jad n rich

Its probably not official, but its real. The cost of many things in Sydney, Perth and AUCKLAND are totally beyond comprehension.

Molly Coddle

WOW! AND Auckland!?

jad n rich

Yep, utterly insane prices.

You have it right going to Queensland, pricewise, and wages are not much lower at all.

Property has not yet recovered from the 2008 bust, in melb, sydney, auckland its recovered then gone nuts. I suspect much of the crazy money came from overseas investors, immigrants.

QLD well, the SE, coasts and brisbane has only just started to tick again. In some areas, you can buy a comparable house for a third of the price of melbourne let alone sydney. Plus the stamp duty can be half of melbourne. You can add $60,000 of stamp duty on a house in melb, just an average house.

We bought in melb due to the kids moving on, but it made my eyes water

On a weekend drive we tried to buy a flipper in redcliffe, a house 2 streets from the beach, $250,000. Tried to beat off 4 other buyers but too late, gone. I bet it sells again for around the $400,000 + in a year.

Mike at Taree

Not being a smartybum but before retiring I worked for nine years for a service company you've never heard of (Stellar Asia Pacific, does similar work to Transfield Services, Serco etc). One of our jobs was to run the after hours call centre for Housing WA, overnight. The most common callouts were to secure homes in Public housing areas that had been burgled, home invaded or usually just bricks thrown through the window and whilst some (small) areas of Perth look just fine during the sunny daylight hours you wouldn't want to be caught out there after dark. Just reportin' what the locals say.
Not singling out Perth as such, similar areas exist in most capital cities.

Another point is that from your username I'd guess you are Asian and, if you are from the Subcontinent you may have, over the last few years, read alarming reports in your press of Indian nationals being attacked or killed in Australia, particularly Melbourne. Just as the rape cases in India that have been widely reported worldwide they are not typical of daily life here, and in fact several of the cases including murder turned out to be within the Indian community itself, fueds and money arguments etc.

You'll be fine.

HighAsia

I still need to learn more on the skill assessment process, but looks like the occupations were already removed from the Victoria's list and WA did not even have them listed. This looks like a uphill battle for me.

I am not a native English speaker (wish I was). But I have been living and working in the US for over 12 years. I also obtained my college eduction here. Thanks for your time and information. It seems like you know a lot about the Australian immigration system.

old.sparkles

If you have been living and working in the US for so long, then IELTS may not be too bad. The skills assessment is something you will need to look at and decide for yourself if you have the information needed. If not, then try and get the bits that are missing. Lots of info on the ACS site as to what they need.

HighAsia

I appreciate your comment specially the second paragraph. Something thing happened a few days ago that is related to what you have brought up. I was telling my kids that we are going to move to Australia and they asked me how Australia looks like and what the people look like. I told them it looks better than USA and the people look like Americans too and speak English, but they have really cool accent. Anyway, my kids wanted to watch on YouTube. So on my TV's YouTube I typed Australia. First thing came up was this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BctxaJHDzWo

From the title I knew what this video would be about. so I skipped it and showed my kids some cool things around Sydney and some Australian talking. One kid seemed to be excited to move there and another did not want to go. He was worried about not being able to understand Australian people. Later, I watched the above video alone and I was stunned. I know this would NOT represent most Australians, but even if 25% of Australians are like in this video, I would never step a foot on the Australian soil (even as a tourist).

Yes I am from the Indian subcontinent of Nepal. I look like an average northern Indian, but in the US many think that I am from South America until they see my name. My wife is from Thailand, so my kids look half Indian and half Chinese.

Amazulu

I wouldn't want to live in that street either! Sure, those people are awful but the guy with the glasses was acting like a major asshole too

If you feel that this represents 25% of Australia then don't come

moneypenny20

+1

HighAsia

I did not say I feel that this represents 25% of Australia. I meant to say if there is a study/stat that shows that 25% of Australians are like this, then I would never go there. I know there is no study like that and I am sure 25% of Australians are not like that too.

I am curious though, since the guy was acting like a jerk and all, but is it OK to treat him like that (threatening to kill him and making racist remarks)? And you think that the neighbors actions were justified?

Dorothy

Look, Australia is just like America or Canada or UK or any other western, first world country. There is no magic fix for the world's problems here. There are racists, crime, drugs, 9-5 daily slog, commutes, and all the other frustrations you get anywhere in the western world. Don't get me wrong...I'm satisfied with my life here. I work in a job I love and live in a nice house by the ocean. However, I could have had those things back home in Canada, too.

I wouldn't get your kids involved in a "we are moving to Australia" until you know that you can even get a visa. You havent even started on what is a very long process for someplace you know very little about. My advice would be to do some real research then decide if you're going to start looking at visas.

moneypenny20

Where did Zulu say that?

HighAsia

Thanks for your comment and advice! I have been doing research outside British Expats forum and have learned a few things about Australia, people and culture. I even talked to a couple people (friends of friend) who had moved to Australia from USA. It was nice to be able to hear the balance view from them (since they have lived in both countries).

I also contacted a migration agent located in Australia and she thinks that I am well qualified for 189 visa. All I need to do is take IELTS and score 7 and above in each module. She also thinks that there are a few state sponsor options I should be qualified for.

With all that, I have decided to not purse Australia. I had a long conversation with my family back home this morning and they did not see a point for me to move to Australia to save a few hours of flying time when we go home every two years. They also reminded me that there is no need for me to start over in Australia when I have a good paying job with one of the best companies to work for and a nice house (brand new house I bought last year) on a hill overlooking the beautiful valley in one of the safest states and cities in America. 1/2 acre yard for my kids to run around. Their point was to either stay in the US or move back to Nepal. My brother and sister were going to take care of my parents when they need help. Currently they live their own and have a housemaid.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. It has been a great learning experience.

Amazulu

WTF? You got this out of what I wrote?

Bizarre

kips

Absolutely. Perth is a rip off. Eating and drinking in restaurants, pubs and wine bars is definitely way more expensive in Perth than Sydney. We lived on the east coast for 8 years and had a week's holiday in Sydney last July and noticed the difference.

In Perth the pubs charge restaurant prices for food. We met some friends for a meal and drinks at a pub in Fremantle recently. My husband paid $38 for a tiny steak. It came with minuscule amount of salad.

And at the moment fruit and veg in the supermarkets is expensive and not very good quality. Hubby paid $4 for one small avocado last week.

Charged a fortune for car repairs as well. A couple of weeks ago it cost me $1,300 to get repairs done on my car. Out of this the labour charge was $682.50 for 6.5 hours work at $105 an hour. And I don't believe for one minute they spent that amount of time fixing the oil leak and replacing the spark plugs and timer belt.