betsyboob

Hi all,
We are on the sunny coast QLD, have been here for 5months. I had a job but it only lasted 2months and then i was laid off (i was casual, but other perm staff got laid off too). OH is a plumber, he is really struggling for work, has since we arrived. Anyway, we are surviving on 2days work @ $20hr, i say surviving - spending our nest egg (or 'house fund'). Everyone that lives here keeps on saying to 'hang in there - it will all come together eventually', but that is easy to say when it is not you. I know that they are only trying to help but we have spoken to loads of people that have waited 10months or more to secure a job - we can't wait that long, we will have little funds left at this rate.
We have looked at moving interstate, but without guaranteed work at the other end we are reluctant to go through another move.
I don't want to be writing this and it is only an idea at this stage, but, one option is to return home. OH has work in the UK if he wants it, but we are worried that if we return we won't have enough money to live off and get a house again.
We have about 30% deposit on a house but:

how easy will it be to get a mortgage?

OH is Self employed, will he need to prove earnings because we have been away for months.

Are house prices continuing to fall?

Thanks to anyone that has info. Please no nasty debates

JRB

I really don't know anything about mortgages now only that they are harder to get. We came back in 2006 and got a mortgage after 3 months and that was with my husband being a contractor, we had about a 30% deposit too. However things have changed alot since then and I think it is much harder but I don't know the ins and outs of it. However house prices are continuing to fall so you could get a good deal.
Think carefully and be sure you want to come back. We love it being back and I feel I have no regrets and was glad to have spent 5 years in Oz. However if I'd only been there a few months I maybe would have regretted not giving it longer. We were both well qualified professionals (IT and healthcare~) but couldn't get work when we arrived so in the end took anything. I was a cleaner in a care home for a month but that then led to contacts. One of the carers father was a UK podiatrist (which is what I used to do) and that led to me meeting up with him and I got loads of contacts and work offers. Then the care home asked me to stay on and I worked as a senior carer (as I was also a RMN). So sometimes you have to swallow your pride and take what you can and at least it's a start and stops you spending your savings. I'm sure the Australian economy has done very well from new migrants spending all their savings. So if you want to stay I would take any work you can, even if it is McDonalds or something and then it is only upwards and onwards from there!! I do think UK plumbers have it quite hard in Aus so if there is any other retraining your husband could do would help e.g air conditiioning engineer, pool technician or refridgeration engineer there may be more demand but other plumbers on this forum would know more about that. Wishing you some good luck out there.

dunroving

I don't know the answers to all your questions, but I can tell you:

Having 30% definitely puts you in a better situation than most. The majority of currently available mortgages are looking for at least 20% deposit.

House prices won't be going back up any time soon (so don't panic about needing to get back onto the ladder quickly).

If you are able to get an in principle mortgage offer you will be in a strong position (i.e., it's definitely a buyers' market). The only problem is that many sellers are apparently stubbornly/unrealistically sticking to their guns in terms of their asking price (at least as far as everything I've been reading about the subject - mostly from the BBC and Times). However, as per above, you are in a much better situation currently than just a year or so ago (i.e., you can simply say fair enough, and move onto the next house for sale).

- what is your situation in Oz? Are you renting a house? Do you have anyone you could stay with there in order to reduce expenses? Or someone you could rent a room from (rather than a house)? I can't believe the number of threads I've read on here by people who went to Oz and ended up with no work, no money, etc. It's crazy, and very sad to read about people being in this situation. Good luck, whatever you decide.

Jay Bird

We returned from Canada in June of last year; we owned our own house out there but to our dismay, really did not like where we had chosen.....problem was, we had to wait for a suitable time to sell otherwise we would have lost too much money. So, we gritted our teeth and waited it out, finally selling up within days of the board going on the front lawn. Having made the decision to come home, we then looked at our options regarding where to live, and we agreed we really didn't want to own a house again.....if we didn't like the place it would be so much easier to pick up sticks and move again, so we thought about renting. I then came up with the idea of finding work with accommodation provided...and this has proved to be absolutely the right thing for us. We're employed by a lovely couple in a large country house in rural West Sussex, as a "residential couple"; I'm the housekeeper, and Mr Oldbag is gardener/handyman/driver. We work part time, live in a small cottage within the grounds and have a wage. Now I know this wouldn't suit everyone, but it may be something you might want to consider, especially if you're good "all-rounders" and have no children.....you don't mention any.

If you want any more information as to how we got the job and where to look for similar, please feel free to PM me.

Good luck, whatever your decision.

dunroving

Wow, what a fascinating option!

I think you raise a very important point - to avoid rushing into buying until you know you want to stay where you are. This used to be difficult (everyone was afraid if they rented for just 6 months, prices would have gone up by 20k by the time they bought). In today's market, there's almost no reason to rush into buying and renting for a while allows you to (a) be sure you want to stay and (b) take time to get to know the best areas and best bargains to be had.

When I first moved back (summer 2006), I rented mainly because I couldn't see how I could possibly find and buy a house in the limited time I had (I was 1,000's of miles away, had no idea what areas were best, and was due to start work within a week of returning). For 6 months, I watched prices steadily climbing, but then moved to another job in march 2007 (so thank goodness I hadn't bought!) However, on this occasion I did buy (b/c of the rising market, etc., as stated). Unfortunately, this was not the best move as the market strated dropping within 12 months, now I want to leave (head back to US), and probably wouldn't be able to sell unless I am willing to lose 10k-30k for the privilege.

So, on reflection I'd say perhaps the best thing the OP could do is not rush into buying...

betsyboob

Im afraid we do have children...but it sounds great

betsyboob

Yes, in theory that's a good idea. OH applied for lots of other jobs and still didn't get a look in. He applied for a job as a cleaner but didn't get it as soon as he said that he was a plumber
We have heard that it is a bit of a 'closed shop' when it comes to the coast...so it could be partly to do with area. We are exploring our options (hence the title of this thread) and looking at other areas also, another catch 22.

Anyway, thanks for your reply we will take it on board

rabsody

Hi Betsy

It is definitely to do with the area. Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are reknowned for being difficult to find work. They are primarily tourist destinations, so apart from hospitality and retail there is not a lot of work there. Sunshine Coast is a beautiful spot, I'd love to live there, but no work! Also, places like that where so many are looking for work casual work is completely the norm.

You may well have better luck if you go to a city, such as Brisbane, Sydney etc which may defeat the purpose of you moving to Australia in terms of the lifestyle you were looking for.

I have lived in Brisbane for over 8 years. When we moved here my now ex husband who is Australian could not find work for 7 months. It is not easy!

I think half the problem is that in the Australian employment market, it is all about networking - not what you know, but who you know. This is very difficult obviously when you first arrive. However, I suspect if you moved to another area you would have better luck than you are having now, just make sure it is a city.

I hope that helps a little bit.

Cheers
Faye

Jay Bird

We came across so many obstacles in our search for work in Canada, despite being well qualified with years of experience in our own fields of "expertise". We couldn't even get work on the graveyard shift as shelf-fillers for one of the big retailers! Eventually we found work through Manpower, but not in our trades or professions. I accept that our ages probably went against us to a certain extent, but at one stage we were actually told we were "too English" and if we could lose our accents it might help!

I am about to PM you with more information regarding my previous suggestion

aasmith1957

hi
sorry to hear you are finding difficulty gaining employment.i think you mention you are a registered mental health nurse(Rmn)? have you sent off your qualifications to be assesssed to go onto the nursing register of your state.i did that before we emigrated but when we arrived and i fronted up to the wa nurses board was told it had to go in front of a pannel!!! what they wanted was $ up front plus 1st years rego.within 3 days i had my registration so i could practice.had a job within the 1st week.cant help with your hubby as mine is a painter/decorator.he just put an add in the local paper and built up from there,saying that he had to do a 6 hour exam (costings etc ) to get his painters rego.he had been self employed in the uk for 10 years before migrating.
hope you find something soon

betsyboob

Hi, No i'm not an RMN, i think you must have read 1 of the replys.
OH cannot work self employed on his provisional licence, he can when he has completed 6month course at $5000 and he can undertake that only when he has been working her for a year.
It's not the licence really but the sheer lack of jobs and companies willing to give hm a go.
Thanks for your reply

JRB

Sorry it was me who was the RMN! I seriously can't believe how much money Australia must make from new migrants. I think it's really bad that not only have people had to have had their qualifications assessed to get a visa but when they get to Oz they find theycan't do certain things unless they pay up more money. I really think you have to try and decide how much you like it there and how far you are prepared to go. Is living there worth the sacrifice? I remember when I worked as a carer over there someone showed me how to bath someone - I had a health degree, a RMN qualification and had been deputy manager in the NHS!! As part of my induction they had to show me how to bath someone! It was a joke! But at the time I really enjoyed Perth and thought 'Oh well' I'll just get on with it. I also paid out a few thousand dollars to sit podiatry exam and get registered in WA. It's all a money making exercise. I think though if you can tough it out for those first few years things do eventually get much better. By the time we left Aus we were sorted home and job wise. It is the early years which are tough. Also as someone else mentioned you may have to look at other places to live. I really loved Byron Bay but knew realistically that there just wouldn't be the work there for my husband (IT) and although I would have been quite happy if he did something else, he didn't want to. So at the end of the day we had to live in a City. Wishing you all the best luck. Despite the job problems how are you finding Oz in general?

betsyboob

I think alot of the lack of work is due to the recession, so i am not sure that it wuld matter where we are unfortunately. We do like where we are but not enough to put ourselves through this ordeal.
If you don't mind me asking, whay did you leave?
x

chippy2

just wanted to say hello,and your not alone,where in the same boat.been here 4 months and still havnt got a job,am a carpenter by trade.still havnt been able to get a start,got a good reputation back home but here nothing,living as you are in to our savings and think theres a point when you have to say do we stay or do we go.we know if we go back it will be a struggle but if we go back soon will still have a deposit on another house rather than blowing it here,we too have kids and found out wife is expecting no 4.so would get help back home,get back into work and get a house again.if we stayed would spend more savings and not sure what would happen,never thought it would be this hard to get a job and think the licence situation is crazey when you have passed the tra that should be that,isnt that what we payed out for?:curse:

betsyboob

I know, i feel like we have been mis-sold something The government should be paying for our losses, not charging us more for licences etc....
Never thought our dream would come to this