Cez

White pages residential?

You'll really have to think about what you want - lifestyle wise as well as financial. I've just bought a weatherboard cottage in the southern Central coast for $435k. I'm a single professional. For me it's a no brainer - the thought of going back to the UK makes me feel stressed - I love the UK and have frequent homesickness for a decent pub and a Sunday roast, but the lifestyle here is much more "me." It helps that career wise I have been very lucky here and would not be able to get a similar position in the UK - so I'm earning a very decent salary with a manageable mortgage in a great place, with the only trade off being a commute. Some people are more anti commute than others - for me even in the UK I was commuting an hour from york to the suburbs of Leeds. I'm happy reading on a train for an hour but others aren't.

long story short - see how you feel about the commute, and consider what's really important to you in the long term. It's a hard decision - good luck!

I went on Friday and was surprised at how good it was. I'm not into rides or anything, but the animals and displays were great. The evening was good as well, esp as we smuggled some red wine in. Starting from about 4.30 there was the grand parade, of horses, cows and alpacas. THen there was an interstate horse polo match, then a rodeo which was really fun to watch. The wood chopping match was cancelled because of the rain, but then a sheepdog display. The cars and motorbikes weren't my thing but they were only the last 30 mins or so, so we went for food. THEn the fireworks and we went to the bar which had live music and a small crowd of mostly people who were competing. Heaps of fun!

I drove on my uk licence on a whv too without any issues, didn't need to carry my passport.

I've just bought a place in Sydney, not too far from the central coast. It's $435k, so fees as follow:

$15,085 stamp duty

$320ish mortgage registration and transfer fee

free mortgage application, should've been about $400

didnt go through a mortgage broker but Aussie is a free mortgage broker I've used in the past

i paid about $900 for separate pest and building inspections, but you can get combined inspections from about $600ish

conveyancer $1100

costs on settlement, ie settling up bills like council tax, water rates, allowing $1-2000

and a 20% deposit to avoid lmi.

if you buy in nsw you get a five day cooling off period but only if buying by private treaty. You get no cooling off period if buying by auction. Getting a mortgage has been paperwork hell. Lenders are much more careful these days. It hasn't helped that I'm on a temporary contract!

I haven't heard that about flats, but then I didn't try to get contents insurance for my flat, which was in a seven ish storey building. Building insurance is provided by the body corporate usually I believe - it was for my place in Sydney anyway.

I'm in a single room in marrickville for 230 / week, bills included. It's not luxurious but has everything I need, tv in my room etc... I went through flatmates.com.au, or something.

Nah only you have to take the medical - the others are all Australian already. Hope you get more info on how to complete the forms shortly...

I opened my citibank account on a working holiday visa. This was a few years ago though.

You'll have to pay the levy, as you'll be earning above the threshold in order to qualify for the 457. The medicare levy surcharge is only payable if you earn over a certain amount, maybe around the $80k amount for a single - easy to look up on the Internet.

the medicare levy is a little bit like national insurance in the uk. If you want to take out from the system, it's not too unreasonable to pay in as well.

I work for nsw health... Try these: http://www.hsu.net.au or http://www.cpsu.org.au

I've been to Dubbo with work a few times, I thought it was just fine, esp for just a few years. I'm a social worker and always find the staff working with young people with disabilities are always much nicer in the country. The community sector in Sydney is much more transient, but in the country towns you tend to get locals who stay in the sector long term. I always enjoy heading out bush to see people! It'll be a real experience and one most Aussies won't have the chance to experience, I'd say go for it!

Clothes! Aussie clothes are awful. Expensive and poorly fitted. Also chocolate, teabags, shoes

Fair enough, here's the page for NT which says you have to be citizen or pr.

http://www.housing.nt.gov.au/housing_choices/rent/private_rental_assistance/eligibility3

Looks like it's only for citizens or PR holders

http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/Centre+For+Affordable+Housing/For+Renters+of+Affordable+Housing/Am+I+eligible+for+affordable+rental+housing.htm

Ubank interest rate is far superior on Usaver compared to Citibank Online Saver.

 

over 4% as long as you can deposit $200 per month.

I'm not sure it is suitable for a non resident though so I would check that point out.

i think they're only looking to withdraw funds in the uk, not add to them? In which case the interest rate with ubank will be the basic 2.9%. It's a bit better than this now but due to go down to 2.9% in a few days time. Citibank online saver is the same rate, though it's 4% for the first four months.

I only need to use an actual branch for the occasional depositing of cheques and cash. In these cases you can use Auspost outlets, which are pretty prolific. I went into my local post office earlier to deposit some cash, easy.

I second Marisa - I've been with citibank for over four years and have never paid fees. You'll need one time passwords for online banking, but if you ring the helpline and ask for a hard token, they'll send you a nifty banking token so you don't need to use your phone at all.

Failing that, I've just opened an account with ubank who have a better interest rate. I believe this is fee free but charges more for overseas transactions than citibank.

Hang on, did you arrive in September this year? In that case are you sure you need to do an Australian tax return as it would cover July 2013 - July 2014, when you weren't here...?

If the Aus government owes you money then you won't be penalised for filing your tax return late. If you owe them money then you will be penalised. I don't know how much I'm afraid, I've only ever filed late when I've been confident I'm owed money.

Whv and bridging visas do count towards citizenship.

Exactly which visa did you come over on? Was it the 309 partner visa?

if you've been sponsored as a partner, you are also subject to a five year wait until you can be sponsored again, unless there are extenuating circumstances which it sounds like there aren't.

It's the 820/801 then - the 820 is the temporary part and the 801 is the permanent - two years after applying.

Are you in australia at the moment?

You only have to apply for a licence once you've been pr for three months. You can drive on an overseas licence indefinitely as long as you remain on a temporary visa. Once you become pr you're subject to the three month limit.

Hmmm a tricky situation.