Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Hi
I was wondering if anyone could offer me some help please. My husband and I are looking into moving to perth however, have never visited before. We currently own our house in scotland so we are looking at putting this on the market next month. My husband is a qualified roofer (metal sheets) and I am a qualified social worker.
I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice on good suburbs that has good schools (wanting to start family soon), reasonable priced housing and good job prospects.
I was also wondering if we would be best to ship all our stuff over or to buy it over in perth and also wondering if we would be best to rent over in australia before buying a house.
Would my husband be able to secure a job before we move to perth?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nicola

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Hi you don't state where abouts in the Perth area you want to stay as it's a big area.
House prices can be viewed as expensive compared to the Uk and with the exchange rate being so bad at the moment it would be prudent to rent for the first 6 months at least.

For example the average Scottish house is worth £160,000 where as the average Perth home is around $400,000 although there are some new build home and land packages around $350,000.

Renting can cost upwards of $300+ per week depending on the size of home and location

Job prospects tend to be better in Oz although I'm no expert and the wages seem to be better for comparable employment. The cost of living is alot higher though.

The best info I can give is to spend a few hours going through posts on the forum as there is a lot of good information available.

I've been to Perth twice and love it. Great city, great parks, lovely beaches and they cater for kids really well.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

House prices are EXPENSIVE and the cost of living is different.. If you are coming without jobs then I would make sure you have at least 6 months living money and set up money behind you... it can take a while to find a job... and some tradies have difficulty making contacts and getting started...

Are your qualifications recognised here?

Perth is a HUGE area... with big differences in house prices depending where you live... Renting is pretty much essential so you can get a feel for the area you live in... we could have brought WRONG had we not lived in the area.. listened to the locals and done some throrough research...

As for never having been before... Thats what we did... with 4 children in tow we couldnt afford a validation trip or recky... could have been a disaster, but it is the BEST thing we have ever done for ourselves as a family and for our children...

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

for $400k you wont get a decent house near half decent schools. Our tiny but renovated 3x1 is going on the market from 469k and we are hoping to move to a nicer area as we are also starting a family and think its a bit too scruffy here and the schools in this catchment are naff. We are expecting to pay around $600k for something what would be a step up but still not able to afford to buy in a great area.... as I would like
bring LOTS of money:thumbsup:

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

400$ will get you a half decent house in a half decent neighbourhood if youre prepared to look a bit south .... Rockingham and surrounds... For instance... i KNOW a lot of people on here slate the area, but there's an equal number of us here who live it, love it, are quite happy and have happy families here... On the whole the private schools arent as oversubscribed as north of the river.. Easy transport to perth ... Good commu ity sevices reasonable shopping EXCELLENT hospital:rofl:

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

we are looking south for our new place - you deffo get more for your money down that way:thumbup: should hear how everyone slates us though when I tell them:frown:

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

lol... Suck it Up Princess.. its the price you sometimes pay for having some sense and paying less!!!!!

I can live with it:thumbup:

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

I dont know much about Perth, I am looking to move to Melbourne myself, but in regards to shipping all your goods i am planning to use Bishops move. They offer specific information on moving to perth, this may help. http://residential.bishopsmove.com/m...alia/index.htm

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Totally agree, the sensible ones must be this side.:thumbsup:

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Have job offer in Perth, fly out mid March, looking at renting v.near the city to begin with as its easier for first 3 months of my job. But looking at prices we have more or less settled with Rockingham to buy permanently, obviously will check out the area when I get there. I know a few folk in Perth, they all say its nice, just a bit far from the city, suppose that depends if you have to work in the city centre (I dont). But property much more affordable than Northern areas and there seem to be plenty 4/5 bedroom houses under $380k.
Will let you know what happens! :)

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Rent first.... Get to know the area REALLY well... There are some pockets that shouldnt be brought in....

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Totally .... don't buy anywhere without renting and investigating first!

Wirelessly posted (SAMSUNG-GT-S8500/S8500BWJE8 Bada/1.0 Dolfin/2.0 NexPlayer/3.0 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.1 configuration/CLDC-1.1 OPN-B)

ta for that......which areas are the ones to avoid?

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Not whole areas with names... But smaller groups of streets... Within an area... Come and rent in the arae and explore...

And don't take anyone elses word for it... When it comes to forming opinions... Make your own, based on your needs, preferences and lifestyle...

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

With a budget of $600k, you would be able to buy in a suburb like Duncraig. Not too far out, not far from the beach, transport links, good primary schools (3) and a good high school. Very good private school in Duncraig, if you put your baby's name down as soon as he/she is born:fingerscrossed:, plus others around. You might get more house for your money in the Rockingham area, but you are much further out from the city and would need to budget for private school fees.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

All depends on what you`re budget is really - certainly have a good look around - make sure you know what you want (cafe strips/beach do you need to be near the city for work, will you be working North or South of the River etc) and then make sure all you`re boxes are ticked (or as many as poss) also work out what you`d be willing to compromise on. Rent for at least the first 6 months - once you`ve bought your first home selling it and re buying can get expensive.
Once you know what you want from an area and what you`re budget will be, working out which area to head to becomes slightly easier.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

I beg to differ... We are in the Rockingham area and we have 3 children all in the state system... you wouldn't HAVE to budget for private school fees at all...

:)

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

That's great, but there have been several posters on here who have found state primary and high schools unsatisfactory. Another poster put up this link http://bettereducation.com.au/results/WA/all.aspx and there's http://www.myschool.edu.au/. These sites give you an idea of how schools are performing, but not the whole picture. Dodgy schools can be in any area, dotted around, even in the western suburbs, and certainly in the north and east. Same goes for good schools. If you are in an area where state and private schools don't get good rankings, you might have to travel further afield, and commuting to school has its drawbacks.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

League tables is as league tables does... Our children are recieving a quality australian education ... There are parents who will find Eton unsatisfactory and that the VERY highly thought of and high ranking in league tables Public school I went to in the uk made my life a misery...

Our children didn't go to private schools in the uk, and they don't here.

Sorry, don't mean to offend (thats just a bonus) ....

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Sorry, but you don't get your bonus:sneaky:. My children both go to state school too, but not without some issues. Some of the expensive private high schools do not get good rankings. I have done a lot of work on schooling in WA and am aware of the inconsistencies out there. Any parent needs to do their homework when deciding on a school.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Totally agree Eddie - it`s all down to the individual kid - I know plenty of folk who have left the private schools because it wasn`t right for their kids - it works the other way too.

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

We have three children who went through state schools here in England, ones a qualified nurse, ones at university doing law and the other is at college doing a vetenary introduction course with the view point of going into animal care in some form. My point is that the high school they all attended was in the bottom half of the national schools league table, they are all girls so that might be it, all i do know is that they worked hard at school with people around them who are now doing nothing with there lives and there are others who have moved on to greater things than our children, it is the individual and how they crack on with it.
This has to be the answer over in Australia to, probably applies to almost every school system on earth, look at places like india and other poor countries, they supply first rate students and people with very high standards of grades, they also supply lesser levels of people, all from the same system?
Also, all of our children attended the same primary school on the same council estate, does that make my family any less of a family or is it purely a grade thing?

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

hi helen, the houses in Duncraig, etc which are affordable to us all need rennos, they are all original houses and with a big mortgage like that, we would have no money for rennos :( Think its so hard here. We are looking at Halls head in Mandurah, we love it down there and love the close proximity to the ocean, which is more important to us than the city. However the downside is the schools there are rubbish, so you are right would have to save for private school fees and get name down quick too......:thumbdown: either way, we will lose out on something....

Yes definitely rent for a year or 2 and get to know everywhere in Perth, we only rented here for 6 months as we were desperate to get onto property ladder (cos we rented for 1.5 years in melly too) and i just wish we had of taken more time to look into things more, then I wouldn't be in this position now.................... we would have pushed ourselves a bot harder to get to a nicer suburb instead of just buying where we could afford and thinking it would be ok

Re: Looking for some help re: moving to perth
 

Yes, LL, some very painful lessons have been learnt by many when it comes to property. Just be careful you don't rush into a similar situation again, and give yourselves some time to settle into parenthood.