Wannagobacktowa

Hi, I am a single male, British born Australian citizen currently living in the UK but looking to return to WA ASAP.

I am in the UK because 6 years ago, my partner decided to return to England after 6 years in Australia and wanted to bring our two early teenage children with her. This caused many rows as neither child wanted to return to England and this eventually led to us splitting up. However, I didn't stand in her way and she returned to the UK with the kids. I stayed on in WA myself until I could sell the house. I returned to the UK a year later so that I could be near my children.

With my share of the house sale proceeds, I bought myself a small flat and went back to work for the firm I left many years ago. I've spent the last four years feeling like I have gone backwards in time. (Like a prison escapee who has been recaptured and put back in his cell).

Now, with both of my kids having turned 18 and both off at university, I am looking at returning to WA. Both of my kids are joint citizens and they are adamant that they will move back to Australia once they graduate.

My problem is that when I sell my flat, it won't buy me what I had in Perth or anything like it. I won't be able to get a mortgage straight away so I will leak money for a year or so paying rent.

Because of my age, I wouldn't be able to get a 25 or 30 year mortgage as I don't have that many working years in front of me.

I'm toying with left field ideas like buying a campervan or pooling resources with someone else who is in the same situation as me.

Is there anyone on here who has found themselves in the same or a similar position?

Rete

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Dorothy

I don't know why you think you can't get a mortgage. I'm 55 and got a 30 year mortgage last year. House prices here in WA have dropped a lot in 6 years so you may be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck with your return

spouse of scouse

Hi, welcome to BE. Are you sure you don't have enough money to buy a villa or unit? It mightn't be the area you want or the size property you want, but in my opinion this would provide you with much more security than a campervan which comes with additional, ongoing costs.

A villa with no strata fees, or a unit with low strata fees, would give you a permanent home which becomes more important as we get older.

Wannagobacktowa

The tricky thing for me is that after moving costs, I'd be lucky to have $200k left over. I'd then need to sort a car and pay for living expenses until I can find work. Due to my age and the history of toing and froing, I'd expect to have a bit of trouble finding work. I won't be able to get a mortgage without a job so I would have to rent for a while. I know that house prices and rents have softened a fair bit, but I can't see anything online which would be within my price range (I'd be around $50k short).

Wannagobacktowa

Thanks Dorothy. I have been watching house prices since I left and they have indeed fallen by a fair bit. But because I moved back to the UK, the fall in the value of the Pound has pretty much wiped out any advantage I might have had with the drop in Perth housing prices. I didn't realise though that you could get a mortgage which stretched beyond your retirement age. I thought you had to be able to prove some sort of income level beyond retirement? I do have a little bit of Super stashed away in Australia and I will be entitled to the basic UK state pension when I retire. Can these be considered as income sources for mortgage purposes?

spouse of scouse

I can see your dilemma. It sounds as though a share rental would be your best bet initially, then you can reassess when you get a job. Hanging onto as much of your funds as you can to use as a deposit will mean a smaller mortgage if you decide to buy (I'm probably teaching you to suck lemons but you never know!).

We're also moving back in a couple of weeks (Perth in our case). The £/AUD$ exchange rate is shite, as you'd well know! Have you considered renting in a country region rather than the city? I guess you need to be where the work is, might be worth looking into.

carcajou

It depends on what OP's profession is, and also which one of the country regions.

There are some places where you can buy a house in the $200,000 range, but buyer beware. These are often old fibro houses (1950s and 1960s) and need considerable renovation to bring them into the modern era, often another $100,000 worth at least. The towns those houses are in are often in steep decline as well.

However that is better than a campervan and I really think OP should avoid that at all costs.

If OP can be more specific about his/her professional circumstances, I think the forum can be more specific with its advice.

Wannagobacktowa

I work in residential construction currently as a site agent (new build housing estate, 60 detached homes). I started life out as a plumber many years ago and I have also worked in building supplies, estimating, contracts admin and I have also done a bit of warehouse work. I was working for one of the EPCM's on one of the mine site villages just before I left WA. I'm on fairly good money in the UK but not enough to save any meaningful amount (helping the kids through uni eats away at the cash).

I'll do anything for a living and I am pretty adaptable with a good work record and solid references (never been unemployed). I would ideally like to be within 40km of the city with Mandurah being about as far south as I would consider.

I'd buy a fibro but mostly they are on very large blocks so they tend to be snapped up by developers for knockdown and block splitting. I wouldn't care about the condition of the house as I could work on it in my spare time (I've always bought doer uppers in the past).

carcajou

Not in country WA . . .

Regardless I don't think you will find any work suitable in the regions in the career field you described, except maybe in very isolated pockets, like Bunbury, or in one of the mine site villages as you alluded to . . . but this maybe isn't the best time for that. Mia Mia in Newman just went under and stopped trading, for instance.

So the Perth area or bust.

Amazulu

Mining project engineering is going gangbusters in WA right now. All the big mining companies are building new mines and Lithium is going ballistic. Most of the Perth based EPCMs are busy. This will feed into a good few years of construction. It Is a good time to move over IMO

Wannagobacktowa

If I was going to go "country", it would be somewhere like Marges or Augusta and both of those are out of my reach. I'm thinking probably some of the less desireable locations in Mandurah might be a good place to start. I wouldn't need to earn a fortune if I could pay cash for a house or unit so I'm not too fussed about what I do for a living. Shift work, weekends, a couple of part time jobs maybe?

Wannagobacktowa

I'm getting conflicting info on this one. I know a lot of people who were working for the EPCM's back in 2014 who still say there isn't much going on. I know there are a couple of projects starting, but they are not of the same number and magnitude as the booming 2010 to 2014 period. Still, it's good to hear that things are maybe picking up a bit.

spouse of scouse

Some food for thought
https://www.realestate.com.au/proper...dina-128833814

https://www.realestate.com.au/proper...ield-128793334

https://www.realestate.com.au/proper...ells-128821282

https://www.realestate.com.au/proper...dale-128659134

Beoz

It is picking up. I didn't hear boo from Perth for a few years and I have had to do 3 trips in the last 6 months. I finally hired a bloke, based him on the east coast to take care of the infrastructure boom but Perth keeps calling, so he's spending a lot of time back and forth from Perth. If this keeps up I am going to have to hire in Perth because the infrastructure boom is going nuts too.

As Amazulu says, definitely a good time to move.