DBphoto

Thanks Alan, I've filled in the contact form.

I'll just bump this once.

I've read through the various business entity options "sole trader, company, family/discretionary/unit trust etc.) I believe that I understand them and probably the one I should use for my consulting business here in Melbourne, but I would like to talk with a highly-recommended advisor to see if I have it right and also to obtain assistance putting paperwork in place. If you have used such an advisor and can highly-recommend him/her, I would be grateful for a referral. If you are such an advisor and you can provide references from very satisfied clients, please PM me.

Hi Darren You are very welcome to come and have a look round as soon as you like. As long as you don't mind all the boxes for our move. I'll send you a personal message via this site with my mobile number so we can arrange a time. If it doesn't come through for any reason please let me know via this thread. The rent is $410 per week. We pay that to the landlord's agent, Biggin Scott in St Kilda. The agent is very responsive and helpful and says we could do a tenancy transfer, which would save all the usual malarky in trying to get somewhere decent to rent round here! I've just read your other posts. Exciting times! Cheers David

Having bought a house further out, we are moving out of a rented 2-bed apartment in trendy, leafy Elwood. We are breaking the lease (which has until February to run). The estate agent for the landlord advises that we can save ourselves some money on advertising if we can find someone who would like to take the apartment over. It is on quiet Spray Street, which is a very pleasant part of Elwood only one street back from the cafes and shops of Ormond Road. Easy reach of the CBD but what they call a "village" feel. (OK nothing like a UK village, but, hey, this is Melbourne!). It has a garage and there is some free parking outside. Please let me know if you are interested and I'll recommend you to the agent. If you are in Melbourne already, I'd be happy to show you round.

We've bought a house and I am looking for recommendations for local movers within Melbourne, please. Also, if you know anyone interested, we are breaking our lease on our Elwood 2-bed apartment. Good for people landing who may be interested in living in the area. The lease runs until the end of Feb but I am pretty sure the landlord would be happy to renew. I'll be posting a separate thread on this.

Hi and thanks. Please can you transmit their contact details. I don't think it matters too much if they aren't in the same post code as long as they are thorough and professional. Cheers David

Hi, we are trying to buy a house and we need an astute professional solicitor or conveyancer. One that has dealt with poms before so doesn't mind explaining what's going on, and won't (like the one I was just talking to) suggest I "take a punt" about the boundary measurements. Context: I've just sold a house in the UK and, while I believe the minutiae merchants in legal profession there were a bit over the top, here the couple of conveyancers I've spoken to seem so laid back that you could mistake their attitude for can't be a***d. Edit: I should add that we are in Melbourne and buying in the North Eastern Suburbs, Specifically Warrandyte.

Thanks Anya, I'll give him a call.

What it says in the title: please does anyone have recommendations for a building and pest inspection company in Melbourne handy for North Ringwood, Park Orchards, Eltham areas? And what did you pay for such inspections? Cheers David

Amaysim: http://www.amaysim.com.au/ The $39/month unlimited is all you can eat calls and texts to anyone in Oz, 4gb data/month. Reasonable rates to the UK. Best deal I've found and runs on the Optus infrastructure. Not so good in rural areas works everywhere in Melbourne I've been. If your iPhone does tethering, then you can use that 4gb data to avoid having to pay for broadband or a separate dongle. If you don't do video 4gb is plenty. I have no connection with Amaysim other than I am a customer. Your mileage may vary, etc

Having bought and sold a few houses in the UK I am well used to the process. In particular the information that I, as a seller, and vendors that I've bought from have had to disclose on standard format solicitors' documents. Then there is the sometimes pedantic, sometimes very valuable trading of questions of and answers via solicitors clarifying all manner of significant facts and irritating minutiae. In the UK the contracts are not exchanged until all these questions are answered to the satisfaction of the buyer. Now here in Oz ready to make an offer on a house, it seems that one reads the "section 32" documentation that the seller's agent provides and then signs the binding contract making the house sold. What I am trying to get my head around is when one can ask the some of the important questions that are not covered in the section 32 document and who to direct the questions at. Now some of the things that I should ask are things that I may not be aware of (perhaps only a local solicitor or conveyancer would know) but other questions (for example, tell me about any improvements you've made to the property in the last five years; the house is in a bushfire prone area, tell me about and show me copies of any CFA fire advice inspections; etc When does protocol dictate that these things are addressed? For it seems to me that after an offer has been accepted (and therefore legally the house is sold) that asking these questions is too late. Perhaps the answer to this is that I should just go and talk to a solicitor specialising in assisting house buyers. If that is the case, any recommendations in Melbourne would be useful. However, I've read in several places that if one takes legal advice after on a specific property before making an offer one isn't entitled to the three-working-day cooling off period. Although I also think I remember reading on this site that the later was no longer the case. I am open to professional advisors on these topics sending me a pm. Thanks David

Online, ahead of on-the-ground, research has led me to start looking at Park Orchards as a place to live for our family. I'd be interested to hear from anybody who has chosen to settle (or not to settle) in said suburb about the pros and cons of the area. Thanks. Especially interested in informed opinion about schools, community, transport, parking at nearby stations, and anything else that adds or detracts from quality of life. Thanks.

Thanks LS, we were careful but then again there are some things on the inventory that'll interest them: bikes (presurewashed), and we came from rural Cumbria, so the may suspect we are shipping a number of sheep ...

Hi my shippers Melbourne agent wants $440 before the ship arrives to cover "Quarantine Examination fee". Is this always payable up front whether or not the quarantine people go to town on the stuff? Is this a minimum default payment? I realise it could be more eventually if quarantine decide we are overtly interesting. Cheers David