srg73

Get in touch with QBCC when you arrive and see if you can get licenced also look up AS3958 2007 which is the standards tilers have to work to. Keep in touch when you land as we may have some tiling work needed next year, just need to save some money!! Best of luck S

Work finishes today and generally things are winding down. So wherever you are around the would, have a great Christmas and a happy new year. S

Retaining walls are a pain. Make sure drainage is put in place, poor drainage kills retaining walls, they rarely fail otherwise. Who benefits from the wall, is his land built up or your dug out, that will give an indication of financial responsibility. Shop around for prices, retaining walls are mostly very simple, only made complicated and therefore expensive by builders. The golden rule is 45 degrees, the wall supports anything above it if drawing a 45 degree angle in section. The wall will also provide some lateral support however given the wall is sleepers then it is likely only to be decorative and supporting garden land only. Best of luck. Simon

60 points vs 80 points for a simple language test. S

Auctions are an agents game, nothing more. The vendor will have a reserve usually unrealistic and set by the agent. Most people at auctions are there to be nosey. You need to register your intention to bid with the agent prior to the day, if the auction is slow then there can be an advantage to yourself to allow the property to be handed in, just make sure your the highest bidder meaning negotiations begin with you. CLARIFY YOUR POSITION WITH YOUR BANK as payment terms are ruthless. Set your limit, some auctions fly and the auctioneer is there to stir up bidders to achieve top price i.e., they are not working for you in fact they simply want your money and will employ any tactic to get it. Dont set your heart on this property, if you get it then congratulations, if not then always next time. Take a builder or somebody with building experience with you for advice, strictly bought as seen, termite infested, rotten, subsiding, asbestos containing etc or not. Bst of luck. S

Brisbane tomorrow, apparently clear blue sky's, 2nd day of summer officially and a mere 35 degrees. Further inland forecast to be closer to 40 degrees. S

I was told when leaving by a number of brokers that there were 0, yes zero mortgages on the market which would allow us to rent our U.K. property whilst living in Australia. Every one of the brokers advised, continue as you are, do not declare you are leaving for Australia and run the risk. If there are mortgages available then they will be rare and expensive. Best of luck S

Be extremely careful of paying rent in advance, this is outside of contract terms and we were advised will disadvantage you as it gives the impression to the landlord that you maybe up to something dodgy. Bank statement with healthy balance will help but who to say you won't spend it all the following day. Most landlords depend on the agents recommendation therefore it is very important to befriend the agent, turn up early, chat and be positive even if the property is a hole. We jumped a huge queue to secure a property in central Ascot as the agent liked us and recommended us over many other interested parties. S

Mmmmm, im in two minds. I always had a company car, ensuring it was as tax efficient but still enjoyable to drive as possible. Worked for me. The government has 3 options from what I see..... 1, The Trump, borrow cart loads of money and continue to live on debt! 2, Squeeze the middle man/woman. An easy target who always gives however finds it harder day by day to live. 3, The unspoken solution. Hit the benefits system hard, significantly reduce government outgoings to pay down debt. Speak to people in America and they will show you true benefits cuts....no NHS, time limited unemployment benefits etc. UK has a huge number of benifits and to date nobody has dared talk about true deep cuts. So Hammond has to find some money, which of the 3 would you go for? Number 2 is the easy option.....what are working taxpayers going to do, emigrate? Please don't waste your time typing about tax recovery or company tax, UK is in a fragile position with Brexit so is very unlikely to scare off businesses in fact I can see UK being extremely business friendly especially considering the near non existence of union movements. S

Marry this with Labour wanting to suspend the 457 and train local people instead of bringing in skilled immigrants, could we be seeing the end of the 457 in its current guise?

Experience in local markets and over confidence in your own ability are generally what is required. There are a lot of under qualified people in senior positions, I guess it's called opportunity. The recent opinions expressed by Labour and many of its supporters that 457 visas should be withdrawn and local unskilled people trained to fill skilled positions is shared by many including established media. It seems the days of welcoming skilled immigrants with open arms looks to be gone. S

You need to select you car brand and models carefully. If you want so called premium i.e. Audi, BMW etc then yes you will pay a lot and maintanance will be high. If you go for Japanese then costs will be lower with generally high levels of reliability. If you buy domestic then some are cheaper other special editions etc are high priced. We bought VW Golf GT TDi which I ran for 12 months and sold for $500 less than my purchase. Service history is important and when buying there is no log book so you will not be told previous owners. When buying ensure you get the roadworthy documentation (valid for 4 weeks or 2000km's as I can recall). You can get pre purchase checks and if buying from a dealer then they have to give a 6 month warrantee here in QLD. Finally buying interstate can be a pain. S

Best of luck with your move, after a cold (mid to high 20's) October, November has warmed up. Enjoy the madness of HK, Bribie will be a contrast. The boards are great and will continue to be a help even after you have arrived. S

The storm was bigger here in central Brisbane however no hail. Dalby and Ipswich generally get the worst of the weather.

Sat here watching the storm go through, great lightening show although a little close for comfort given we sit at the top of Bowen Hills. One positive, it's cleared some humidity. S

Just consider customs when your container arrives in Australia. Nearly all get opened however those professionally packed and with register of all items get a light touch....generally. We were advised self packed containers can not be signed off by a professional removals company and will get stripped by customs, incurring customs charges. We ran through the costs and agreed we would pre pack everything back into its packaging and our removals co. Bournes then checked, signed off and packed into the container. Cost a couple of £100's more than self pack, removed a huge amount of stress and only 1 issue with a Christmas decoration when hitting Brisbane. Your choice, consider all aspects not just cost. S

Seriously, where on earth is this going? This will obviously be appealed however nice to see pound jump.

The day we landed :wink:

There is good reason. Work is quite had to secure in Bundi

Brisbane weather is the envy of the world. Humidity is not a big issue and heat is fine, few hot days but generally low 30's during summer. Don't forget houses and buildings are different up here, designed to circulate air through them like ours which generally remains cool enough to keep the a/c off. Living in Brisbane is not a holiday, there is a work hard/play hard attitude which is great. There are also very few cities which have such great beaches so close by but still have the feel of a serious business destination. A great city, still affordable, gives a great quality of life and currently heading in the right direction....generally. S

We did a reccie in Adelaide, sorted everything out in our own minds, booked flights and removals then......received a very good job offer in Brisbane. Had never been here previously but learned the ropes quickly. Regarding Brisbane, don't limit yourself to coastal but do avoid too far inland as Ipswich etc can get hot. I love the rural parts of Australia I have seen thus far and also love the people although attitudes can be very different/traditional and certainly different to European ways. As mentioned, do not forget how vast Australia/QLD is, I am just finishing a project in Weipa, still in QLD and takes 3.5 hours to fly not including stops. You have 2 basic options if you can afford, reccie and pre book schools etc if you require, alternatively arrive cold and take a few weeks unpayed to discover the city before starting work. Best of luck and Brisbane is a great choice of city, expecting another 2,000,000 people by 2030 so definitely growing. I'm sure you will receive plenty of advice from lots of different people. S

I seem to recall my wife signed the forms before leaving. S

Chess Move are a national company and part of a global network or removals companies. When moving from UK to Brisbane, we used Bournes in UK who were 10/10 with Chess picking up and delivering in Brisbane again 10/10. Highly recommend both companies. S

Yes, my dad sold my wife's car whilst we were here. No issues. S

2 to 3 bed house, you can forget nearly all of the areas listed unless you add 50% to your budget. Bulimba, Ascot, Paddington are some of the most expensive, West End, Hamilton, Newstead etc are mostly high rise. Best set of luck in your search. S