robandkath

hi all family of 5 from middlesbrough 175 visa im a carpenter we are heading for the gold coast area we think but no idea whereabouts we have done our meds and house on the market reason for meds is hopefully to speed things up would like to be in oz by october

tiger222

Rob and Kath -

Welcome to the April Thread!!! I take it you have 3 children - what are their ages?

We are heading to Brisbane - so close to you. Might have to organize a meet up as we start receiving our Visas.

I'd love to be in OZ in October!!! I'm hoping right along with you that it happens!

We don't have our house on the market, yet. Have to get some work done first and stuff cleared out to make it more presentable.

tiger222

Charlene -

Thanks for finding the thread and bumping it up. I know it gets lost sometimes....

We're like you - no reccie, no validation trip (hopefully), etc. But we'd like to be there about October/November - in part because the winter here (northern US) makes it very difficult to move.

We have sent off for our PCCS 2 weeks ago - waiting on FBI to get those back to us - probably another 3-4 weeks yet. Meds are scheduled for June 21.

I've heard that if you wait for the CO to ask, it's another 5 weeks for the Visa. We want to speed up the process.

No reason for you to get the Meds/PCCs until your sister's wedding.

CharleneG

Thanks Tiger,

Waiting on the FBI to get back to you sounds quite sinister doesn't it, make sure they don't come back to you with flight tickets to Cuba and issue orange jumpsuits on arrival

We are thinking of maybe doing the meds and PCC in the next month or 2 then if we get a CO in July / Aug it's another box ticked off.

The OH wants to be in Melbourne for the F1 Grand Prix next March, talk about priorities!

Oh btw where abouts in the US are you out of interest?

tiger222

We live in Wisconsin - land of milk, cheese and beer. It's located just north of Chicago, Illinois. Right now, the weather is perfect!

CharleneG

I totally understand why you would want to be out of there before winter kicks in an freezes off your essential bits
We were in Toronto in April 2006 which was really pleasant but the storys of icebreakers ferrying people across the harbour in winter didn't sound like much fun and looking at the USA map above my desk here you look even further north than that to me!

It feels a bit wierd that after all this planning and getting exited I am actually looking to slow the process down. When we started looking into this seriously in February we thought New Year in Australia was a pipe dream but it could really happen if we wanted it to. I guess I'm just trying to put some concrete dates on something which I know I can't control. OH has even been pricing up flights today for 6th February!

Oh well, it's in the hands of the Government now!!
In the meantime I'll keep flogging my stuff on ebay (nearly got enough for one ticket so far) and keep my fingers crossed for somone to rent out my house.

Charlene

robandkath

yeah we got 3 boys josh 9 matthew 12 and ryan 13 yeah would be good to meet up sometime

i love doing houses up i took 2 months to do ours a full refurb http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai...a_n=1&tr_t=buy


ive got 3 propertys to sell 1 went underoffer this week so thats a good sign this 1 was a pet shop that i had for 12 years and then when we decided to move to oz i had to go back on the tools (carpenter) to get the work excperience and to get skills assessed so i converted it into a flat in october
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai...a_n=1&tr_t=buy

and the 3rd should be on the market in about 6 weeks

i see u r from usa we are thinking of going via california on our way as i have family there and will be the only chance we will get to see them

tiger222

That used to be a pet shop?!!? WOW, you really do know how to remodel. Great kitchens in your home and in the rental.

Yeah, I'll have to meet up with you for sure now. We don't have any carpentry skills...I just hire it done. It's always difficult to find someone who does wonderful skilled work like you do!

We have 2 buildings to sell. Our home and our 4 unit. I bought that almost 3 years ago. I'm selling it myself and I've had some nibbles on it. One potential buyer asked for a copy of my appraisal last week, I didn't provide him my 3 year old appraisal - just some of the addresses to give their appraiser something to work form. Anyway, I think that's a good sign. I also have a couple other parties sniffing around....no offer, though. Maybe they'll all come at once and I can bid them off each other. (I can dream!)

Are you going to be a landlord in OZ too? I'm thinking it will be a good place to invest...once I get the "lay of the land" and an idea of tax laws, etc in OZ.

There's an investors group I belong to here in Wisconsin. They meet monthly with seminars and networking opportunities. I'm hoping they might have something like that in OZ too.

My 4 children are girl 10 (11 at the end of June), boy 7, girl 5 and boy 1-1/2. I've been sniffing out schools of late.

We also have family in California. If the house sells and we don't have anywhere to live, we'll drive to California and live there until the Visa comes. It could be really sloppy doing it that way....but we know of some monthly rentals that are furnished. So really shouldn't have to bring any more that what we were planning to bring to OZ.

Stay posted on the April list!

tiger222

Charlene -

We have 3 leads on renting the house so far. I haven't let anyone in to see it, yet. I really need to get it uncluttered to feel OK about letting "strangers" in to view it. The kids' assignments today is to go through their toys and pull together sets. Anything that doesn't get played with goes away - either garage sale or bin.

I've decided to sell the house. That way we don't have to worry about renters half way around the world. Also we discussed it and if we come back, we can find a different/larger house.

CharleneG

I don't blame you on the house sale front Tiger.
I would do the same and sell before we go if the market was different. As it is there is no way we can afford to take the £25k - £50k price hit if we managed to sell it now. I figure why sell now if we don't really need the cash anyway. We don't intend to buy in Oz straight away so we will see how it goes while we rent and probably get my parents to arrange the sale through our letting agent 18 months doen the line when the market picks up again.
If it wasn't for this credit crunch I would have sold and pocketed the cash no questions asked. As it is there is no way I could bear to wait while the market picked up then my house sold before I went out there, too much for me.

Charlene

tiger222

Charlene -

I think you're making a smart move. I wouldn't want to put plans on hold waiting for house market conditions to change. Actually, part of the reason I'm selling now is I see how you guys are struggling. I am a little fearful that it could impact our area if I were to wait. As it is, we missed the "market top" but that doesn't concern me as being able to do what we want when we want.

Well, I guess not when we want as there's this little matter of a visa standing in our path....

Let's hope for Lots of Visas issued for November and August 2007 applicants this week!!!

twinsmom65

Hey Tiger,

I see that you are going to be selling your house now!! Good luck with the selling, hopefully things will pick up as it is the Spring/Summer market.

Friends of ours in Kitchener, just put their house on the market and it sold in 4 days for full asking price. It seems that the slow down hasn't affected us yet.

Had our garage sale over the weekend, raised over $1,3000 was very happy, very tired, but happy people brought stuff. It feels great, as you can see our garage now. Just got to get some baseboards and some paint then the house will be ready to go on the market. At the garage sale, some people were asking if the house is for sale, and I said yes, it should be ready for viewing in a couple of weeks. I already have one lady's number I have to call when it is ready and another lady is going to be posting the details on RIM's own website (good luck and timing).

So I am hoping that I don't have to put the house on MLS, it would save a ton of money in commissions.

Cheers

Karen

tiger222

Karen -

Great job on getting your house cleared out and earning a good chuck of change in the process. That's about 1 plane ticket, right?

You'll save some decent money on commissions if you can sell your home yourself too.

I decided to sell for a number of reasons 1) The US economy is not "technically" in a recession now, but I believe the numbers will begin to show that we are after the election (conveniently) and then I think the recession will last 12-18 months or longer. 2) Too much worry over the house from a distance with tenants in it. 3) If we do come back to the US, we might not land back here in Wisconsin and if we do, we need a larger house anyway.

That also means that I can give it a go selling it myself. I was a Realtor before I was married so I have some idea how to do this.
I have 3 interested in renting the house. 2 of those also indicated they would like to rent with option to buy. So I'll invite them over to take a look - and maybe buy now. I'll start selling it in July - after my garage sale and general clearing. I've been selling stuff individually on Craigs list for weeks now.

De Mange

I have no intention of selling my house in the UK til

1) the market settles down a bit
2) The exchange rate picks up a bit (which may or may not happen)
3) The decision is made to purchase property in Melbourne.

There is no way you should sell nopw unless you need the cash for another home.

tiger222

Yes, I think in the UK it would not be the time to sell if you didn't have to.

It's that way in Phoenix too. But my SIL just put her house on the market on Saturday. She's asking $150,000 less then houses were selling for 2 years ago. But there are many foreclosures in the area - and some on her street. The house next door sold 2 years ago for the top price - and those people walked. I'll call her next month and ask how it's going.