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Hi All, Ages since I popped in but have settled after arriving on our 143 visa 20 months ago. Work was tough to find for an oldie even in jobs I was over qualified for. I eventually got sorted and am happy working part time and do a little bit of this n that and getting by. We have built our home ( North Perth) and for those wondering if it is worth the wait and hassle....it is. I have to pinch myself when strolling along the white sand letting the waves wash over my feet and look at the big blue sky and clear ocean. Yeah get to see the kids more often but the beach,sky and ocean is brilliant. Anyway, I have met a few couples who have come over on holiday visa's and applied onshore for the aged parent visa and just keep renewing their bridging visa's. They seem to just keep doing that and have the luxuries (as above) but not the $100,000 + outlay. Are we mugs for coming over on 143 ?

I have been reading the hype how bad things are in the Perth property market and now I am in the New Home Sales industry it is agreed by most people I have met who are experienced professionals that things are as bad as they have been and the turn is coming or may have started. I have just taken on a sales role for a large building company ( BGC ) and my friends said I was mad due to the terrible market. We are new to Australia and came over on a 143 contributory parent visa, on our previous several holidays we spent weeks in the display homes with our migration in mind and selling homes for a living always appealed to me. Now we are here in this terrible time? but still everywhere I look there are new homes being built. The deals are great from all builders and the developers are discounting land to make things happen. The established market I admit looks to be a harder arena but even there the houses sell eventually. If you're intending to stay in Australia and paying rent you can't lose buying with prices as they are now, unless things get much worse. If you are speculating and hope to make a killing , as every economy in the world there are no guarantees so you may as well play the markets. But if you're here for the long haul surely it's barmy to keep paying rent if you're in a position to buy?. We have bought a block of land and our build starts shortly and I am confident our money is spent well building us a home and not just an investment. I have started a topic Buying / building a house in Perth I hope to post our progress and update on each stage of the process.

Hi all, I have had lots of help and advice from the forum and have started a new topic Buying / building a house in Perth I hope to be able to answer some questions about house buying building especially in Perth as every state has different markets and ways of doing things. We have bought some land now and chosen a house design so when the paperwork comes back from the shire we will start our build. I hope to have a blog and a youtube recording of how the build is going which might be of help and interest. I see the wait is getting longer and things are changing. Hopefully at least I hope Brexit is sorted by the time you arrive as it has killed our exchange rate ! Good luck

Hi, Cards on the table , I now sell houses for a living but I am not going to use this as an advertising vehicle. As my wife and I came over recently on a 143 Parent Visa , we have had so much help from the forum and especially "the brand new parent visa thread" I thought I might be able to answer some questions if anyone has any. We had so many worries about work, finance, jobs and housing, I hope my experience so far might help some people. We have been in Perth since June 2018 but had spent a great deal of time looking at property on our many holidays leading up to our migration. I now work for one of the largest home builders in the country and love being involved in the property market which has always been an interest of mine. The Australian property market for those wishing to buy is made up of whats known as the established market ( lived in) and the new builds which are normally referred to as House and Land packages. If you are a permanent resident you can get help as there is a grant "The first home owners grant" (FHOG) and this is currently $10,000 ( if you meet the criteria) Your property in total is less than $750,000 You’re 18 years or older You’re an Australian citizen or permanent resident You’ve never owned a residential property in Australia You occupy the home you buy as a principal place of residence for a continuous period of 6 months ( commencing within 12 months of completion of the home) Also Stamp duty concession is as follows, As at 3 July 2014 the First Home Owner Rate of Duty applies to a dutiable transaction with a dutiable value of up to $530,000 for a house and land, or $400,000 for vacant land. Every case may be different so read up and if in doubt get legal advice. I will gladly share what I know and as I am involved day to day I have the resources the company I work for so might be able to help. Details are available on the government website and here is the link: http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/State_Revenue/FHOG/First_Home_Owner_Grant.aspx Established houses are easy to move into but you might have the hassle of repairs etc, where with the new house and land option there is the build time but the house is how you want it and comes with builders warranty. Its pretty straight forward once you get started , I advise you sort your finance first, then its a case of finding the right block of land and choosing the design of house you want. Many on the Parent Visa thread will be cash buyers after selling up in the uk, this speeds things up and you are in a strong position so negotiate with the builder !. We bought our block of land off a bank and we made them a lower offer, the legalities can be a little different here too as when we put the offer to the bank for our land if they say yes we were committed ( they did and we were ) We have now chosen our house plan and made a dozen or more changes to get it how we want. We have today paid our deposit to our builder ( My employer) and when the legals are done the build will start. The legals are similar to the uk where plans are submitted for approval so that time is down to the local Shire ( Council). I will be glad to answer questions to the best of my ability but whoever you build with and whatever your circumstances , obviously get legal advice. I will be happy to answer private messages if preferred I intend to have a blog and perhaps a youtube video to record our journey when the build starts so if you are interested I will post the details on here.

Congratulations, one way tickets a weird feeling but brilliant knowing you can see your kids most days. Good luck

Hospitality is very big here , even if things are not as good the cafes and restaurants are pretty busy

When they saw me they reduced it to where I saw myself in 1 years time ?

Hi everyone , Thought I would share my experience of finding a job having been inPerth for a few months. It was a concern of mine as like most on the 143 visa I am a mature person ( older) and might not be as desirable as the younger applicants ( more ways than one) . Realistically Ageism must exist if an employer has a certain profile in his mind for his/her idea of the ideal candidate. So I knew that as Perth has a higher unemployment rate than it used to , I might struggle to get paid work. After our planned few weeks off recovering from the stress of selling up and moving over , the job hunt began. I have a full work history in sales and was surprised and a little disappointed when my skills were not snapped up. I am confident in my ability but found that initially I had to adjust my cv and application , generally work hard to proceed past initial job application. I was boosted by some interviews, video interviews, second interviews but it took a few goes to get a yes!. Ironically a second yes came from a previous application two days into my job so I declined. The new job wasn’t all I hoped but a third yes came after a little follow up and I start my new role in new property sales this week. So if you need or want to work , keep positive and keep trying and something will turn up . It might be on day one but if not keep trying. I would say that as every where who you know not what you know can help. Anyone who is worried or trying and would like to chat tactics feel free to respond in the forum or pm me. I’m not a careers expert but I would be glad to share my experiences and knowledge gained. I will plug my role as a new homes salesperson in the Perth area another day !. Welcome to Australia to all the recent arrivals and to the waiters , your turn will come . Good luck all!

Hi Bev50Bradley sorry for late reply but I have not been on the forum for a little while. I had not noticed your notification when I have been on . We are settling in Alkimos north of Joondalup. Hope you are settling in ok

Alan Collet is from Go matilda and he has given a great deal of advice on this forum. He acts as an agent and also tax advisor etc. I have found him to be a straight talker and he has given advice without touting for business. If some initial advice required email him via gomatilda if you can't find him on the forum. As an agent I am sure he would be efficient . Good Luck

Its hard mentally sometimes, " have I done the right thing " This week it's 80 degress in uk and pouring down in Perth ! Apart from that, we decided to have a few weeks off to recover from the stresses of the weeks/months leading up to our migration. Those weeks were a blur and nothing to do with the alcohol. With our house sale, disposal of stuff we were not taking, leaving party to arrange, sorting the stuff we were sending in the container, trying to visit friends and relatives and just not having time to do everything. Even up until 2 am the night before we flew sorting our baggage weights and even then the taxi came to pick us up at 8 am and were not ready and were 10 minutes late. In honesty that would be no surprise for me but my wife is mega organised and she struggled. So yes I would say plan a long way in advance and perhaps don't book the first available flight like we did. Try and get your friends and relatives set up with email, skype, watsapp etc so you can keep in touch. You are leaving a lot behind that you will miss a little when you get here. But it's been 4 weeks and we are living in Perth with our Daughter. Our son has been over from Melbourne so the stress was all worth it as they are the reason we came. We have eventually bought a car ( they are twice the price by the way) and just had offer accepted on a block of land that we are going to build on. We are not retiring and now we've had a few weeks off to complete the paperwork we are starting to look for jobs. Yet to see how Australia views the 60 + as far as being job candidates. One thing we have done is get our seniors cards as soon as we could. They are great ! free travel , discounts in many cafe's and restaurants etc , even money of driving license and rates plus lots of other perks, just for being old !! . First time I've been happy about it. Read up on it and get one asap . The Perth sky is nearly always big and blue, the sea is turquoise and the sand... sandy coloured. But we have left behind everything we know and are used to. We are starting fresh and at our age we wonder whether we will get to the comfy stage we had in the UK. But I can hug my daughter every day, talk to my son who is now in the same half of the world as me, if any of us have a problem we can all be together within a few hours and that makes it all worth while. The waiting room can be frustrating and the journey is emotional even when you eventually get here but it is well worth the wait. Good luck to everyone and keep looking to your future with your kids. This forum will be a great help , thanks.

HI Nikassan, Hope you have already got this sorted but I was told that you can ask for an extension ( Normally another 28 days). Maybe consider your options then, I got quotes on bridging loans but the charges were around 5k . but do your own homework, if you have a lot of equity it may be worth a consideration. I had great offers from my credit card company which were costing a fraction of the bridging loan costs. tricky time for you but I've been there and came through so good luck.

Once Paid we had visa via email a week or so later so get packing ! good luck

Congratulations mikenc hope everything goes smooth for you and the pound improves for all of us ! Perth is great !

I will pop back with some input.