Paul2412

Our rental for a 50's 3 bed 1 bathroom house in Brisbane was $2160 per month. It did have a swimming pool but no real yard and was in a slightly better suburb. We've now bought a house built in 2000, 4 bedroom and 2 bathroom on 725sqm of land. Mortgage repayments are $1920 per month (80% LTV) I don't think housing affordability is any different to the UK. I owned an apartment in the middle of Sheffield which was 2 bedrooms but rather tiny. If you convert what we paid into GBP it's just under double the price of what I sold my apartment for and the house is at least double the size.

I'd recommend The Point: http://thepointcoolum.com.au/ Ask for high up the hill, absolutely magnificent views and great accommodation.

Just wondering, would you use a buyers agent for your next house? Would you enlist the help of a buyers agent before moving to Australia? If you wouldn't consider it, what would put you off?

Well, we went to speak with both neighbours which I'd recommend doing if you are in doubt. On one side they seemed very friendly and on the other (the side we were worried about) appear to be an older couple who are perfectly friendly. Having been round to the house several times, the dogs are no noisier than anywhere else and when the owners are home do not make a sound. When we are in the house for a few months I'll provide an update on whether it was the right choice or not :-)

We've just spent a year in a rental with a pool, and I'd say it was worth it. From early November to mid March I went in the pool near enough every day. It's great to go for a swim after work or as a way to start your weekend morning. On hot days during the summer I went in several times as I preferred that than sat in air con all day inside. It wasn't much work to maintain, even though the stingey owner refused to supply us with a cover or a proper automatic cleaner and we had big trees nearby. Once, sometimes twice a week I clean it out with the net and then empty the skimmer basket. Once a week I'll also scrub the bottom to ensure it doesn't go green. During the summer, when the pump was on 8 hours per day our electrical bill more than doubled but apparently this is down to the pump not being energy efficient. EDIT: Also, listings on real estate sometimes don't add the necessary flag to say the property has a pool so I wouldn't advise using that filter. Our place will be available at the end of July if you're interested. $540 per week in The Gap.

It's a historic day for Sheffield Wednesday getting to Wembley for the playoff finals. Currently my plan is to consume lots of beer at home ready for the 2am kickoff on 28th May. Are there any Wednesday fans heading to a pup for the momentous occasion?

Strangely it's not the barking that overly concerns me. When we were inside and away from the other side of the fence they quietened down much more. I guess it's the combination of dogs, messy yard and somewhat bogan resident (possibly the family son) and with that is the thought that maybe they would cause us problems.

So now we've found a house that we like, is in budget and we're the only offer. However, of course things aren't that simple. Are my concerns below warranted or am a being an outrageous snob? We went over to the house today, and had more of a look round. There were 2 dogs that sounded pretty large almost constantly barking next door. At first I put it down to the fact we are new voices and they probably feel threatened. It continued for 20 minutes or so as we were at the house so I peered into the back yard of the house next door. The yard is pretty messy, with quite long grass and bare patches all over it. The front yard is also quite messy. One of the dogs seems to be a PitBull or something similar. On the previous inspection, I noticed the somewhat messy yard but didn't hear any dogs. As we left the house, there was a young bloke jump starting his truck. Maybe in his early twenties. I went over to ask about the internet (he lived next door) and he seemed a bit of a bogan. I'm now worried that we might end up living next door to a bit of a nightmare family. The area is known for being fairly middle class but still that bogan element. Am I being very judgmental here? I really don't care if they are a bit bogan, it's the image you see of neighbours suffering all night parties and dealing with noise all day long that bothers me. It'll be our first house with a baby on the way in September so maybe this is making me being overly cautious. Would be interested to know others experience with this and whether it's normal when looking to purchase your first home in a new country.

Hi, We've found a house that we like, and the real estate agent has sent us an "intention to offer" form (we are in QLD). This form is asking for our offer price as I'd expect but also conditions and a deposit. I'm confused about the deposit. Is this a deposit we only pay when the contract has been signed? And should the contract be signed and our solicitor finds something (such as a flood risk or other problem) and we pull out does that mean we loose the deposit? I'm finding conflicting advice. Some places say the deposit can be as little as $1000 and others are saying it's 10% of the value. I understand that if we sign the contract and its unconditional then we decide to pull out because we like something else for example then we would forfeit some of the deposit, but if that deposit is $50,000 how much are we likely to loose if the solicitor finds something? Also, should we have a solicitor before making an "intention to offer"? It's listing finance condition days and pest and building inspection days. Are these to be done before the contract is signed? At this stage, we've only made an offer so I don't want to be paying for inspections before the vendor has even accepted the offer. All rather confusing! Can anyone help us out?

Just to pitch in, we live in The Gap (just off Settlement Road near Waterworks Road). We're renting and have really liked living here, it's pretty expensive for what you get for buying though. Few bullet points: Good - Bus commute is very easy. At the time I go to work (7am) there is the 385 express, the 380, the P384 and the 382 all within about 15 minutes of each other. The 385 is every 10 minutes and takes about 25 minutes to King George Square - Uber prices are good after a night out (around $30 from the Valley) - It's very green and leafy - Enoggera reservoir is a great walk, and it's not that far to Mt Nebo and Glorious - Local schools are very good - Local shops have everything you need - Every neighbour we've met seems nice, the bloke up the road lent me his petrol mower when he took pity on me using a push one! Bad - Waterworks Road can get very congested if you're driving (queues even at 7am sometimes) - Because it's squashed in by 2 hills, there are basically 2 roads out which can be congested at any time - Living near Waterworks Road can get noisy. We live a block from it and Sunday morning especially you'll hear lots of noisy motorbikes - Not unique to The Gap, but the style of house we live in is pretty old and you can hear your neighbour fart (or literally what they are watching on TV sometimes) - Expensive to buy for what you get - If you're used to the Inner North, it might feel a bit isolated

I'm a little confused about the home loan calculators that can be used online to estimate how much you can borrow (including Westpac's own calculator). They are estimating that we "could" borrow significantly more than I would expect. For example, on Finder.com.au I entered in our details: Joint application No dependants My gross: $95,000 Wife's gross: $72,000 No credit card overdrafts Car loan repayments of $300 per month It says we could borrow up to $1,091,000! I assume that this is nonsense unless we have at least a $200,000 deposit and want to be so mortgaged up to the eyeballs that we would literally be on the bread line. Is this normal? We're looking at homes priced between $500,000 and $600,000 predominantly (Brisbane) and will have approx $110k - $120k for a deposit. I find it staggering that banks would be willing to lend this amount based on a fairly average median income. Am I mis-reading this? What is your experience?

we house shared when we first got to Brisbane. We lived in a beautiful Queenslander in Milton with an Aussie couple and her cousin. 2 years later, she was my wife's bridesmaid and he was my best man. It was the best decision we made and helped us settle in much easier!

I lodged the nomination (ENS 186 - Temporary Transition Scheme) and application on January 8 this year, Nomination and Visa was granted yesterday! I have a quick question, in the Visa Grant email, there is no mention of us needing to leave the country on a specific date and then return. The only date says that we must arrive before 01 May 2020 but as we are obviously already in the country what does this mean? I was told that we would be notified of a date that we need to leave and re-enter on a new Visa. Is this telling us that we have until 2020 to leave and return? We have already planned to go on holiday to the USA in June, so would this mean that the Visa will be activated on our return or is this Visa now already activated from 01 May?

This seems like a pretty good thread for this question... Before moving to Aus, I ran a small business in the UK (an online one) which made a small amount of money (less than 10K per year, so not enough to live on). When we came here I stopped trading, and the company is now dormant. Has anyone had any experience of running a UK based company whilst in Australia? Specifically around the financials and tax implications. If by some chance the business starts to make a decent amount of money then what are the conditions of transferring it here?

I agree, but you certainly pay for the advantages it gives!

We've only been in Brisbane for 18 months (originally from Sheffield, Yorkshire) and have already found our comfort zone being the western suburbs of Brisbane. Anything north, south or east seems to be a trip into the unknown! One day I would love to own a house at Mt Nebo, some of the views are absolutely stunning. In the meantime I think we'll focus on The Gap, Kenmore and Ferny Hills way unless my pipedream comes true about owning a Queenslander in Bardon or Toowong!

If you want to be near Brisbane I'd seriously recommend Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious

OK, thanks for your help!

Thanks Mel, Can the employer lodge the nomination before the 2 years is up? My 2 years are up in October, so I'd like to lodge the application then. If the nomination has already been processed that would speed things up.

I'm going for the Transition Scheme as in October I'll have been here 2 years. I'm a bit baffled by the cost of the Visa. According to the pricing table here: https://www.immi.gov.au/fees-charges/visa-pricing-table.htm The cost of the Visa is $540 (click expand all, then search Employer Nomination Fee). I'm thinking that this is what the employer pays to nominate me? I'm then charged the $3,500 plus the $1760 for my application? As ever, the Immi website seems rather cryptic! If anyone has any experience in what the costs would be for the following: Main applicant (ENS 186 Transition Scheme) Secondary applicant (over 18) Costs payable by the company that is nominating me That would be great!

Which suburb are you in now? It's a difficult one wanting peace and quiet but not having that feeling of isolation!

Firstly, this might be that I'm just getting old... Since we've been in Brisbane, we've stayed in 2 inner suburbs (Milton and Auchenflower). In Milton, we had dogs barking pretty much non stop throughout the day and into the evening (to about 9pm), plus there was a house a couple of doors down where a Reds player lived so they were generally on their deck getting drunk most nights that wasn't a game day. In Auchenflower we are in a unit which generally is pretty quiet especially during the week. At the weekend you can guarantee that they'll be the noise of a party (usually the same unit with some pretty choice language being shouted together with moronic laughter, doof doof music and yelling). It never occurs late, but it's pretty annoying when you are living with the doors and windows open for most of the year. I'm assuming that this is because it's inner city, and it's where people who like to party quite a bit live. People noise and hearing people having a get together doesn't bother me but it's the moronic yelling, shouting and doof doof that gets me, especially when you're in an apartment. Just wondering what your suburb is like? Is it party central most weekends or is there dogs barking constantly? We're looking at moving out in June, slightly further out west (The Gap, Indro, Taringa or Ashgrove) mainly to get more space but if anyone has any experience in these area's I'd be interested to know as well!

It depends, sometimes when it's very hot it's just as bad as when it's cold and dull in the UK. You can't go outside for very long and tend to stay indoors. We are in Queensland, and find that there are very few days where it's that bad, however we were in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago when it was 46c. After a couple of minutes outside I felt like my sunglasses were starting to burn my forehead. Not pleasant! Here, autumn winter and spring are the best months. Sometimes weeks on end of clear blue skies and perfect temperatures which allows us to do pretty much whatever we want and not have to worry about what the weather will be like. Summer can be hit and miss. So far we've had some very hot, some very humid, some very cloudy and some very rainy. Typical Queensland summer so I've heard...

If you can cope with the weather in January then you can cope with it anytime! It's well known among the locals that January is the most unpredictable and unpleasant month of the year.

Although summer here can be hot and humid at times I find that autumn, winter and spring are very pleasant. Can't really comment on Sydney as I was only there for 4 months (Feb to June) but found it to be wet, cold and miserable from mid April onwards. I think if you came north outside of the summer season you'd find it pretty much perfect weather wise.