Phil & Vikki

It sure does sound a bit of a mess at the moment, but like everyone has said, things will sort themselves out. There are just a few options here, with the main viable one going down the route that you have already started, dropping the price until someone snaps it up. This is not ideal by a long shot, but if it is the only way to shift it and allow you to move back to the UK without this hanging over your head.

We have a friend in the UK who has put his house on the market at what the agent said it is worth. Personally we think this is more than 50 - 70k above what it is worth. It has been on the market now for a few months and not even a sniff. He is thinking of taking it off the market now as it is not going anywhere. Agents will say it is worth x amount (as they want the most profit they can get), but at the end of the day a place or anything is only worth what people are prepared to pay. You may need to keep lowering it until you reach this amount.

The other option for a short term may be to go down the Airbnb route. This is not ideal but it may give you a bit more time to sell, while you are not here. From the sounds of it you will not be able to delay your leaving date. Good luck and please let us know how it all goes.

It is great to hear that all is going well and going to plan. So nice to hear that you have found a nice little village that you have been welcomed into and where you can hopefully have a positive impact in. That is one thing that we find about living in Sydney, there is nothing like that and to the most you are on your own. We have found it hard to make new friends and have any kind of social life. Hopefully, you will enjoy it there and fit in. It is inspiring to hear that the move for you has gone so well. We are looking at moving back late next year and to hear good positive updates like this is great.

This is our opinion, we are not financial advisers, but this is what we are going to do. Please do not take this as gospel, but more the thoughts of someone else who is facing the same dilemma. Some may say the thoughts of a mad man, but our thoughts nerveless.

When we came to Australia, we had paid off our house in the UK. So renting it out was the logical option. After we brought it, it doubled in value in seven years and now it is worth around 120k more than when we brought it. The way we saw it was that we had an investment in the UK that would bring us in money and a place that we could go back to if we ever decided to return to the UK. On the whole we have had good tenants and it is nice to have the rent coming from it. So for us we have the rent every year and we still have the capital in the property.  

We brought a place in Sydney and in the four years that we have had it, it has virtually doubled in value. That growth is only set to continue with the new light rail links in the area we live in. So when we decided to go back to the UK, we considered both selling and renting. In the end we decided that the best way to go for us was to rent. Once again, this is only our thoughts and do not take this as any form of advice as we are not financially qualified to give anything of the sort. The reasons for us renting are:

• We like the idea that in retirement (we will have paid off the mortgage) the house in Sydney will give us a pension income.
• Like our place in the UK, we do not know if we will want to return in the future, so having a place to come back to will make it easier.
• If we sell (then decide to return later down the line) the chances of us getting a mortgage at our ages or being able to afford to buy in Sydney again will be very slim.
• With all the pain and cost of getting the visas, to only have seven years out here and go home with nothing (apart from money) seems a waist. This way we have the passports and have an investment for later.
• We and the kids all have Australian passports now, so in the future if the kids want to come back, they will have a place to stay. Keeping the property in Sydney if mainly for the kids in the future.
• On a selfish angle, we like the idea of being able to say that we have a holiday home/rental in Sydney J
• The rent (by the time we plan to leave) will cover the mortgage and other costs, so we should not have to add to it from the UK.

 So we have decided to keep it and put everything we earn into getting the mortgage repayments down. If things happen later in life that mean we need to sell it, we have that option. We will keep it as long as we can and keep on driving towards the end goal.

Funny enough, the three bedroom house that we have in the UK will not be big enough as there are now 5 of us, so we will have to look at buying a new house in the UK. Yes we could sell the Sydney one, take the money and get a really nice big house in the UK. However, that seems like a short term gain to us (not being financial advisers, just normal Joe’s). We are looking at the long term and every property we have known has gone up in value, so we are taking that into consideration too.

On 16/08/2017 at 20:46, bristolman said:

Again. Yes our wonderful NHS has been voted the best health care system in the world which certainly comes as no surprise to me given the brilliant care we have received.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/14/nhs-holds-on-to-top-spot-in-healthcare-survey

When you live in the Uk, you take the NHS for granted. it is only when you move away, you realise that it is great and how well we have it in the UK. We will for sure be returning back home with a greater appreciation of what the UK has to offer, including the fantastic NHS. There should however be far greater respect and protection to healthcare staff. 

On 15/08/2017 at 19:12, Martinbjulieb said:

You shouldn't be a few months on the boat, unless you ask for a delayed shipment. Our shipment left Perth on the 6th March and arrived on the 5th of April. Cleared customs by the 11th, which included a weekend.

Yep same as ScottieGirl, so can take longer. it sounds like you were lucky 

We rent our house out in the UK and we pay management fees, finder’s fee and annual checks like gas and electric and the landlords insurance. These costs are all included in the rent that the tenants pay. The tenant themselves on top of the rent, pay all bills e.g. gas electric water council tax and tenancy renewal fee.

We have always taken the approach that the sooner we can get our kids socialising with other kids, the better, it really helped with their social skills and growing up. We have friends who kept their children with them as long as they could, not taking them to day-care or such like and when they get to start school, it is really noticeable. You can really tell the kids who have been mixing with others from them who have been kept in a little bubble for as long as possible.

With regards to year 3’s being exposed to year 4 or 5 work, the fact that they are being driven to strive and learn more can only be a good thing. Life is not sugar coated and there will be pressure, the sooner we start coping with it the better later on in life.

Classic insurance won't be an issue, we insure a classic car and they don't use our no claims anyway. It costs us £140 a year including full breakdown cover, agreed value and we get the wreck back if the unthinkable happens. What car is it if you don't mind me asking ? 

14 hours ago, Patphillips47 said:

We took our Captiva over end of 2013 cost around £1209 for modification etc  it needs  an IVA test - an Individual vehicle test We had a firm pick the car up from the docks modify it and get it on the road then brought up north to our home

 It will cost an arm and a leg to insure though as its an import and depends if you personally can get some no claims i think it was £1200 the first year I will look for shipping costs although we did a 40ft container with car and furniture 

I will look documents up i think i still have scans etc 

With the costs that you have mentioned along with the trouble you went through, it does make you ask if it is all worth it all. We will be bringing our classic car back with us when we return, however she was originally registered in the UK and if we do a search on the DVLA website, she is still on there. We like to think of it as she has been on a long holiday with us lol. We are hoping that we will not have the issues of importing a new car. However, the insurance and the no claims will still be an issue.

For just that reason (not having any no claims bonus) we will be driving our old Citroen C3 when we get back. On leaving the UK we gave it to family and now it has worked its way back to us. She is an 04 plate, but all paid for and after a bit of work she will be goat to run around until she gives up the goat. She does not owe us anything now. So we can drive her for a year on 3rd party and get the no claims building up 

From talking to friends back in the UK, the price of car insurance has gone up and up year on year.

We have not moved back yet, but from what we hear we are counting on a few months on the boat and a few weeks to be cleared.

It is great to hear that the UK is so high up. I would have thought that Russia (the sleeping giant) would have been a bit higher, but I am glad we are two. Everyone can see that things will change in time as they say China will be the next biggest superpower, with India coming online when China go offline. Others words, not mine. The good thing with the UK being recognised in this is that it can only be good for the economy and the whole Brexit thing. I know that there is another thread for Brexit, but good press will be good for the country. More and more people should take reports like this and use them to be more upbeat about the UK. Living away for the last 6 years, we can see that the UK is not as bad as what people think or say about it. In our eyes, it is the best place to be. Our son has recently started high school in the UK and he is able to do far more there than he could ever do in Sydney.  We cannot wait to get back for good.

From reading your story, this sure seems the right thing to do and at the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you and your family. We wish you all the very best with the move and are you are moving back to family and friends, we are confident it will be the right one. However, if in a few years you feel different, like you say you all have the passports so you can come and go as you want. Then you would officially join the “Ping-Pong Poms” group.

Scotland does seem to be getting more and more popular these days. Have read a few posts on here where people are returning back to the UK and have decided to go to Scotland. Sure know what you mean about a cold Christmas though. We have spent only one Christmas here in 6 years and have our flights booked back in December, to spend Christmas in the UK. Sitting at the table sweating is not Christmas for us. The one thing that we are looking forward to being able to get (when we want) is proper sausages and sausage rolls. Dare we say it, when we are back we always go and get some from Greggs. Strange what you crave when you cannot get it.

Know exactly what you mean about sorting things out and not taking back anything that is no longer needed. When we came out here it was a mad last minute rush, as Phil had a job offre out of the blue. So we did not have chance to sort much out and we brought everything. As a result we have boxes in our garage with items in them that we have not used since we have been out here. For sure we will be having a big clean out. One thing we have said before is that we will ‘help’ the packers with their job. What we mean by that is grouping things together and helping more things go in the boxes. When the guys were packing in the UK we saw them just placing things in the boxes without a care for space saving. One example was a box contained 15 wooden coat hangers that had just been thrown in. If they were cable ties in groups of 5 we could of got more in the boxes. Eventually cutting down on the amount of boxes we shipped. We will be a bit smarter and hopefully not so rushed this time around.

When we came over we used Pickford’s. They were ok but they did scratch the front of the car we brought over. We have heard a few times on there that Chess are a good company and quite reasonable with their prices.

We have our house in the UK that is being rented out. Last year we took our son back to start high school. This worked out well as our tenants had just moved out and it needed a bit of work before the new tenants moved in. With nothing being in the house, it was easy to do the work it needed and to give it a bit of tlc. When you move back you will not have your things yet, so you can move around the house freely and do the work needed. You will be surprised at how fast you can make an impact when there are not things there to get in your way.

Hope that the move goes well and at the end of the day now that the flights are booked you have a light at the end of the tunnel, something to look forward to and work towards. We are planning on moving back late next year, but will be keeping our place here and renting it out. Before then we need to get some jobs done around the place and things with strata do not move fast so we may have to delay our plans. At least you have not got that worry :-)

That is a good point, as with my old British car, I have to get the bits shipped in from the UK. The funny thing is that is cheaper than trying to get the bits here. In the UK, you may have the same issue and then you have to take into account the over prices of Australia. It always makes me laugh how prices are so high here. The other day I was looking at ebay for some male and female spade connectors for my car. On the first page it showed me ones from Australia. One place wanted $10 for the connectors and then $8.50 for the shipping. For gosh sakes they were only down the road. However, on page two it was the overseas suppliers. One place were asking $2.30 for the same connectors and free p&p from China. Can you guess which one I went for in the end? So I can only imagine what troubles you will face trying to get bits when you need them. Also it will be harder to shift when and if you want to trade in or move on.

That is a nice amount to live on currently and if you cannot, you need to take a long hard look at your lifestyle and make the necessary changes. The old saying comes true here; you have to live within your means. If you have 24k a year coming in and 26k going out, you have issues. One thing to remember though, if your 24k is fixed from now until the day you meet your maker. The cost of living and inflation will not be. Your pound today will get you more today than it will tomorrow. With that in mind it may be an idea to not try and spend all the money each year, but to save year on year to give you more when you may need it. As you are returning back to the UK after a long period, does that mean that UK pensions and benefits will not be there for a bit, if ever? If that is the case things may be different.

4 hours ago, KTM1963 said:

Lived in Worcester for 10 years before heading to Australia in 1989.  Have just returned to test the waters in March 2017 and love it.  So close to everywhere, a very pretty city and affordable if you want to buy.  Love the small city vibe compared to Melbourne and so far, no intention of returning permanently to Australia.  Oh! and just started a full time job today

Totally agree about Worcester and we feel that way about the surrounding areas too. We are originally from Kidderminster and would often go to Worcester. We are heading back this Christmas and it is a shame that we will miss the Victorian Market. The prices of houses in Worcester is going up, but then again they are all throughout the country.

On 04/08/2017 at 18:59, bunbury61 said:

Reading your post , you are doing the right thing .

my dad died in 98 , and I was here in the u.k .

my mom has been on her own for 19 years , and thank god , she has got my wife alongside her ....not me ,her son ....my wife .

my mom is nearly 90 now ,

she speaks to my wife 3 times a day , and now its coming to the stage , mom needs more care .

we do her shopping for her etc ., and al the other stuff

she is old school, but she needs us now .

I spent the last few years ,angry at my siblings ( they are in oz ) , that had done next to nothing , whilst all the onus was on us .

The anger has only recently turned to pity .

They have missed the boat now

Thanks for the comments on our post and we feel for you in your position, but like you say your mum needs you now. It is a shame to hear that it has all fallen on you to do, but like you say you have to pity the others as they are missing out on what can only be classed as limited time. At least one thing, you are there when your mum needs you most. You can always say that.

On 01/08/2017 at 04:35, bunbury61 said:

for me ..Warwickshire...worcestershire...herefordshire.....shropshire....some lovely spots

we caught the train from Solihull to Worcester recently ...urban ...very urban ..then out into the country ...beautiful

Worcester is decent

Totally agree. We will be moving back to Kidderminster. Good old carpet town.

That is one of the main things that has got us too. We underestimated the impact of our family aging would have on us. Yes we know they were getting older (as we all are), but we didn’t take into account the feeling of guilt we would feel not being there to help out and missing the funerals of the family members we grow up with. This struck home hard when my father passed away suddenly. Ten am UK we were talking to him, by 12pm he was gone. This happened on the weekend and we could not get back to the UK, to my mother until the Thursday. Time when she needed someone close to help her during this difficult time, we were not there. This combined with the fact that we have never been able to call Australia home, has made us think that the time is right to go home. Our 12 year old son has already made the move back and is living with my mum, so that is a bit of company for her. We have done what we can to get our son settled in and it seems to of worked, he is doing fantastic both in school and scouts. However, not being there is taking its toll on everyone. So like you, we have made the decision that the time is right and we are looking to go back next year, in time for our daughter to start the new school year. It is true, when you need to get back fast, only then you realise how far it is away. There is no jumping in the car and getting to there in a few minutes. 

We never thought of moving to Australia as a dream come true, we say it as an adventure and a break from our normal (what we thought was boring) lives. Only now we can look back and see that it was not boring and in fact we had it quite good there. We do not see our time in Australia as a waist or mistake, as we have had 7 years adventure, that most of our friends and family can only dream of and our kids have two passports now. So if they decide they want to come back in the future they can without the cost of problems we had to face getting the visa.

We too have a house in the UK, which we have been renting and on our return we could go back to if needed. However, with good tenants in, you kinda think leave them as they are and let’s keep the money coming in. The option is there though if we need it and if we cannot buy another place straight away. Rent and mortgage free accommodation is a very big pull though lol. When we left the UK, we said that we would not sell our place just in case it didn’t work out. We heard about lots of people who did sell their place to take the money with them to Oz to buy a new house. We didn’t take that option and now it seems like the right one, well for us anyway. We brought in Oz and are going to keep this place too as an investment and a place to come back to later if we or the kids need it. It is true though that the sun shining all the time can get to you. Last summer we remember it being 38 at 11.30pm, which is not fun, trying to get to sleep with that heat. Also no matter how hard you try the mosquitoes get in and you get bittern to bits. This is the side of it that people back home will not understand as they are still probably in the mind-set that all is fantastic and the sun shines all the time. Personally we would rather have the cold as you can wrap up. We also have never been able to call this place home. We thought that buying our own place would help, but it did not.

Like you say your daughter is a grown women and she can make her own mind up. You have to prepare yourself for the fact that she may not want to come back to the UK after she has finished uni.  We have read a few posts on there and Crown seems to be the best people to go with. Before we leave we are going to have a big sort out and only take what is needed as when we came over we brought everything including the kitchen sink (as they say). We are not going to do that again as in 6 years there are boxes full in the garage of stuff we brought over and have not used. No point keeping it and paying extra to ship it back when we have not used it in 6 plus years. We have a car to take back with us, one we brought over in the first place. 

Oh yes the Lake District is very nice. When we were in the UK for Christmas, we met up with some family friends of ours in the Lake District. They were from Scotland and we from the midlands, so kinda made sense to meet half way. We stayed in a Travelodge and did a bit of walking and eating, a very nice place indeed for a night or two away. With it being early New Year it was not too packed with tourists (which we were now lol) and the views were just fantastic. Well worth a trip.

This post is in danger of going off on a tangent and away from the original meaning of the post added by “thinker78”. This is a shame as thinker78 admitted that they have not been here often, but felt compelled to give their thoughts and words of wisdom. All in the hope that it would help people who are in two minds about moving or who are going to return back to the UK. For that we thank you thinker78.

It is great to hear that you have made it and that the move back for you has been one of total success. One of the things that are worrying us is the uncertainty of it all, the move back to the UK. Yes it is the place we know, love and feel home in, but we will be returning to no jobs and no place to love. So in certain respects the move back to the UK will be far harder than when we decided to come out here, at least for us. We will try to get work secured for our return, but that can be hard when not in the country. We are looking forward to all the things mentioned in this post though and when we go back in August (ready for the start of the new school year), hopefully the weather will still be nice. Reading success stories such as thinker78’s is always great and help reduce the worries. Thanks again for your post and letting us know that there can be (and often is) a happy story at the end of a big move back.

16 hours ago, Toots said:

but I never felt I 'belonged'.  Better to move on when you feel like that.  Doesn't matter what other folk think.
 

This is what we feel and what we are thinking.

23 hours ago, Taff said:

Most of my mates think I'm mad to return. My answer is always; "You live out here for 16 years first, then you can tell me what to do."

Very true and it is not like anyone can say that you have given it a good go. You just realise where you want to be and may be where your heart is. Well we do after this time.

This is something that has always made us laugh. For us, it generally seems to be a statement originating from people who take all they can from the UK and still think it is a bad place to be. People who take it for granted that they can go to the dentist, doctor or hospital and get treatment on the NHS. Yes they have to pay a bit towards it, but nothing like the costs here in Australia. The kind of people, who watch the popular Australia relocation programs and think that it is all a bed of roses, the grass is far greener in Australia. People who still think that they can sell their UK terraced house (taking what little equity they have) and come over to Australia, buy a 5 bed house, with a pool on a big block of land and only work four days a week for more three times the amount of money they are getting in the UK. Think you are getting the picture lol. People who when it comes to living in Australia, do not know their @ss from the elbow.

We travel back every Christmas (as feel that Christmas in the blistering heat is not right) and when we tell people our plans to move back, we always have the “why” question. Most of the times you can see on their fact that, what you are saying “does not compute”. As their vision of Australia and the reality is clearly so far apart. Yes, it may work out for a few people moving here, but generally it is work, mortgage, bills and such like. All the things that you have in the UK, just here you pay more for aircon and in the UK it is more for heating. With house prices here in Sydney, you still have to work like a dog to pay the bills, survive and keep a roof over your head. Here though, you sweat going to work and from work and sometimes while at work. You tell people this in the UK and their reaction is “oh I love the heat”. Yes we do now and then, but you get sick of it all the time. Trying to get to sleep at night when it is still 30 oC is no joke.

At the end of the day moving your whole family back is not a decision taken lightly, things must be serious for anyone to wish to move back. To go through all the hustle and up evil of moving again so if anyone had any feelings for you to start with, you would hope that they realise it is something that you need to do for your overall happiness. To anyone who is moving back or has, good on you. You have realised that Australia is not right for your family (at this time) and you have taken steps to improve the short life that we have on this earth. The way we look at it is that we tried it, we know what it is like and we have given our kids dual passports, what we see as the best start. We now realise that it is not right and we can make that decision based on knowing both sides of the story.

We have lived in Sydney coming on 7 years by the time we plan to move back to the UK. We feel that we have given it a fair go and now the time is right for us to move back. Our move is due to a number of factors; not feeling like this is home, realising that we have not got the golden better life here (that we were looking for), the UK is not actually that bad after all, aging family members and all our thoughts are about the UK. We sent our eldest over to the UK to start school and live with grandparent. He is loving his time there and doing far more and better than what he would have done here. That is also a driving factor as being away from him is hard on everyone and now we just want the family back together. With one child being there and settled in school and life, we just have one more to sort out in school when we get there, for now anyway.

Hopefully, 40 is not too old to enter the job market, as that is how old we will be when we move back. Well add a few years lol. We are sure that it is not a problem and all will be OK. From the replies on this post being 40 does not seem to be creating any issues at all.  We have a place in Sydney so like you we have decided to keep it and rent it out (like you). Worst case we have to sell it and take the money later, best case we have a pension from it when we get older. With keeping it for us, we can let the kids use it as and if they want to. We also do not think that we will be ping-pong-poms but want to keep it as if we get off the Sydney property ladder there is no wat (at our age) we would get back on again.

Hopefully all will go OK with your move and now that everyone is on board (hubby and yourself).  

When we started looking into places for our son to start school, we were lucky as the Christmas before we went back to the UK and had the chance to take our son around the possible schools. So that he could pick the one that he felt most comfortable with and wanted to go too. He made his choice and then we emailed them direct about places. We looked on the local council website and that gave us all the dates and forms that we needed to fill in. All correspondence was performed either by telephone or email. Thank the lord for the TPG free international calls package that is all we can say lol. It helped us out a great deal being still in Sydney and trying to sort out things for our sons move.

We did not think about holding our son back at all and even if we had, we would not have done so. In the end it turned out to be the right decision. If there was anything that we needed to do to help him get up to speed we would have, but as it turned out all was OK. Going into year one will be a bit of a shock for the little ones, but it is something they need to all go through to get them from day-care mode into school life. We would not recommend holding them back at all.

To answer the question posed in the title of the post, as we did all the communications and set up via email and phone, while in Sydney, we were able to take our son one week before the new term started. One week to get the last minute things started and then one week with him while he did his first week in school.