Steve-B

my wife and i are about to be transfered to Sydney on a 4 year 457 visa. whilst we will retain UK citizenship, and other issues, we really want to not waste 4 years of money in Oz and would rather purchase a place to live.

in opening our account on Friday up Londonium with Commenwealth Bank, the manager said we could not purchase property unless a new build in the 'burbs which isn't ON for us.

Questions:

1) how hard is it to get gov't approval to purchase an existing place?
2) are we better renting as we will be on the equivalent of LAFHA?
3) are we out of our minds?
4) should we just purchase a place, and rent it out in the UK, and not worry about the rent down the swanny?

thanks for your replies in advance!

Steve

Buzzy--Bee

Steve, why don't you see if your company will employ you for PR instead of 457? Then you wont have any of these worries. Even if you do get approval to buy a 2nd hand home, you'll miss out on the homebuyers tax rebate without PR. Also there's a whole heap of other benefits PR will give you. Do some research, ask your company the question and see what happens!

Cheers

Buzzy

JAJ

Do you have school age children? If so, you need to know that you will need to pay almost AUD5000 per child per year to send them to government schools.

If that's the case make sure your employer is going to pay, or sort out a PR visa.

Also be aware that your employer should be paying for full medical insurance - reciprocal Medicare is very limited - or again, sort out the problem at source by getting a permanent visa.

For buying property, the FIRB website can be consulted: http://www.firb.gov.au

And if you are planning to have children in Australia, they won't be Australian citizens if you only have a 457 visa when they are born. The 457 is really a very limited visa, it allows you to work for your employer but gives you very little else.

Jeremy

Steve-B

Thanks Jeremy, our kids have moved house as they have both finished university now so that's one thing we don't need to worry about any longer

Steve-B

Buzzy, i have not seen a PR visa, what is the difference from a 457? Our plan is to be there for 4 years, then back to the UK, or Japan.

taylor1

HI Steve we are on a 457 visa (2yrs) but are waiting for our PR visa at the mo, we were approved a mortgage with The Commonwealth bank but only for a certain amount 80%. We were approved by the fed board as well. So it is possible but as mentioned u do miss out on a few bonus'. Michelle

Buzzy--Bee

PR is Permanent Residency, there are options for employers to sponsor you for this, maybe do a search or ask on the immigration forum - immigration agents hang out there and you should get the right advice.

Cheers

Buzzy

lauralollipop

Steve

We looked into all of this and its much cheeper to rent and you do make alot more money on the LAFHA.

We have applied for PR now and have lost the LAFHA, and we are really feeling the brunt of it now as we are alot down on our monthly income.

We have also been looking at places to buy and mortgage re-payments, even on a house as low as 250,000 in the burbs way out in middle of nowhere, are heaps more than what we pay in rent for a big house on the beach and near the station. Plus there is rates to pay and more in water, which you dont pay if you are renting.

We have decided to wait it out and see if we can afford a house next year, as we already own one in UK but dont want to sell it till we have our PR come through and also we now will need the FHBG.

If you are only looking to be here for 4 years and not stay then I would certainly advise to rent and keep the LAFHA, as you will be much better off and get a much nicer place for cheeper, plus you dont have the hassle of selling it and asking the government etc..... and you can live where you want....

Hope this helps

Laura
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