Alaska

Really depends where you live. We are in a suburb but with a lot of bush around the outside of the area. We get a decent amount of spiders, lizards etc but not seen any snakes around the garden. Other friends on the edges of the suburbs get them though. Noone has ever been bothered by them - they tend to leave you alone I think. We did have our first red back spider this week though (from the patio not in the house thankfully) which is a bit of an eye opener as I have got quite complacent and things don't really bother me as much as they did before I moved here. In terms of prevention - we keep the hedges and bushes trimmed back from the house which has cut down what comes in. Also do a 3 month spray of Mortein's outdoor barrier spray. We also have one of those plug in repellers. We definitely get a lot fewer spiders in these days. I'll be honest. The most irritating wildlife here are the ants. They get absolutely everywhere in the warmer months. We had a 1p size blob of Weetabix in the sink and thousands tracked across the ceilings to reach it during the day when I was out.

Photos are often many many years old - often before the property was ever rented out even if it was 10 years previously. Tiny gardens look massive etc. I would echo everything that everyone else had said and not even consider renting a property that I haven't seen.

That's crazy. We had a 3 storey town house in the UK and cost £12 to clean the windows. I'm definitely in the wrong job, shame I don't like heights.

If I did it again I would aim for as many pain killers as possible It was too late by the time I wanted an epidural unfortunately.

I am not sure about the answer to your question but in your shoes I would hold off selling until later on. I have seen too many 457 visas fall through at the minute. In fact more that the jobs have fallen through at the last minute. We actually rented our house whilst on a 457 (for 2 years) so we would have somewhere to move back to in case DH lost his job or any other of the possible scenarios happened and we had to leave Australia. Not saying you should do that but just want to check you have thought about all your options if it doesn't work out which does happen unfortunately.

Our situation was different as we came on a 457 so kept our houses (the one we lived in and one we fixed up and went into negative equity so we rented it) for the 2 years until we got our PR. We (fingers crossed as not exchanged yet!) sold them both within 4 days of going on the market - one at full asking price and one 3% below. The market is definitely getting stronger in a lot of areas. We were in the Midlands.

It saves us a heap of money. I'm not a massive fan of the "man trap" though as things often don't seem to last. We have brought several things like clothes, a kid's play tent, a book shelf etc and they have fallen apart very quickly.

I would also look at changing agents. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with our rentals without an agent. We ended up having some big issues (with the house not the tenant) and the time difference etc would've made it difficult. Legally, it probably isn't as simple as having family to inspect the property regularly. You would be best to adhere to the notice periods etc just in case things go sour down the line. I also wouldn't be happy taking a tenant's word on the repairs and invoices. I am a bit puzzled about the tenant's motivation in suggesting this to be honest - what's in it for them? To be honest, I wouldn't do it. I would get a good agent instead.

Nothing would surprise me with this government. It is something that is in force in quite a few Western countries so it certainly isn't something that is off the table. I sincerely hope they don't do it as it would affect us all and the opportunities we are hoping to give our children.

When we did ours a few months ago there was a question that referred to ever being charged OR convicted so watch out for that one. Much better to declare everything that might seem relevant than risk it coming up on a police check. Something like that is highly unlikely to have any impact on your application so anyway but looking like you have hidden something is more likely to. If you are lodging soon then I would get the police check done now (ours was back from the UK in a week) then you can be sure and can lodge it with the application anyway.

I find childcare really cheap here now we have PR. We are now on an income a reasonable bit above what is talked about and with the rebate and the benefit, after school club costs me $6 instead of $16.

I would firstly look into the regulations for the state you are going in. I believe you need to have your house child-proofed for example so if in a rental you need to make sure you can do that ok.

I would say it depends a lot on your visa and your rent. We did it on a 457 and managed fine but we are a family of 4 in Brisbane and rent was $450 a week. On a PR visa we would've been entitled to family assistance etc and it would have been a lot more comfortable.

Everyone is right. Vetassess clearly set out their requirements for a positive skills assessment on their website which requires a Bachelor Degree (unless it has changed since we looked into it). As I said before we checked this information with 2 very highly regarded agents on this site who confirmed it was the case and we weren't eligible for a PR visa.

The best person to ask I would think would be your Migration Agent as they should have that information. That is assuming you have a decent agent, of course! (We didn't and this forum was much more helpful!)

We had the same problem regarding the skills assessment. DH had plenty of experience but not the degree.. It meant that he was eligible for a 457 sponsorship but was NOT eligible for one of the PR visas as he couldn't pass the VETASSESS skills assessment (also Production Manager) without the degree. We were told this by 2 highly regarded migration agents. We came over on a 457 and after 2 years the company sponsored us on the 186 (Transition stream) which was the only way we were eligible to get our PR.

The obvious starting point to me, would be to consult a registered migration agent to see your options. Most will give you a free assessment. We have found Go Matilda and the other agents on here to be very helpful.

Good luck with the IVF and the future. I have heard that adoption is pretty rare in Australia - it's been in the news quite a lot recently. I have believe that it is much more viable in the UK than over here. This is a couple years old but gives you a bit of the story over here: http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737420773

We were 457 holders and did not have to declare income earned overseas due to the temporary visa. We had a tax accountant for our first tax return and they confirmed this.

A lot of those would be a very long commute into the Brisbane cbd. A lot of people on here advise against living on the Sunshine Coast for that reason. I navigate a very small amount of Gympie Road on my work route and it's a nightmare. North Lakes would be a pretty long commute but plenty manage it and I believe they are putting in a train line at some point but no idea when. Caboolture - I have not heard one positive thing about there but I don't have any personal experience. Out of the ones you mention, I would say Sandgate - and also Shorncliffe (great state school last I looked) would be pretty good bets with good transport links to the city. Also around Ferny Hills, the Gap etc might be a go - unless you specifically want beach.

Funny you say that. I love Go Matilda but am also waiting for a quote from the GMTax side of it that I was told would come on Tuesday.

Actually it's true what some of the other posters say. It tends to be more about play dates than playing in the street. When I arrived I was really proactive about talking to everyone and arranging things - was a bit easier for me as my oldest was in Prep when we arrived. I am not a fan of street playing either (unless they are completely off the road) as the cars are so high.

That depends on the visa - we didn't have to on a 457 but will now we are on a PR visa. We registered for the non resident landlord scheme when we left. We then do all the tax returns at the end of the year and work out if we owe anything.

I just did a search of your posts as I thought you might be in my area but you are about 20 minutes north of me. Would you consider a different area? Do you think it would help? Is there a sense of community where you are? That is what really helped me feel at home.

I've seen that before and also checked more reliable sources and don't see any obstacle to Australia or the other countries involved.