General opinions/advice etc
 

Hi all :thumbsup:

OK, so as per title, I am looking for some general advice and opinions.

My wife and I, and our two young children are seriously considering a move to Australia. The hope is that my wife can get a visa due to being a qualified Nurse.

Anyways, I'm really just looking for some of your views, in terms of what states would be good to move to. I suppose to be able to advise you'll need to know what we're looking for ! Well, climate is big on the list ! We really want somewhere that gets lots of nice weather, so that unlike here in the UK, you can make plans for days off work without them being ruined by bismal weather conditions ! We also don't need to be living in a city. At the minute, we are around 30 minutes drive from the nearest cities, and happy to keep at this kind of distance - this brings me to the next bit ... property ! We currently own our house (mortgaged) and would hopefully be looking to buy rather than rent. However, a look online was telling me that property can be pretty expensive over there - am I looking in the wrong places ? Where can we get good VFM property-wise ? I don't need a mansion, but 4 bedrooms would be nice, and like I say, we don't need to be near a city so can hopefully avoid inflated prices ??

So, in short, good climate and reasonable property prices. Any suggestions ??

There's a wealth of info online but it seems to vary wildly from site to site, so would be good to hear from people who actually live there - from the horses mouth, so to speak !

Thanks in advance people ! :)

Bryan

Re: General opinions/advice etc
 

Can't (or won't) suggest areas to live other than to say go where the job prospects are best for you both but a few comments: - climate is a subjective thing, what I consider 'better' is considered ghastly by others so a bit more info needed there - for example you state that there are times you can't plan stuff or get out because of weather in the UK. In some areas of Aus, summer is very very hot and you're unlikely to want to take children out in the heat. Lots of people find the climate more of a problem here than the UK.

With regard to property, most people want to buy when they arrive. Generally speaking it's a mistake (we did it immediately and were very very lucky). The most sensible thing would be to rent for at least six months to a) get a feel for the area; b) get employment so you have more idea of the ideal suburb and c) it's much easier to get mortgages with Aussie pay slips. You can do it without but it easier with.

Value for money is also individual. If you were coming from, say posh areas of Buckinghamshire and wanted to live in the suburbs of Darwin you'd get great value for money. If you're coming from a small house in one of the poorer areas of the UK, you'll struggle to find anything reasonable 30 minutes drive from Sydney.

Everyone will 'sell' their area of the country but it all comes down to where you can both find work. whether you like humidity/dry heat and other variables.

Good luck. It's a nightmare when you first start out. :D

Re: General opinions/advice etc
 

Hi. We are in WA about 20mins north of Perth. To start with nursing, plenty of jobs for very qualified nurses. Don't know about weather in summer yet but the last 2 months since we've been here have been like a dull summers day in the Uk with a couple of hours nice weather but it is winter. Its really chilly in the evenings. One thing that takes a bit of time to get used to is that in winter it is goes dark at 5:30pm and in summer 8pm. The prices of houses are very very expensive even where we live along with everything else in my opinion shopping, eating out. We didn't sell up in the UK but rented our house so renting here is our only option. Good luck with whatever you choose. It is a big big decision to make, but worth a try I think.