thpinkpussycat

Hi there

we are in Perth and love it (been here 15 months).
The dream of coming here and being mortgaged free has long gone; the average house price is 450k/500k.
Some on here will say that Perth is quiet and boring but we have never found it so.
If you like pubs and clubs then you need to be near the city NOT stuck out in a suburb with not shops or pub.

If you haven’t already check out these sites:

http://reiwa.com/
http://www.realestate.com.au/


As for friends, well that happens. Our motto when we came here was to never turn down an invite. We now have a very big circle of friends, some we see regularly and some just once in a while, so our social life is bigger that the UK.

We also have a young daughter (9), who loves it here. She is in a good school and is doing well, she does Guides, karate, swimming and at the moment with is being the school holidays is out playing with friends till 8 in the evening.

Good luck with what ever you decide

daisylilymum

You mention the amount you spend on petrol a month - I thought that was half the price of petrol in the UK? Am I wrong?
I feel for you being homesick - get that house sold & get home!!

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Cheap petrol but huge distances... it evens itself out.

MrsB

I couldn't bring myself to even buy a house - and thank goodness for that - it would have been too much like tying ourselves to this place!

So when we decide to hop it - all we have to do is sell the cars, give a months notice on the lease and organise a container!

blowfly

I wish ,how stupid could we have been? Well another2 years at least.

blowfly

Yes and now we have to watch money and have less financial freedom than we had.

FPM

This'll be a laugh, where's me comfy chair and popcorn

sandrainaus

Unless the teenagers are into sport then there is nothing more for them here to do than in the uk.

In the UK maybe they hang around shopping centres , here in there crowds they hang in either shopping centres or on the streets,So no different really, also would not say their attitude is any different.

UK we have Chavs, boy racers, here they have Hoons, driving up and down our street loud music at all hours of the night.

With regards to weather, I have two small children and just as much of an indoor lifestyle here in the summer due to it being to hot.

davo453

We emigrated a couple of decades ago when there really was a quiet a bit to be gained by emigrating.

We got a good price for our UK house and ended up with the obligatory emigrating pom mansion in Perth consisting of 4 beds 2 baths on a quarter acre with a pool patio BBQ etc etc

We sold that place 5 years later for $1k less than we paid (property doesn’t always go up in the short term), life in Australia has been good for us and we leave having owned several farms, businesses and oh so many cars etc.

Most of the reasons why we emigrated still exist today and as a character building experience it can’t be beaten, we pretty quickly realized that suburban life in the UK & in Australia for that matter is some how an unreal experience and viewed from a distance unsustainable, the country life was for us I recommend you look.

As I see it some things have changed for prospective immigrants the climate is pretty much the same but it does seem to have become dryer in Perth, the city is much larger and more sprawling. Also the water situation is all doom and gloom at the moment.

The housing market has gone crazy in WA generally. We made 120% on our last property in 13 months. The rise has apparently been driven by immigrants both from overseas and from the Eastern states, which has in the main been driven by the resources boom.

Resources are very important to WA they drive virtually every sector of commerce here, tourism etc is insignificant when compared. If resources take a dive then look out because the queue to exit the place to look for the next good thing will be a long one. It might not happen any time soon but if/when it does, things can get grim here. The sun still shines though

We are returning to the UK in March, for another adventure.

Dave

TraceyW

Hey Dave, after a couple of decades here, you will sure notice a difference back in old Blighty!!

The main reason why I want to eventually return home, well, it's just that.....England is my home. Always will be.

Australia has given us (especially me) great opportunities and we have gained financially in far greater proportions than we would've back in the UK. It's just not 'home' to me.

Another reason; family. Take the other day; I was doing the weekly shop around Coles, when I found myself watching a woman, say, in her 60's, helping a much older lady do her shopping. It was her Mum. I want to be able to look out for my Mum and in-laws like that, the way they've always looked out for me and my husband. I want them to be part of ours and our childrens lives for whatever time they have left. I've already lost my Dad since being here. I don't want another phone call with more bad news and me being unable to help or support in practical ways.

Each to their own.

LouiseD

Well Mark if you could buy common sense, I'd be offering you cash now for some of yours cos you've certainly got more of it than I have. You seem to be doing your research by talking to dissillusioned people, even though your brother lives here and you've visited already. I so wish I had done that rather than listening only to the happy people.

For us, it's been a huge culture shock - we like Melbourne but don't enjoy living here if that makes sense. We can't do the things that we love such as travelling, socialising, having easy access to theatres, shows, different places because our earnings as so much lower here. Our teenagers loved the look of the place as visually it's lovely, but again they hated living here as it's a 40 minute journey into the city for nightlife for them. Cost of houses on the Internet seems ok until you realise that if you need to be near the city, the price rockets.

If we had a young family and enjoyed beaches, barbeques and parks, we would probably stay longer as it does seem a nice lifestyle for kids.

Good luck in your decision - you are doing the right thing by looking at all aspects and seeing if it would suit you and your family

davo453

Oh my word yes it has changed a bit.

We hadn't been back to the old country until early last year (19 years) and believe it or not we were pleasantly surprised.

What ever happens, we won’t complain that’s for sure. Well not much anyway

We are up for more experiences, travel hasn’t been on our agenda for so many years and it’s high time we did a bit.

Dave

blowfly

this is a very good post thanks for sharing that. Good luck to you and your family.

LouiseD

Yes it may have chavs and hoodies roaming the streets and horrid tower blocks etc in some areas but it's still got beautiful scenery, lovely historic buildings, and wonderful country pubs with pretty hanging baskets outside and good beer and good mates inside

Pollyana

......and its Home.