CrozierFamily

Hi Thanks for coming back to me. I will be paid a gross salary of $120k, so after tax I believe my salary will be $6600. Also my kids are only very young so no school fees for at least 3 years, by which time if we made this move we would hope to be permanent residents. My problem really is that I recently had conversations around a job in Adelaide and the standard of life there seemed so much better, unfortunately I did not get the role, but it has made me really consider whether Sydney is right for my family. Also - I am being offered a salary which is very much at the bottom of my benchmark for salary given what I do, but with a higher bonus potential. Really the salary for my role should be around $150k, so another part of me thinks I am being low balled and perhaps should not be accepting the first offer I come across. Flip side of that is it is the 1st offer I have had in 8 months of looking, so I dont know what way to go here. I would be happy to bide my time for a while longer in the hope that I find a better paying job in Sydney, or a role in a less expensive city (ideally Adelaide). Thanks, Andrew

So I handed in my notice today, should be over the moon knowing I will be in Sydney in 3 months, but I am worried that my salary will not be enough to live in Sydney comfortably with a family of four. I would welcome anyone on here who is in Sydney or know the costs to give me their honest opinion on what kind of life you can live on $120k? I am coming on a 457, so I get no benefits. I think my salary will be about $6600 a month. Do you think this is enough to have a good standard of living? Part of me thinks I should wait it out for a better paying job, or a job in a city that is not so expensive to live in. Any thoughts welcome.

Well there goes that idea then! lol

I would also like some tips on this!

I have not quite got my visa in my hand at the moment but it is on its way, I put my house on the market last week as I really want that particular monkey off my back as soon as possible. My rationale for getting rid of my house asap is mainly to do with concerns about the continuing decline the base rate. I just want to get my equity converted to $'s asap so I know what I will have to work with when I come to buy a house. I would just about be able to afford to pay my mortgage when I move, but I can also take a payment break for a period or claw back overpayments I have made previously. Mainly I just want a clean break and not have to worry about the hassle of a UK property while I am in Australia.

p.s. Anyone have any experience of Wridgeways? Any thoughts on them?

Hi guys. Thank you so much for your input. I have apparently got access to a discounted rate with my employer through Wridgeways and have asked them to come out and have a look at my property to give me a robust quote. I just wanted to have a rough ballpark in my mind before I get them out as I am always suspicious of being ripped off by guys like this!

Thanks for coming back on this. I am not sure all cars would require a great deal of work if you ensure you buy them in good condition. When you say bringing up to Australian standard are you talking about changing clocks to KMs, or ensuring the vehicle has no rust issues or what are you referring to?

Thanks for coming back to me on this. I thought it sounded a bit pie in the sky, but I just wanted to check if there was something on the horizon that I was not aware of that may indicate a drop was in the offing!

Hi. I appreciate all of that but I have had them write it into my contract that in time they will support my application for PR if I bear the cost for doing so. I know that is not water tight, but this is not a tin pot organisation we are talking about here, so I have to trust they are going to be honest with me. They also believe they can get me PR earlier than the normal 2 yrs due to seniority of the role I am going into, so I am confident the PR will materialise.

Hi Thank you so much to everyone for their comments, it is a bit of a head scratcher for me, but a good one let's be honest. My main problem at the moment is that I have been offered a contract and 457 sponsorship that will convert to PR with employer support already for a business in Sydney, and I am not sure how long I can hold them off while I go through the process on the Adelaide role. I did check out Adelaide online last night and it does look lovely and to be fair the housing I could afford is night and day between the two. We are not really city people per se anyway, we are from a small town in Northern Ireland and have been living in sleepy Wilts for the last 6 years, so we are not moving to Sydney for the bright lights. Adelaide definitely sounds like a good option if I can pull it off! It is strange how jobs come around like buses!

Hi I have been offered a job on a 457 in Sydney, but have just had a call about another potential job in Adelaide. To be honest I have not really considered Adelaide before and would be interested in peoples opinions on whether they would choose Adelaide over Sydney and vice versa? The job in Adelaide would actually pay me a fair bit more than the one in Sydney, but the job is with a much smaller company so inherently more risky. I like the idea of living someplace that is not quite as big as Sydney, but I dont know if Adelaide has much going on about it. Would be interested in any perspecitve! Thanks, Andrew

Hi So I have a friend in Perth who tells me that if you ship a car to Australia that is on the 'SEVS' list, you do not need to have owned it for 12 months. This is the link: http://www.raws.com.au/SEVSReg.asp?fs_Make=&fs_Category=&fs_Sort=&fs_Direction=&fs_PerPage=1000 He tells me that these cars were not imported to Australia in any kind of volume and are therefore excempt from the normal 12 month rule. Is this true or is he winding me up? There are a few interesting machines on this list!

Okay, so while I am here I have another question. I have noticed in a few other threads people intimating that a property price correction is due in Australia. I was wondering if anyone here thinks this is actually likely to happen? I can see the level of affordability in places like Sydney is getting high, but at the same time it is Sydney, so like London I am inclinded to believe it will be protected from any kind of correction? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

To be fair if people are jumping at popping balloons in Campbelltown, maybe I need to be more worried about being surrounding by numpties than worrying about crime.

Really helpful post! Thank you so much.

Hi You are really very helpful! When I get to Sydney I am going to have to buy you a beer or something. Really appreciate your thoughts. Andrew

So I notice a few references to housing prices having some kind of correction. Do people really think that is on the horizon?

Hi, thank you for coming back to me. Did you move a similar amount of stuff? How much did it cost and did you pack your own stuff or did they?

Thanks for your thoughts. I recognise that the Shire is a good place to start, and an ideal place to live if I can manage it. But equally if we end up in Campbelltown we will make sure we have good air con and maybe a pool to cool down in! I was reasonably sure my contact was talking tripe. Places like Glen Alpine and Mount Annan look lovely. I love a game of golf for example, so if I can get a house on a course, that would be cool too!

Hi So we are moving to Sydney in about 3 months. I have started to look around for quotes but I would appreciate the views of people with experience. We have a 4 bedroom house in England, which is not really that big. I am trying to work out roughly what size of container would be required to ship all of our furnituture, white good, clothes etc etc. From what I can see we are looking at a 20ft container. Would this be about right? I am also guessing that to ship this kind of container from Swindon to Sydney will cost about £5k and will take between 6-8 weeks to arrive - does this feel like a decent ball park or am I way off? Also - does the service offered normally include the company packing up your stuff and then rebuilding things like beds when they arrive in Australia? I am not sure if this is part of the package normally offered or is this is an extra? Any help would be appreciated. I just want to have a good ball park in my mind before I start speaking to people to ensure I do not get ripped off or duped! Cheers, Andrew

So I told a family friend who lives in Sydney that I was thinking of moving to Campbelltown or Penrith and they reacted with what I can only describe as abject horror. According to them all they hear about these areas is stories of gangs and shootings. I am guessing they are being massively over dramatic, as I am sure every area has its good and bad parts. They are also quite rich, so I guess they can be a bit more picky than me. I think our budget can now stretch closer to the $750k mark after I found out some more information on how salary multiples work in Australia, so we may be able to cast our net a little wider. From what I can see working in the CBD but living in the likes of Campbelltown is a bit like working in London and living in Reading or something like that, with Sutherlandshire being a bit more like living in Slough (from a proximity perspective). Either way both options are doable. When we get across we will just have to decide whether I want to commute longer to have a bigger house, or live closer in to the city and have access to more 'stuff'. I appreciate all the comments. We are probably going to try and find someplace to rent to start with in the Shire. It appears we can get some nice places for around $600pw, which is what I roughly want to spend on rent (no point wasting money paying someone elses mortgage). Thanks, Andrew

Thank you so much for all the advice, this sounds a lot easier than I first thought. I will definately join the Facebook page as it sounds a great idea and would really be keen to meet some mums in Sydney who have little ones like me.

Thanks! Have you heard of Glen Alpine at all? It seems nice.

Hi all We are looking to emigrate in May 2013 to Sydney from the UK with our two daughters - one will be 13 months and one will be a few weeks old ( I am due on 9th May) and I was just wondering how difficult would that be in terms of health care, i.e applying for GP, vaccinations, 6 week post natal health check etc. Would it be easier for me to wait until she is a few months older or is it quite simple to apply for these things? Also what do I need to do in terms of our health care needs i.e. do I need to request full copies of our medical/dental records as I am especially concerned about my 13 month old healthcare when we get out there in terms of vaccinations and general healthcare. Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated. Many thanks Alison