I dunno, I kind of see having a house in the UK as a retirement fund. It would have been nice to leave it there for a few more years and let the rental pay the mortgage but hey ho, can't complain, have bought a lovely little town house and just just in the process of buying my second one, pending finance so I can honestly say I am now in the same healthy level of debt as I was in the uk lol...Oh and something else I would do different? I wouldnt move to Cleveland!

Dont say that wendy, i spent a fortune on the house the last couple of years, im praying i get someone that will look after it

I'm sure you will. The clientele up your part of the world are in a better league than where I come from

Just make sure you use a good agent, and it should be OK

How are things now Kelly ? Is your daughter more settled ?
Gillian

PS. if you still had that house in the UK would you have gone back when things were tough last Nov/Dec ????

Hi Gillian
Happy to say that my eldest is loving her new school and has managed to make friends FINALLY! Would I have gone back if I had the house? I don't think the house would make any difference TBH. I had it tough a few times over the last 6 months but I have accepted that as part of the experience and just try to ride through it. The toughest part was feeling so guilty about my daughter being miserable and splitting with O/H in January but theres also been some wicked times as well! How are you settling in Perth?

Kelly x

Perth is good ! Sorry to hear about you splitting up with your O/H . Is it permenant, do you think ? My kids have settled in well. Getting the kids settled I feel is the key. Now that I am working it feels more normal to me. Sean has never looked back - to him home is being with us.
Gillian

yep deffo permanent..these things happen
I'm glad to hear things are working out for you all. Your right about getting the kids settled, now BOTH mine are happy its such a relief! I found out that my youngest (13 IN TWO WEEKS) has gone and got herself a B/F omg!! I dont know why but that thought doesnt scare me as much as it would in the UK.
Kelly x

I would have started selling, packing and preparing earlier. Sold all the big items car, fridge, suite etc but with two weeks to go after boxes had left for Oz we were left with lots of stuff and we ended up dumping heaps.
I would have finished work earlier and had more time with my Mum and Dad than I did, I didnt go around as often as I should cause I was so frightened of crying when ever I saw them.
Would never have shipped so many kids clothes, 6 months after the boxes left UK to when we got to open them, they have out grown most stuff.
Would have had a stop over instead of doing a non-stop flight, it was exhausting especialy with three young children.

I would have looked into things with more depth instead of relying on other peoples comments, Rentals are like hens teeth we had to pay 6 months rent in advance just to get in with a chance for 1, there were 15 people viewing the same propertys as us in forestlake area, Luckly we had nice friends to stay with, plus when you buy a car private and go to register it we had to pay 2% tax to the transport on the value they think its worth, ?? its not easy its far from it, and every one seems to know best (dont buy there dont do that) bull sh*t they know nothing you find out the truth only when you get over here and start, you have to pay or need a license just to use the loo, So do your research first not like us we thought we had !!

I wished i had sent some big boxes of bold wash power with the shippers 1 large catering box lasted us 6 months seen as there is only 2 of us i wash only 3 times a week.So i would have put enough to last us a few years. Over here the best wash power i have found is called OMO in a green box smells nice but i do miss the smell of bold. Just come back from visiting uk family and mam washed our clothes to come back and the suitcase smelt georgous of bold. Sad I know but what can I say.
Ps good luck on your new life in oz, we love it in aus best move ever.

I think its best to leave no ties and just go for it

What problems did you have with rental Wendy?

I wish that I'd shipped more toiletries and make up instead of skipping stuff (it's loads more expensive here)
I wish that I had come over on a PR sponsored instead of 457 visa (happening soon but 457 is soooo risky and unsettling)
I wish I'd booked longer in Hong Kong - and used my trip there to buy cheap long sleeve cotton tops (Ozzies are partic fond on synthetic clothing)
I wish that I hadn't flown QANTAS (super crap) but didn't have a choice and that I'd made sure that I had a 'special meal request' on the plane
I wish that we'd shipped our car (only a Vauxhall Zafira but we were ripped off for it as we left it too long to sell it) - Cars are v expensive here.

I wish I'd come over 15 years ago when I had loadsa points

My first tenant - He moved in to the house with his girlfriend and their pets, he told me it was 2 cats. I think he forgot about the other 7!!. I didn't mind them having pets, but 9 of them!!!

He left 6 months later, owing me 2 months rent, he'd run up a bill with Sky for both TV and telephone, he didn't pay his electricity bills so they cut it off (probably why he left!), he also owed British Gas nearly £150. When I found out he had done a bunk, I had to get all the locks changed because he'd buggered off with the keys, also I had to get Pest control in because the house was crawling with fleas. After 3 lots of spraying by Pest control we finally managed to get rid of them. This took months, and all the time I couldn't let anyone live there.

Second Tenant - Well he was Ok at first, paid his rent on time etc. Then after 8 months I stopped getting them. So I went straight down there to see what was going on. When I got there some guy I'd never seen before answered the door, I asked to speak to Mr X and was told 'Oh he moved out 3 months ago'. I asked him who are you then? he said that Mr X was renting him his house for £120 a week ( I was charging Mr X £80 a week). The cheeky so-and-so had gone down to WHSmiths and bought one of them DIY tenancy things and told this guy it was his house!.

I told this guy, look I own the house not him and the rent is £80 a week. I showed him lots of ID and proof etc and he stopped his payments to Mr X and started paying me. He moved out at the end of his lease (the false one) leaving ALL his junk behind and I had to get someone in to empty the house.

I sold it after that, I'd had enough and it cost me more to rent it out in the end than I ever got in income.

Why is that!