Marisawright

I had to sell my Aussie investment property before moving to the UK, as I would be hit for much higher income tax and CGT if we decided to stay in the UK long-term. Buying a rental property in the UK looks quite attractive, anyone like to share their experiences?

Robert John, you don't say WHY you have such a burning desire to be in Australia. What is it about Sydney that is so wonderful? I think you need to answer that question for yourself - write it down, then look at your answer and weigh up whether it's worth the price of being without your family and friends. It may be, it may not, but only you can decide because everyone's different.

Just a guess, but some of us are more prone to the "grass is always greener" syndrome than others. Are you sure you're hankering for real Sydney working life, or just the holiday lifestyle you've had on previous trips?

If you know the lifestyle in Australia suits you better I wouldn't question that, it doesn't suit everyone but you've been there enough to know. As for schools,however, like others I'm surprised to hear you say that. As someone once married to a teacher, and from impressions of friends' teenagers, I'd say the Australian system wasn't as good as the British system. I can't speak for the Belgian system of course, but in general European schools have quite a good reputation - I know my sister and her oh were planning a move to France at one point, and one attraction was the superior education.

Where are you going in Australia? Have you tried other areas - maybe it's just that there isn't much work in the city/state you're targeting, and you need to look elsewhere.

As Bungo says, you're likely to be worse off financially if you migrate. For one thing, you'll have the cost of moving a family halfway around the world - far more expensive than when you left Oz on your own! Also, you'll be starting a business from scratch or buying one, which means you'll have a year or two with little or no income (because you'll either be building a new business or recouping the cost of the purchase cost of an existing one).

Sydney just wouldn't be practical, due to the horrendous cost of housing. As you're in hospitality then perhaps Queensland holiday areas would be the right place for you.

Just guessing, but that visa is for people coming to Australia for a holiday, not to visit their partner - and the idea is that you stay for 90 days and then you go home. Did you overstay last time? If they think you're coming to be with a partner then they're worried you won't go home again at the end of the three months.

In the last financial year, I worked for only a few months. My total income was $22k. I applied for so many jobs, that my applications filled half a dozen USB sticks.

 

These included:

Hungary Jacks

Chicken Treat

Dominos Pizza

Coles

Woolworths

 

And any and every job that I even might have a half chance of getting.

 

I wondered around suburbs asking builders if they needed a labourer.

 

I went round industrial areas armed with a bundle of CV's and knocked on doors.

 

I ran an ad in the local papers looking for work.

 

You name it, I did it to try and find work.

 

In all that time, I had 1 interview - which I didn't get because they were scared I would leave if I could find something better.

 

I would have cleaned toilets with my toothbrush for minimum wage. But nil, Nada. Zero. The only work I did get was the odd week here and there from a consultancy who I have known for a long time.

This is what people miss - the problem of being over-qualified. If the jobs you're qualified for disappears, it's difficult to get employers to take applications for lesser jobs seriously. They assume you'll leave the minute the economy recovers and your type of job is available again. They're right of course - however, what they miss is that even so, you are quite likely to stay in the job just as long as a young school leaver who is itching to move up the job ladder.

As @Bungo said "To be honest migrating doesn't usually make financial sense, it is expensive to move and a lot of people take a step back (although I don't agree it puts you on the bottom of the pile again). But if you only want to do something that makes financial sense then you wouldn't be thinking of moving at all."

I think that should be put in a banner at the top of the site! I'm surprised how many people still seem to think that they'll recoup the cost of migration through better salaries and greater opportunities in Australia.

were you able to get a car on finance? looking into whether would be cheaper to buy new or used. will be on 189 visa! coming over with about $100,000 but ideally wanting to use a lot of that on a house deposit further down the road once settled and weve found a suburb we like.

I'm not sure whether you could get a car on finance at first, but I'd advise against it as it will be very expensive - also if you decide to go back to the UK (unlikely but you never know what life has in store!), it's very difficult to get out of the finance agreement. A new car is never cheaper than a used one, no matter how good a finance deal you get, because cars lose a lot of their value in their first couple of years.

Having a finance lease will reduce the amount the bank will give you on a mortgage, too, so better to avoid.

Yes the economy is in a downturn and from what I've seen on other threads, WA is suffering particularly badly because so much of their economy depends on mining.

I do think a lot of people migrate thinking Australia is the land of opportunity. So I suspect a lot of the people posting on Facebook etc about coming back had unrealistic expectations of how good it would be. As a former resident I assume you are more realistic and so long as you've got a buffer, I think you would be fine.

I've read a lot of people are stocking up and taking to Australia their favourite creams, may it be beauty creams or other toiletries. How do you manage to do this, as on the prohibited list of products it includes all creams?

 

X

Creams and liquids are prohibited in your carry-on luggage but they are allowed in your checked-in bags, if you don't mind taking the risk that they'll burst in transit and ruin your clothes!

So, I may be going a little OTT here but I'm reading all these things about certain goods being pricier in Aus so wondering what to take with and what to leave behind.

I hear cosmetics and personal care products can be 5x the price out there but is this comparing like for like

Yes, it is comparing like with like. If you're one of those people who simply must have their favourite brand of something then take a supply with you - if you're not "brand loyal" then you'll find local equivalents just as cheap.

Since you'll have limited luggage space, I wouldn't bring any cosmetics, shampoo etc - it's going to be a lot cheaper to replace them than to buy new work clothes or an extra pair of shoes etc.

As above.

 

Whats ts everyone main reasons for going back to the uk

 

and does anyone regret coming here then going back after all we have had to go through (ilet's/skills tests etc)

Having been on these forums for a while I'd say the biggest reason for going back is missing family and friends. It's difficult to make new friends when you're older (unless you've got kids, in which case you can make friends through your kids' friends) so it's easy to feel isolated.

The other possible reason is being unable to find work: I'm seeing this more and more. Just because an occupation is on a state's list does NOT mean that occupation is actually in demand and some people do arrive, spend 6 or 9 months out of work and have to go back because they've run out of cash.

Finally, some people just prefer the UK!

When I've seen spare seats on the plane, they tend to be in centre section. Sometimes lucky people get all four seats to stretch out!! I'd choose an aisle seat in the centre section - you may just be lucky and have space(s) next to you. Irrespective of when I check in, there never seems to be much of a choice of seats - I don't know how people manage to snaffle the good ones....

That would be my pick too - D or F. I'm the same height as you - I don't think restricted legroom would be an issue.

One other tip - avoid seats which are right in front of a partition. They won't be able to recline.

Well Maacalec asked the quesrtion would he get his Austalian Pension if he went back to the UK,I suppose he is getting the Australian Pension now.As he has been here 50 years. I said he would

I think that's a big assumption. He could have arrived in Australia with his family as a teenager, and still be under retirement age now. That would also explain why he knows he can't get a UK pension, because he was too young to work there. That's why in my reply, I covered both possibilities - either that he's already getting it or that he isnt.

Hi !!! I am a French girl 22 years old arrived 2 weeks ago in Sydney to make a 4 months internship. After that I plan to make a road-trip around Australia from 10th December to the end of January and for that I search some funny and nice people who would like to do that with me My ideal road trip will be Darwin to Perth but I am open to other possibilities.

I would like to rent a car but sorry guys I can not help to drive, I don't have my driving license but I am very good to make the conversation

Let me know if you are interesting !

See you guys!

Bienvenue Aude, but I agree with the others - that is not an easy time to do a road trip because the weather is very, very hot - and in the outback it is a dangerous time. It is also the most busy and expensive time of year to take a holiday (the same as July/August in France).

Personally, I would fly to Brisbane and have a road trip up the Queensland coast to visit the Sunshine Coast, the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef starting on 10th December until Christmas Eve, because it is a quiet time before all the families arrive and the prices go up, so you will get a better price but the weather will still be fabulous.

After that, consider what other places you would like to see and fly to a good starting point. Bear in mind, from Boxing Day onwards, accommodation gets expensive everywhere and it pays to plan in advance as popular places get fully booked.

The problem with Australia is that the distances are so vast - if you do a road trip you will drive for many, many hours, see one interesting place, then drive for many many hours to the next place. That is fine if you have lots and lots of time but you do not, really.

I would allow a month really. Once you find a property you can be in within a week, as Bungo says (I was really surprised by how long it takes to go through the process here in Southampton by comparison). However the market in Sydney is competitive - so you have to allow for the possibility that you'll find places but will lose out to someone else.

Most removalist companies can arrange storage for you before or after.

If you have some philosophical objection against depreciation, it certainly didn't stop you claiming it every year on all your investment properties.

You were not compelled to claim it but of course you did every year.

Of course I did, I'm legally entitled to it. That doesn't prevent me being aware that it's not a really fair concession. I'm not getting on my high horse about it, I only mentioned it in the first place to explain to Gbye Grey Sky that in Australia, property doesn't have to be loss-making to be negatively geared - which he wouldn't know, since the depreciation lurk doesn't exist in the UK (as far as I know).

im not likely to use it as a backpack but having the straps for the occasional situation might be a good idea. I think its 3kg empty

Like I said, if you're not going to use it as a backpack then you'll hate it as a rolly. You won't be able to set it on its end and leave it, you'll have to keep hanging on to it all the time - because it will topple over the minute you let it go. You can't avoid it because backpacks don't have a square end to sit on.

I believe Tripp is a good brand of suitcase - why did you decide not to buy it?

Travel insurance is an option but getting local insurance is better for various reasons. Local insurances are easily recognized by a lot of network hospitals here which means don't have to pay the full amount upfront and claim later (which may or may not be approved). Travel insurances have a lof exclusions which one wouldn't get to find out until very late. For the duration they end up costing a similar amount.

I had never heard of this concept and I must say, I was surprised to check the health insurers and find they do indeed offer short term cover.

I'm afraid you're unlikely to get good advice here about this topic, because the overwhelming majority of members here are Brits going to Oz or Aussies going to the UK, and in both cases there's a reciprocal agreement for medical treatment so it's not an issue.

Travel insurance covers a lot of other stuff besides health insurance and the exclusions are written in the policy, so you just need to read the policy!

Forgot to say no I won't be staying in one area. Sydney first for a few months if I can find work and then God knows where after thatv

I didn't think so. In which case whatever you buy in Sydney you'll have to lug with you around the rest of the country for the rest of your stay! So you might as well bring it from Scotland as leave it behind, you're not going to be saving yourself anything really.

i guess that's a idea but I don't really want to spend my time going around clothes shopping. Im not a massive fan of it here either usually. Blokes always seem to be able to survive on only a carry on. Wish I could

The other thing to think about is - are you planning to stay in one place for your whole year? If you are, then MaryRose's idea works. If not, and you arrive with just a backpack and then buy the clothes you need, what will you put them in when you start travelling? You'll have to buy another case so you're back where you started!

Oh and if you're short, it's even more important to take stuff with you. Australian shops aren't good at making stuff in short lengths, apart from Target.

It is still a perfectly legitimate expense.

It may be legal but I don't see how it's legitimate. It's just an accounting device to smooth out the balance sheet, but it has disadvantages for housing. Landlords can claim for depreciation of their asset while having no incentive to repair that depreciation. If they could claim capital repairs as expenses instead of slowly as depreciation, then landlords would be more likely to keep their properties in repair.

It was introduced for housing by a government to please some of their MPs who were landlords.

Why did you choose Woolston? I might have suggested Totton...

Did you have a special link to Southampton?

We chose Woolston because being from Sydney, we naturally gravitated to the inner city burbs and the block was new, attractive and reasonably priced. We were advised against Totton but we would have regarded it as too far out anyway. We're learning that unlike Australia, activities in British towns aren't concentrated in the city centre but scattered all over the place, but we didn't know that then.

No we have no connection to So'ton but we found Bournemouth very expensive and needed to find somewhere cheaper in the South to be handy for family strung across the area from Exeter to Tunbridge Wells.

Conscious that we're taking this thread off topic though!