Karl & Ann

Perth is where we'd like to go. My brother and his family also live in Perth. We won't be taking a huge amount of capital, so there is the consideration of (a)will we end up in a $300k property with a reasonable mortgage, but surrounded by bogans and hoons, or (b) living somewhere nice with a really nasty mortgage.

So, depending on property situation here and there, Adelaide looks tempting too! (Apart from less active jobs market).

Go for it. Much easier to do if you're in your 30s I feel - not so easy to start from scratch when retirement is less than 20 years away. In our case (thinking of worst case scenarios) we could spend two years struggling to find employment, during which time all our capital would have run out. No chance then of getting back on UK property ladder.

If that sounds too much doom and gloom, there's more to life than owning property. Brother in Perth is quite happy renting following split from partner. He's mid 50s now and NO chance of buying property again.

Perhaps I should start an "Old Gits" thread in the main Forum?

Karl

Issie

Hey less of the Old Gits.......You are only a couple of years older than us

OH is 40 this year and we will be starting from scratch too. We have a very established house here which needs nowt doing to it and a low mortgage.
( bought a right time )......but if we were not intending to move to Australia i would move from this house anway as it is not somewhere i want to spent my retirement days.

Prices in Perth are staying put at the moment and there is talk about them falling slightly, so we may be in with a chance.

Karl & Ann

I hope so. REIWA Quarterly median for Dec 06 was $450k for Perth, but that's based on figures from the previous 12 months, so "real" median is higher.

Attadale here we come! Or do I mean Armadale?

Karl

Issie

sophjam

hi there,
this is my first contact with this site. I have posted all the applications off to the ANMC, QNC,and visa application I am a community childrens nurse and hope to move to Cairns where my brother in law and his wife live. I have my husband and two children hopefully going with me!! my daughter is 12 and my son 15 so he will be left school when we leave.We are 37 years old. Its good to find out that we are all feeling the same about leaving our lives behind, my brother in law emmigrated 5 years ago and hasnt looked back really,but my sister in law has suffered along the way with home sickness,but has settled now is anyone else planning to go to cairns? I would love to hear from you thanks Trudi

Mida

Old Gits thread sounds like a good idea to me. I happened to come across this thread by accident. We are new to ths site and still finding or way around, so it was great to read about people in a similar position to ourselves.

OH is 46 this year, just managed to get the visa application in before he turned 45, and we have two young boys(6 and 2). It is quite a daunting thought starting from scratch when you're in your 40's and the worry of OH not getting employment and running down the capital especially when we have such a young family. Anyway we have decided to go out for a rekkie once our visas come through and see just what the job market etc is like.

I think that once we go out it will be a case of we can't come back certainly the way the house prices are going at the moment.

Karl & Ann

Swings and roundabouts. If you're in your 20s or 30s, you've got more time to make mistakes and move on (literally), but chances are you've got less capital behind you.

For us 40 somethings...if things go belly-up, that's the last 20 years' worth of equity blown, and retirement is only 20 years away!!

So it helps if you're reasonably certain that Australia is worth (a) all its bad points and (b) risking blowing most of your savings.

Personally I am budgeting for a smaller salary and a bigger mortgage in going to Perth. We'll only have about $150k to put down on a place, which'll mean a motgage of between $200k to £250k to buy somewhere very modest.

Means we have to be confident that we'll be gaining more from the move, than what we'll be leaving behind, which is quite a lot. I'm fairly confident we will. Also, I don't have rose tints, as my brother has lived there for the last 20years and so we get to hear the good and the bad.

Good luck

Karl
PS: Ast, I hope you're reading this. Your collywobbles are completely normal!

Issie

But how exciting it all going to be too.

Karl & Ann

Oh yes. Very!!!!

Then there's the mind boggling decisions like:

Which AFL team? (I hate sports usually, but when in Rome...);

Which bumper sticker (Australian or State, like my avatar); and

The Quest for a decent Indian Restaurant.

Karl

Issie

The last being the most important

Karl & Ann

Plus the Quest for strong cheese. Oops, have i just lit the blue touch paper?

Issie

When are you hoping to get there Karl ?

Karl & Ann

Youngest and eldest daughters sit GCSEs and A Levels respectively next June (08), so we're not looking to move before then. Ideally, to cut down on disruption, we wouldn't want to sell the house and move into a rental in the UK in the run up to the exams. However, we'd like to be in Perth before xmas 08, so they can benefit from a whole academic year starting in Jan 09. Eldest wants to be a vet, so her A Level results are critical.

Counting my chickens, as we're still waiting for a CO, and obviously no guarantee we'll get visa/pass meds etc.

So, a long time scale for us. On the plus side, Perth house prices should have stabilised. I've even seen some talk (in Real Estate section of PomsInPerth) of slight house price fall.

Anyway, probably have to make a validation visit sometime before next Easter.

How about you?

Karl

Issie

You have done a lot of planning Karl......kids eh .....what we do for them

We will be there for next Easter so you could always pop in for a cold one .....we will be needing a bit of company and a few laughs to keep us going.

We are leaving the UK mid January. Have got the kids into primary for the beginning of the new term

Karl & Ann

Yes we'll all look forward to a cold one while discussing the best part of Armadale to live in... (or Kwinana!!).

The girls are the biggest worry - is it the right think to do for them etc etc? On the plus side, they're looking forward to getting away from chavs.

Karl