Hi,
I am going through the visa application at the moment, and would like any input on how much money we (Family of 4) need when we first arrive in Aus(perth)?
We were hoping to rent out our house in the UK But mortgage is so big we will lose out.(Approx £100 month)
The missus wants to keep something in the UK just in case, But I would rather sell up, Take the £60K equity and put it into a house down under.

If we don't sell the house we will only have between £10 and £15 k To start off with .

If anyone has any thoughts or advice I would really appreciate it.

this is my personal opinion
you have to make up your own mind as to what is best for you and yours

personally you should sell the property and take the money as i believe that if you still have a house in the UK its just to easy to give up and go home

no house no bolt hole = work hard harder in making most of your new life

as i said at the start this is only my personal oplnion

best of luck which ever way you decide
regards Steve_

How long is a piece of string? I guess it depends on whether or not have jobs/family or friends to help or a preference for caviar.

We're going to be taking approx £15k assuming we get what we want for our house. The remaining equity from the house will have to go to pay for the $100k bond so at least we know we will get that back after 12 months.

I thought about not selling and renting the house out, for about a minute! But I'm of the opinion that we're emigrating to Australia for good! If we come back, then so be it and we'll buy another house but we're not leaving anything behind (except family of course ) JUST IN CASE.
Hope this helps.

try this one

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347716

My personal opinion is the opposite (no offence Steve!),

I've lived in Holland for the past 10 years, and I kept my place in the UK. For the first few years, I had to move money back to cover the mortgate. But now I'm in the situation where the mortgage covers itself and then some. In fact I was on the phone to C&G today to increase my payments.

I know I'll nver move back there unless really necessary, but I've got an asset in a strong currency, and increasing in value faster than pretty well any investment.

I'm not thinking about if I should do exactly the same with my place here when I move to Australia in a couple of months time.

My thought is that in a couple of years, I will know if Australia will be permanent. Perhaps that would be the time to sell and put the money into an Australian property.

Hi

Have you both got jobs lined up ?? If so, are they well paid ?? Because you will need 'em to be if you want a good standard of living over here, whilst having to pay a big % of your salary in UK mortgage payements.

Sell the house is my advice. You can get a hell of a lot more here with your £60,000.
Plus like someone has previously said, it'd be too easy to give up and go back if things got tough if you still had a home in the UK.

Hi Sion
Me and her indoors are thru all of our visa app and are waiting for the Yes vote. We've decided to sell all and go for broke. Aus is a great place once you get there you wont want to come back. I'd say sell sell sell.

Great post, saved me writing the same comment.

Keep the house for 1/2 years and then decide if Oz is going to be your new home. This way if you decide to come home you are still on the ladder.

10-15k should see you through the start up costs easy enough but this depends on your tastes and how soon you get work etc....

I am sure lots of people come with a lot less and do great and I guess lots come with lots more and struggle :scared:

Good Luck

KB

We came out here with about £5k after flights and first 2 months accomodation. We knew we'd have to take it easy at first but still enjoyed a month or so off before we started thinking about working.

My advice is also the opposite (also no offence Steve). With it being such a high percentage of people return I wouldn’t take the risk especially if you like you house and area. Although losing $100 a month ($240) is to me still a lot and releasing the equity will only get you less than $140,000 so not enough to be debt free at this end either.

I didn’t do this advice and sold everything and freed up all my equity and I now seriously regret the decision and there’s no undoing it once you’ve done it.. I personally don’t see any problem with keeping your options open and knowing in the back of your mind you have a place to return to if things don’t work out.

I'm not going to give you any advice either way, but if it helps to make up your mind, I can tell you that £60,000 = $141,553.85 - which adds up to a pretty reasonable deposit, IMHO.

Wow thanks for all the responses,

To answer some questions , no We have not got a job lined up , but I am a maintenance electrician and was hoping there would be quite a lot of work out there.

It will take a lot of discussions (arguments with the missus) until we decide what to do about the house. But who cares I am sure once we are in aAuswe will laugh about it.(Heres hoping) Cant afford another divorce !

It depends on if you really want to make a go of it in oz. Sell the house and you could use the funds to put down on a house and have a very small mortgage which in turn should give you less money problems. Chance to enjoy the ozy life. And less reason to return.
Keep the house and you will need to find at least $240 a month, and thats if you house is rented. Think how much you would need if the house is empty for any period. This will put a strain on you on finance's and you are more likely to head back to UK.
Just my opinion. I would sell the house keep my fingers crossed and live life to the max down under!
Good luck what ever you decide.

Suni