I'm good thanks mate. I'm at work. I was brought up in a nice part of the UK but was forced out by house prices - also I love Aussie - warts and all, which puts any other reason in to shade. Even if BIG house prices were cheap in London I would still want to be here. We have a fair few parks around. I'm not a beach person, really, although I like running along them. There are stacks of things that are the same in Aus and Uk as you say. What I REALLY like is Australia CULTURE...that's the thing for me. The people.

I'm not fussed over summer actually, I don't mind the cold - but I will take a blue sky over a grey one if I have to be honest. I am not in Australia for the reasons many state eg beaches and weather but its a bonus.

Boxes? Many say that a big house is not the be all and end all - these are often the same people who have never lived in a 1 bed flat at any time in their lives or recently.

We have a 3 bed villa for the 2 of us, and it's a whole new life not having to battle to live in your home when you come home from work. Being able to carry shopping straight from the drive - not up flights of stairs and through endless doors, keeping office stuff in an office, MrsB having a bite to eat on the steps of the backyard, looking out of the windows in to greenery not communal gardens etc. Room for office stuff etc.
I don't think house owners in the UK realise how lucky they are.

And we STILL live in a huge city of some 3M, with events, parks, water, museums and culture. although I'll pass on the musums bit ;-) Bigger than Manchester etc , any UK city save London.

Cheers

BM

Interesting thread....
Am I missing something, or was Badgers first option the same as one of Estarriols preferences.

estarriol seems to have certain preferences
badgersmount has certain preferences
Mike suggests 45minutes out the city and attacks badgersmount

I don't read much on this forum, but I assume there must be a fair bit of agro going on here, to cause that type of thing happening.

Hi BM

Glad to hear all is well for you both.

I'm sure homeowners in the Uk don't realise how lucky they are.I'm sure like most homeowners they are out working getting on with life. It's the same here though. I know many people who cannot afford to buy in OZ . My cousin lives in Sydney ( says it all !!) but her and her hubby rent and just cannot save enough money to get a deposit for a property. If they do buy then they will have to move up to the coast where property is cheaper ( for now that is )!!. Same as the UK. When we go back we will move to West Sussex/Kent as we cannot afford to go back to Surrey.


We lived in a small 2 bedroom flat in Surrey and when we had our daughter I used to have to take the pushchair down the steps seperately then go back up for her etc and do the same with the shopping etc..what a pain but back then it just didn't matter !!Not a life issue for us !!So I do know what you mean.

BM I wish you continued happiness here in OZ...good for you !!I will be sad about leaving but far happier back home.!Each to their own!

Keep happy

Pants

Surbiton:

Good links to Waterloo 19mins direct. Good shopping in Kingston nearby but nicer to live in than kingston. Good cannons fitness club, childcare, etc. I can give you rough prices as I own a couple of properties there...

You too coud live 'The Good Life'... or 'Steller Street'...

Thanks Wheels, if you could give me an idea of rental prices on a 2 bedroom place, I'd be grateful.

Other options are Blackheath and Greenwich. Both are nice areas with easy access to London.

Trust me, I would kill to live in either. Blackheath and Greenwich are, IMO, the near-perfect fusion of everything I love about England. I fell in love with Greenwich as a child, back when it still had a floating bookshop...

For a two bedroom in Surbiton you are looking at the low-end being say 800 GBP per month up to about 1,300 for a nice apartment very near the station. Private parking, etc, etc.

For example. one of my properties is a two bedroom apartment spitting distance from Surbiton station, private off-street parking, en-suite, very high standard and that goes for 1,100 GBP pcm.

You can pay more or less depending on what you want (obviously), but thats a starting point.

I have all my properties rented but if you wanted some good web-sites or contacts for rental property, let me know...

Im currently researching houses/prices areas etc... anyway i dont want to live anywhere near london, but i found out today
via the web that Halifax are offering to first home buyers a mortgage at 6% interest and they only require 3% deposit.

Now i dont know what your annual income is, nor do i wish to know but i worked out via there site that for example if you earn 40'000 pounds and have say expenses of 1500 pounds a month.

They will lend you 124'000 pounds, so if you wanted and had 11000 pound deposit you could purchase a fairly decent house. That worked out to approx 790 per month in repayments.

They do a quote online called a "mortgage promise" which is there gurantee of what they will lend you.

You should also keep in mind the council tax as well which i also looked at today, but i guess these isn't a major factor as you can pay it once off, half yearly or monthly.

Stamp Duty is 1% except in "disadvantaged areas"??


I hope that helps if you do consider buying, it is one of the better deals i have seen.

Renting property can be the right move for people, dependng on the circumstances.

Unless you are going to commit to an area for quite a while you will not find buying any cheaper than renting when you consider the legal cost, etc.

Also the upkeep is all done for you with a rental, so really you just have to live there and that is it. It is very convenient.

The differential between mortgage payments and rental is also very narrow, so you don't really save there either.

Buying is not always the right thing to do!

Thanks. Uncanny guesses as to my earnings and outgoings, are you some kind of crazy spy/accountant mix or something? :-)

The problem is that I don't have 11 grand lying around, although I agree that it's a decent offer. I'd also like to make sure I enjoy living in an area before I buy a house there.