here's a thread on renting (in Sydney), with a couple of posts on my experiences of the process.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=524423

I have to disagree on the electrical prices (unless Melbourne is massivly cheaper than Adelaide). Tvs are the cheaper, but there are many things which are far more expensive, mostly dishwashers, freezers, tumble dryers and surround sound systems, ohhh and mobile phones.

Thanks

Thats why you want to live northern NWS......plenty of water Kingscliff great beaches, only 10 mins from the Goldcoast.....

That's really useful advice.

Not sure if this is the case and may well be as Melbourne is Australia's busiest port - therefore prices for shipping around won't be added on (maybe...). Also a lot of Rented properties will come with white goods, as far as dishwashers - don't bother getting one, they use way too much water to be worth the bill. You're definately right about mobile phones though - I got mine unlocked before coming over and therefore only need the sim card ($20). As for washers and driers I'm not fuly aware so you're most probably right; our flat has a shared laundry.
You can find bargains though - a lot of second hand shops will give you a refurbished guarantee. If you want top end goods then as Oz is still a little behind you will pay through the nose.

ALSO BRING REFERENCES FROM EITHER YOUR MORTGAGE PROVIDER OR LETTING AGENT WITH YOU!!!! it's worth the £40.00 they will probably charge for it. Anyway's for a list of things to bring the forum will have a "preparing to move checklist". - there worth looking up as it is well worth your time making sure you have everything ready, it's a big move to do unprepared!

Don't get a dishwasher???? Are you mad????
I would rather never flush my toilet and use the water for the dishwasher than not have one!

Ohhh another difference here with White goods, they are very basic compared to the UK. We couldn't find a washing machine anywhere near the spec of what we had in the UK for any price.
Our dishwasher was about $100 than our one in the UK had been 8 years ago and was just a basic crappy one.
They have very odd tumble dryers here which just vent straight out of the door! I must have looked very odd in the shops staring strangly and repeating over and over 'but where does the water go?'.

Fridges don't seem to be as advanced here, not much choice in plumbed in models.

Re. SIM cards - you can get Pre-paid SIMs from, e.g., Vodafone for $29 which have $150 of credit on them. They last a month.

Re. white goods - IME most places only come with dishwashers, if they come with those.

BTW I was initially anti-dishwasher as I didn't think they are environmentally friendly but then it's 20 years since I had one, and I have since learned that today's models use far less water, better than washing up 3 times a day.

Re. quality of white goods - we have bought high spec Bosch front-loader washing machine and a dryer with a condenser. Not cheap but they are available.

Dishwashers are more water miserly than by hand. The newer ones use very little water. We just wait till ours is full and put it on and that way we save even more water.

You can get cheap electrical goods on line or do deals with the place. European model things are snob value here so tend to be a lot more expensive despite being badged along with a cheaper model.

A lot of apartments are not sound insulated so take that into account when looking for one.

So would you say, all in all, it's worth us taking our white goods with us to Aus and just getting adapters to plug em in? That's probably a whole other thread somewhere isn't it.

Don't bother with fridge freezer - they have more ompf here than U ones and they don't travel well anyway.

We had a dyson washing machine. Bought it over cos it was so expensive! It went a bit wrong here - they don't sellthem here and never have but dyson shipped it from reg QLD to sydney replaced almost every moving part with stuff they'd shipping in for it and sent it back FOC! So bring one of those if you have one.......

Do you really need all the extra features - i've had them and never used more than one or two programs.

Oh yes, one or two. I'd say, if you have the room in your container, take a youngish washer and dryer with you as they are expensive here. I think I've read that fridges are high risk for getting damaged in transit and older ones may even be banned (CFS?) but TBH didn't pay too much attention so best to do a search and check that.

We didn't have any white goods at all (having been in part-furnished in Asia) so had to start from scratch, and it's a big dent in your first month's salary, especially if you want "European" style appliances.