martinw01908

Just been doing some sums. I don't have much of a mortgage here already. If I rented out the house here I could get about £400 ($944) a month after agent and mortgage deductions. Haven't included UK tax as I'm not sure I would have to pay it overseas?? I guess it would be Aussie tax. Anyway ignoring that...

I have some money to put down on a house.
If I borrow $100,000 thats $706 monthly repayments for 25 years (at 7%)
Thats enough to get a $218,000 house. Obviously I've allowed enough spare savings for stamp duty and getting over there etc.

So I have $944 coming in (in theory) and only $706 mortgage. I just need to cover the bills, a small job for pocket money?

So question is what can $218,000 buy in Melbourne? I have seen a few small houses, they don't look that good but i might be able to stretch to a bigger mortgage.

I guess I'm wondering if I can almost retire out there now? I know we all dream but the way my job is going here nothing is more tempting to do.!
Or am I being completely silly here?

ABCDiamond

Can you borrow the money in the UK, and have it treated as a tax deduction against your rental income, that way reducing your taxable income, but still having those borrowed funds towards an Australian house ??

Otherwise that £400 ($944) a month would be taxable here in Australia.

If that was feasible, it could save you about $300 per month. Worth checking it ?

MrsDagboy

Errrrr sorry if this sounds harsh, but are you for real?

Do you honestly think that you can live on $238/month? Could you live on 100 pounds/month to pay for everything if you lived in the UK?

Apart from the fact that all you would probably get in Melb for $218K is a pokey little dive in a not-so-good suburb miles from anywhere, if you honestly think that you can live over here on nothing much more than air & water you're in for a rude shock :scared: .

martinw01908

I did say work MUCH. But I don't mind you being harsh. I understand I would probably have to get some sort of job, but it wouldn't need to have the pressure that I have now. I could do whatever I want! Money not so important. £100 just about pays for the food over here, but supposedly £100 goes further in Aus. (not sure how much further)

So $218K doesn't get me much of a house there then, thats all I wanted to know. It was only a theory. So how much for something decent? It'll only be one possibly two people living there, it doesn't have to be huge.

ABC Diamond, That idea of borrowing the money here (by increasing the mortgage) is a good one. You are right it would reduce the tax burden because looking at it that way the rental income would be swallowed by the mortgage repayments. Though I wouldn't be so sure there that this loophole has not already been thought about and some safeguard is in place for Gordon Brown. Also makes more sense to borrow money in the UK because the interest rates are way lower. I just remortgage the house and the money can come with me to Aus as part of my savings, to buy something there with. Uk house finances itself with rent. Is it that simple?

Billabong

From recent figures released here very recently I am sure the average house price in Melbourne is around $400k (someone correct me if I'm wrong please).

So Mrs D would be correct in saying that for $218k you will get a right rotbox in a pretty crappy area.

Wol

>> Would I need to work much in Aus?<<

No-one else does...

<End jokey bit>

If you think you could even exist - let alone live - on those figures you are in for a big shock.

Australia is at least as expensive a place to live as the UK, taking all into account, and the tax regime is harsher too.

Sit down and have a long think!

ABCDiamond

Better still, ask more questions on here

ABCDiamond

The principal appears sound. It comes down to the Australian Tax side of things. As long as the ATO allows ALL the interest on the re-mortgage, then I see no reason why it shouldnt be OK. But I would double check with someone more up to date on Australian Tax in this respect.

jad n rich

Agree, I think martin should take what it costs hm to live in Uk and allow about the same (eg 10K in uk then $24,000 in oz) plus add the running costs, rates, repairs, insurances etc of the 2 proposed houses. And keep in mind aus does tax you on worldwide income, not just the aussie one. Ave house price in melb is around the $350,000, saw some total dumps costing much more than that tho even an hour from melbourne.

martinw01908

Ah. Perhaps I've been seduced by the widely held view that Aussie houses are so much cheaper than your UK ones that you can sell it and buy a much better house and live with a smaller mortagage. This is obviously not the case in Melbourne. I fancied Melbourne partly because its not so hot there. Still, this is a good discussion for people like me who are trying to decide if to start on the road to emigration.

Is Australia at least as expensive to live in as the UK? I have a friend at work who keeps going on holiday to Brisbane. Part of his family have moved out there. From the stories he tells, his rates, water charges are way less than the UK. And he says your money goes further. Is this because comparing costs in Brisbane would be like comparing say London with Scotland?

While researching I've noticed that some things are more (cars and electrical goods) and others are less. Maybe I should add that I am thinking of making the move on my own, because my girlfriend does not want to leave the UK. So my view is I will be starting absolutely from scratch. All I want to do is make a better life for myself and at the moment I can't see the Uk as a place I would want to settle down and have a family. I am looking at it now because I'm 33 and want to get started before I get any older (and lose points).

kiwichild

[QUOTE=martinw01908]
So question is what can $218,000 buy in Melbourne?

A bathroom closet in Toorak maybe

or perhaps a cheap unit/flat/apartment in a 'working class' non-leafy suburb. But seriously you'd be pushing it to buy a reasonable unit for that price in Perth. Can't see Melbourne being any cheaper

kiwichild

[QUOTE=martinw01908]Ah. Perhaps I've been seduced by the widely held view that Aussie houses are so much cheaper than your UK ones

Maybe if you look at going to live in a regional area or Tasmania.

jad n rich

Its cause your friend is on holiday earing no doubt UK wages then having the benefit of x 2.4, if he worked here it would be different.

The misconception that australia is cheap probably comes from a 5-10+ years back when it was cheap compared to UK, since then UK woke up and got highly competitive. Australia is the opposite even the government can step in and declare we cant have (recent example) cheap flights to usa as we need to keep Qantas protected, ( while plotting to send thousands of qantas jobs to asia). Food is astronomical we have 2 supermaket players under the guise of several names. Another aspect housing, most of the population of OZ lives in a few tiny areas, land prices have soared, most houses are up 100 - 150% on 5 years ago.

People are not saying dont come here, do it, your young single what better time, however the last thing you should be thinking is australia is cheap.

thebears

[QUOTE=kiwichild] What about Colac?

Wol

>>Ah. Perhaps I've been seduced by the widely held view that Aussie houses are so much cheaper than your UK ones that you can sell it and buy a much better house and live with a smaller mortagage. This is obviously not the case in Melbourne. I fancied Melbourne partly because its not so hot there. Still, this is a good discussion for people like me who are trying to decide if to start on the road to emigration.<<

I'm sure you *can* get houses much cheaper in Oz than in the UK - in places!

Couple of hundred miles South of Alice, for example.

But you will be surprised how much a good house in a good area will set you back.

A couple of us did a little exercise a month or two back and compared grocery prices - IIRC Oz was 11% more expensive than the UK although one could argue about the comparisons.

Overall though I would agree with the other poster - the days of looking at Oz being a "cheap" place to live are far gone. Yes, you *can* live less expensively but I wouldn't say comfortably, like for like. Then, when you factor in the relative wages.........