Juvefan

125K a year!
just dont worry at all! it puts you in the top bracket of earners in the country!
earning over 10k a week, means you can rent what ever you want.
1000 pw puts you in beautiful areas.
you will be having a wonderful life .. congrats!

Bermudashorts

I think you have some maths problems there. This means take home of $1,700pw so I don't think OP will be wanting to spend $1k on rent..

Twinny2014

Thanks for that. We had noticed that the general prices of things like groceries, meals out etc., were all higher than the UK. The salary is net of Super and bonus and we do get private heathcare as part of the package. My partner would only work part time at a maximum because she hasn't been well over the last 12 months and the idea is she takes some time off working to spend some time with our daughter before she gets to school age.

The distance from home is a bit of a bummer, but in reality it is probably the reason the salary offered was so good, because it means that people in the UK with my skills (which are sought after in Australia) are less inclined to make the move; so, less competition equals a bigger salary.

evets

Welcome, good package. The healthcare is a bonus, as can work out expensive if you have to get a decent package yourself. I assumed until recently that it was standard from companies in Australia but not. Find out if it covers your wife and child.

Another thing to consider, and not sure if still relevant is if you have a private pension you may be able to transfer to your AU Super. At the time I was not made aware of this, then again I did not look into it myself. Just double check to see if still possible as would have made a huge difference.

Juvefan

oh sorry, didnt he say NET? so I thought it was 2600pw not including bonuses and such he added.. but yeah, he probably wont want to spend half on rent!

Twinny2014

I was looking to spend about £500 per week on rent. Possibly up to £650 for somewhere special.

Bermudashorts

No he didn't say net. He said $125k per year which would net him about $1700 per week. No clue on bonuses.

Bermudashorts

I hope you mean $ not £.

Twinny2014

Sorry yes, dollars!

Juvefan

he did mention net.. maybe TWINNY can clarify this again.. as I am confused here... Twinny will you be getting 125K NET! meaning take home after taxes!

Bermudashorts

I think he just means $125k before bonuses. Salaries are not usually quoted net of tax!

Twinny2014

Hi, it said 125k, net of bonuses.

Bonuses will be between 25 and 75k, dependent on performance.

Phoodilicious

Obviously we all have different priorities and what one considers livable versus someone else's interpretation of that. When we arrived in Brisbane and started looking at rental properties nearly 2 years ago we also said let's limit ourselves to $650 a week. Well after viewing horrible places in nice locations we soon realised we were going to have to pay more for a nice place in a nice location!

Also we were surprised that at viewings of nice places, the scramble to get the application in was unbelievable and people were offering over and above the stated weekly rental. This was not something we realised and lost out twice because we offered the asking price and other people offered more (in one of those instances they offered an extra $50 p/w). We ended up 7kms from the city in a nice enough house in a nice suburb at $850 a week. We then chose to move after the first year lease was up and moved 25kms from the city but on a train line (40 mins to work) and now have a lovely home in a fantastic location (in our view) for around the same weekly rental.

Be warned that what you see online on the rental websites are almost never realistically portrayed, their cameramen need to win prizes for creativity. You may well find, like we did, that the $500-$650 a week rent will not get you what you hope for, certainly the nearer into the city you are (but then commute costs need to be factored in).

Twinny2014

Thanks for your advice, I've heard the gripes about misleading photos before actually. In terms of where we live I think we can realistically position ourselves far enough out of the centre of Brisbane to get a good deal. My partner will be at home with our little one so she doesn't need to commute and I will be on the road around Queensland and in the office in Brisbane occassionally. I get a company paid car so that will be my mode of transport.

Having looked online, we are tempted to buy because it would naturally be less aggressive than the rental market and renting is also 'dead money'. We have a property in the UK and a share of another, so buying has always served us well.

We just need to rent whilst we get a deposit together really.

What are your views on getting in there prepared to get the best rent deals (other than being prepared to pay over ask!). We've been told having part completed paperwork is a good idea, so you can submit your application there and then. What other documents would we need to provide? We've only ever bought properties before!

Phoodilicious

I made a pack of things like copy of 457 visa letter, employer's letter stating salary, past references, copy of passport, other ID ( we had our Australia drivers license already which helped for the 100 point ID check). Part of my relo package included 3 months temporary accommodation while we waited for our goods to arrive so we were able to get a good look around various suburbs to get a feel for where we wanted to live, what the traffic was like, ease of getting to the city and more local facilities etc. As we had this head start we got the AU drivers licenses, bank accounts etc. all this helped in the credit checks for the rentals. If you see somewhere you think might be good, do the obvious things like drive past and around the location. Look online to see what type of application they accept as not all agents use the common application (can't recall what they call it) and so if they don't accept that one, might be worth dropping into the agent of the places you like the look of and picking up their bespoke application forms ahead of the open house. We had a relocation agent working with us as part of the relo so she was very helpful and tried to get us private viewings instead of open houses when possible.

I can't speak with any authority at all as far as rent vs buy while on a sponsored temporary visa so it's just my personal opinion. In our experience the place you can afford to rent is a nicer property than the one you can afford to buy without a substantial deposit so if you haven't already got that (you mentioned saving it up) you might find that renting gives you a nicer home/lifestyle. For example both the home we originally rented near to the city was $850 P&W rent but valued around $1m. The home we are currently renting for similar rent is valued around the $1.5m mark apparently (the owners had considered selling instead of long term renting so they had it valued). Also if only a temporary resident here you might decide not to stay long term or you don't get PR/ renewed visa and then you might have to try and sell a property quite quickly, assuming of course you can get a mortgage with little/no credit history here. Many moons ago a financial adviser friend of mine said it rarely works out financially beneficial to buy a place unless you don't need to sell within the next 5 years. I'm sure someone with more recent experience or who has done the sums for rent vs buy for a potentially short term investment with chime in with their pennies worth as well.