RedMonsk

Moved to NZ lock, stock & barrel without doing a recce first?????

If yes, what was the outcome?!!!

phil01

Yep...we had never been. Just took a chance, got work visa's and came over...and we LOVE it!

SarahB

Yep.... and still here over 2 years later. We prefer living here to the UK.

RedMonsk

Sold houses? Didn't bother renting?

Boopy

We did! Got PR, sold up, got jobs & moved here last last June. Bought a house and have settled in well. It seems a bigger risk when you're in your
40's & leaving kids & grand children behind.

RedMonsk

Hubby is in his forties - no grandchildren tho!!

We're just trying to weigh up our options! Rent our place our place and come out on a VV or WTR? Rent wouldn't quite cover the mortgage and then there is the hassle of changing bill addressees, worrying about tenants! Plus, waiting so much longer to buy a place in NZ! We don't want to waste our money renting any longer than necessary! If we sell our place and apartment in Bulgaria, we would be able to buy a house mortgage free! Finally a house! We live in a house converted into flats at the moment!!!

I reckon, whether we rent or sell, we would never be able to afford to come back to Berkhamsted - should we decide that NZ is not for us. We were already looking at moving out of this town, anyway, so what difference would it really make! Our children would never be able to afford a place here unless they were seriously high-flyers!

Sorry, I'm waffleing now, I hope some of that made sense!!

happynz

Didn't have a damn thing in my home country possession-wise, so no holds there. I'd been out of the USA so long anyways and I had lost touch with any friends that I had. My family is spread all over the North American continent and we didn't see each other or even talk to each other that much so I didn't have any emotional ties either. So yeah, moving here to New Zealand was really a no biggie.

I was back in California for three months earlier this year and I saw that it's a nice place and all. It was cool hanging out with the Mexicans, Indians and East Asian immigrants. Funny thing, they were more American (whatever the hell that is) than me!

I can say with a great deal of confidence that we will stay here in New Zealand 'cos it's home now.

phil01

We rented out our UK house but only because it had been on the market for 6 months and not sold so we tried the selling thing and are trying again now, eventually it will go!

garryhg

yep sold house and cars.........put our furniture in storage ..........just in case easy to buy another house but hard to replace years of possesions.

never been out here in our lives before........only 2 weeks in and first signs are looking good........sometimes you have just got yo take some chances in life....

dont want to be looking back in 10 years time saying what if.....

RedMonsk

Thanks folks!

Our original plan was to just 'go for it'! But it seems more likely now that we will be going out on a VV and with that hubby has started worrying! I guess he doesn't feel as secure without PR.

I'm sure that, being a chippy, hubby would have no problem getting a job and therefore no problem with WTR!

With regards to renting properties in the UK! Was anyone liable for capital gains tax and if so, how much was it!

karonious

We didn't have a property to sell but we came without a recce. It never really crossed our minds that we couldn't do this and that it might be a huge disaster.
We have no regrets
A bit nostalgic as it will be my youngest son's 21 st soon but we would probably have still been in England so wouldn't have made it home to Morayshire for his birthday anyway. Ah well, them's the breaks

Colin in the middle

50/50 answer for me

For my wife she never had been to New Zealand so was all new to her, but we had no thing back in the UK to sell house wise other than my car and the plan was for our other stuff to follow at a later date.

Convinced my parents that it would be good for them rather than live in a tiny two bedroom ex council place with the sound of a A road on the ridge above the valley they lived. They now have a six bedroom in the middle of the country For my Mother it was easier she had been here before for my Dad well he still complains although after 2 years think he is getting used to the fact he is better off in many ways (I think?) Keep reminding him he would not have seen his granddaughter that usually does it
They would not have come over though without the two dogs though

Can eithe ro us return easily now? Nope

poppets

yep we did , was granted a PR , & over we came, never looked back xx

Marika 38

Thats what we're doing Redmonsk, Never been, and have sold house, living with my mum and dad until we go, hopefully in no more than 4 or 5 weeks now. My mum in law had been to NZ for 5 weeks and came home raving about it, we did masses of research, went to the London Expo thing, and thought we were all up for it, so lets do it, nothing ventured nothing gained. Lots of people look at us as if we're mad doing it without going there, but we figure you have to live in a place to really know what its like. We arn't mad to do it, loads before us have proved it can be done.

RedMonsk

Would you want to?!