mwgster

Hi We came over last October and secured a rental in Burns. My wife loved the clean polished look of the area where as I like to see trees and a big of greenery! It is very subjective. Yes, it is very expensive to buy. Land is pretty much $1000 per sq mtr so a 550 sq plot will cost you $550,000. In Yanchep, land is half the price and the other side of Marmion is cheaper too (but not much). A half descent single storey house will cost 250k + and a two storey some 300k plus. Plots in Iluka are a little cheaper and it is a big more established. Plot sizes seem to be getting smaller too. We were speaking to our agent last week and she said not to buy for 12 months as the market is destabilising. It may give sterling time to catch up too. Houses in Ocean Reef are generally older. You can pay $700k for something quit hideous and still need to spend $150+ to refurb! Shops in Currambine are handy and Lakeside in a Joondalup is only 10 min away. If you will be working in the CBD, the train from Currambine takes 30min and compared to train services back home, you will be pleased. Driving to the city is not really a option. Once you get to the Ocean Reef section, your screwed. Doesn't matter what time you get there either, be it 6:30, 7 or later. Parking in the city is expensive too. On another note, getting work here is not easy. I hope you have work lined up? You will get the 'need WA' experience line a lot and there is a great deal of protectionism. In my book, that's fair enough, I am an outsider coming in. If you don't see it this way then you will find it hard. We have had countless good Ozzie friends tell us the same. East Coast is slightly more cosmopolitan so a bit easier.....but again, this is not down to experience, just what others tell us. I am an engineer by trade and I have worked as a labourer for 6 months. I have only just secured my first engineering job. My wife, who is a lawyer and practice manager by trade is still unable to get work. With regards to the economy,.... Well it is going down hill. National debt is at an all time high. Many of us are bracing for some hard hitting decisions come the budget a week on Tuesday. My response may seem a bit 'glass half empty' haha But in all honesty it is a great place to live but it will cost you financially and emotionally.

Hi All I am here in sunny Australia and am permanently employed. The company I work for has it's own Super Fund but is not QROPS registered. I have been looking at a myriad of Superannuation schemes and as somebody else on here has posted, am super confused! ha I realise that maybe I need to be paying for the advice of a financial/pension specialist but just to at least get me started, are there any super funds that would come recommended. I am looking for a fund I can move from job to job, has death benefit &/or income protection, does not have massive fees, is QROPS registered so that I can transfer my UK funds but most of all that is simple enough for me to manage!! Any advice would be much appreciated... Martin

Hi The Peachey's We are flying out on the 13th of October and I was wondering exactly the same thing re. travel/health insurance. Should we get travel/health insurance for say a months cover while we sort out medicare etc? If the insurance company got wind of the fact the insurance was taken out for emigration and not a holiday as such, would that be an excuse for them to null & void the insurance? The devil is in the detail as they say.. I hope somebody comes up with an answer.. If I find anything out, I will let you know. Martin

No, not meant that way.. Just happy to have the visa!

The kick in the teeth is paying for 4 flights when I originally thought it was only me who would have to validat the visa.. Ha It's all good really. thanks for your reply, very much appreciated. M

Hi This may sound like a pretty daft question but I just want to be sure.. We (wife & 2 kids) will be holidaying in March 2013 as we need to validate our PR Visa before the end of April. (house not selling arrrgghhh). The first kick in the teeth was when I realised all applicants have to travel to Oz to validate the visa & not just the main applicant (me). Few more grand to find than I had planned for! :mad: This is definitely the case is it? The other question is whether we need to apply for a visitors visa when we go on holiday or are we now covered as we have a 175? Your help on this would be very much appreciated :biggrin: Martin

I hope it sells soon too! If not a sniff by March, we will have to go on holiday to Perth again so that we can activate the visa ! :-) Nice problem to have though.. if only I didn't have to pay for it! haha Good luck with everything.. exciting times M :-)

Wow. Congratulations. We still have our house on the market and are just waiting for it to sell before we move.. Moving to Perth... Where are you guys off too? Best of luck M

Good on ya.. Flip flp it is.. Made me and the wife chuckle! No water by the side of the bed for me then! haha :-)

Tidy! We got our 175 in May last year. If we dont sell the house by Feb, we will have to go out for another reccie, probably late March so that we can activate the visa! Which State are you going to!?!? Have a great trip, very jealous.. M

Hi JackC Like others have said, you are probably not doing anything wrong. I took a reccie out to Perth a year ago. Visited many agencies but to cut a long story short, did not get anywhere. If you don't have a visa in place, they generally do not want too know. Like others have intimated, too many factors that can go wrong.. I can understand, I guess, that for employers, it is less hassle to employ somebody local (if they can). When I was there, I was told that unless I had a visa, then nobody would look at me and that it would be a miracle if I managed to secure an interview, nevermind a job. So, I came home and bugger me, a month later, my permanent residency visa came through (talk about perfect timing... not! ha). At this point I thought, great, now I can take this further. (or so I thought). Now I am told that even though I have permanent residency, that unless I am actually in the country, I am unlikely to get much feedback/interest or an interview! Right now I am waiting to sell my house. Once sold, I will seriously get on the case and hopefully will get somewhere. Hope you get there... M

Hi We took our 2 & 4 year old (as they were 1 year ago) on a Singapore Airlines flight to Perth. We took a handfull of toys that they really liked. Daniel is mad on his DS so that was fine. Emily did a lot of colouring etc. With an 18 month old it may be a bit more difficult. Take a few changes of clothes in case s/he is sick etc. Singapore airlines staff were great. Daniel was sick more times than I care to remember.. The staff took special care of him.. they go out of their way for the kids. Martin

Cost us just shy of 6000 GBP in total for a 175 residency visa, agency fee (destination Oz.. very reasonable), health checks (2 adults + 2 kids), police checks, Skills Assessment (Australian Computer Society), IELTS and finally certification of documents. For flights, anything from 800 GBP pp on average. We also went on a family reccie to WA. I am too scared to even work out what that cost! :-(

Guys, thanks to you all for your great comments, invaluable information..

Oz To France, your input is very much appreciated.. You confirm pretty much what I suspected but it is always good to hear it second hand. If we look at some of the major pointers for us, such as living by the beach, commuting, finding a job etc then I think Perth is a better option.