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So agree with all of these comments. Auctions today are not aimed at first time buyers these days, due to the way they can keep pushing up the price and the current state of the housing market here. Also the seller has this set price in their mind due to the inflated housing market and not prepared to drop. Watched a few TV programs since I have been here and you see unrealistic sellers who want more than market value as that it what they think it is worth. Thus will not let it "go on the market" till they reach that magic figure. They are not prepared to sell unless it reaches that magic figure they have in there mind. Then read forums where investors feel pity for first time buyers, who have a set limit whereas they do not as the banks will just lend them the extra money so they cannot compete on a level playing field. I have listened to 3 auctions, 2 on my block and one on a previous rental. Started very low, auctioneer kept pushing the price up and calling the going once, going twice but never finalising and he kept pushing it up. Should be illegal the way they work. The two in my current block went for over 200k the starting price. I even had been in both of them, and they both need a complete refurb. The price they sold for was not even relative to what they were worth and the amount of work needed to make them actually livable, based on my standards coming from the UK. I have seen some truly shocking rental properties here in Australia, some are not fit to be put on the market. But due to demand, someone will take them. Best bet go to a few Auctions to get a feel and how they work, as it will give you a better idea. Depending on the city/suburb/property you will more than likely see local/foreign investors as opposed to first time buyers, who are getting more and more priced out. Good luck and I do hope you can find something.

While I will agree with starlight. Not sure what part of the UK you are moving from, but some of these outer suburbs may come as a shock/eyeopener to you based on your initial thoughts of Melbourne. It certainly changed my views. Your own opinions may vary of course. Also you and your wife should consider traffic in rush hour. Since not having a car for many years, worked from home and really did not need one. Traffic in the outer suburbs can be bad since I have now got a car and paid attention to it. Was a little/very shocked by some of the commute times, whether is be rush hour or not. Would I say the out suburbs are bland, that is a matter of personal opinion.

So true, I am in Carnegie. And it is crazy. One of the main roads is basically being bought up by one developer who is building small apartments, some from what I can tell will not even have windows in some of the rooms. The building regulations mean a new development can only be one story higher than the neighbour, as per my understanding. People are grouping together to sell the mcmanasions as they know they will get top $. Others have either just left the house sitting empty and crumbling or knocked it down and leaving the land empty with a fence on the front. Lots of local people complaining that they cannot get parking at the train stations now as so many people now living in the area. The push for more immigrants and housing, is not being addressed with the infrastructure.

I am in Carnegie, Cranbourne/Dandenong line. Close to the CBD(15/20 mins) but getting(has got) very expensive Oakleigh is a couple of stops down the line and I think has better shops available, very greek dominated but that means lots of cafes, butchers etc. It does have a better selection of shops, Carnegie mainly dominated by Asian restaurants, whereas Oakleigh really mixed, but still easy access if driving or using public transport to other areas. Tradies start very early in Australia from what I have seen, you could be looking at 7am starts but then they knock of early to make up for it. If you are looking to buy, then you are going to find yourself pushed quite far out SE Melbourne, maybe consider North or West Melbourne. You will get more for that sort of money. Sad to say $1 million does not go a long way these days. For the money you are looking to spend you would get some thing way better in the North or West of Melbourne. Point to note: Look at what amenities are around in these areas, as lots of new developments, but the infrastructure not really kept up.

Hi I have a queen size mattress and frame for sale, if you are interested. I am based in SE Melbourne.

I think this is going to be an issue with any off the outer suburbs in Melbourne in the near future, lack of planning and development of infrastucture. One of the biggest issues, is trying to find suitable work outside the CBD, that is depending on what you do. Some will find it easier than others. But some will find roles are really geared up to work in the CBD. Thus long commutes!!! I work from home so do not have to deal with the rush hour commutes and recently(on a Sunday) went from SE Melbourne to North Melbourne as was surprised by the traffic on the road, how bad it was. I could have used public transport but it would have taken nearly double the time listed. Even during the week traffic round my surrounding suburbs is crazy at certain points.

So so true, people relocating are spending tens of thousands relocating and few extra thousands(actually not sure what is costs privately, as my company has paid for it)could be a make or break decision about getting a visa granted first time.

If you are prepared to put the time, effort and research into completing the application yourself and hopefully successfully then go without the migration agent. I am in the process on my 2nd migration, sponsored both times by my company, but the 2nd migration had some complications and required more (detailed) information than moving to Australia. Without them I probably would have been stuffed. I have friend's that completed to the move from Australia to the UK, successfully(a lot of effort put into it) without using an agent but it does require a lot of work to make sure you tick all the correct boxes and get the correct documents, etc. Look at your situation, if you think it is not overly complicated and you can sort through the whole process yourself, then go for it. As amibovered mentioned, once you submit your application it is done. Any (little/simple) mistake could mean it being rejected and your money is gone and you need to start the whole process again. Weigh up the costs verses the additional costs if you need to reapply and the additional time delays.

That made me smile Good luck with everything and hope your move goes well.

I too am from Scotland and never owned any thermals. Reason the housing quality is not the same, no double glazing for a large majority(cannot comment on the very new builds), poor insulation and no central heating. Some of the new housing have ducted heating or an electric fire, the old art deco buildings nothing some have open fireplaces. So while it does not get as cold, you certainly feel it more. What type of work do you and your hubby do? Have you started checking out the job market to see what is available to give you an idea?

As my friend called it not long after they moved from Sydney....deadalaide!!! I personally liked it, small, quiet, the city centre is pretty much walkable with some really nice parks surrounding it. Still far cheaper than Melbourne or Sydney in terms of getting on the housing market. I believe the beaches are far better than what Melbourne has on its doorstep, without having to travel to far. If you have a family, I think it would be great while the kids are young. As they get older, I suspect they may want to move somewhere a little more busy, but you never know. 10 years or so down the line, Adelaide could also be a hustling and bustling city. People are being forced out of Sydney and Melbourne due to the high costs and Adelaide is a good destination chatting to some of my colleagues in the office. Depending on what you are your partner do for a living, I suspect you will find the job market not as buoyant as say Melbourne or Sydney. Seen a few posts on here and other forums, people relocating as the job market is tough. I like Diane's post which seems to capture a lot of personal experience. Not sure what city/town you are coming from in the UK, as it could be a culture shock for you or a blessing! Oh and another thing, either bring some thermal clothing or expect to stock up during winter time. Same can be said for pretty much the whole of SE Australia. My parents and friends still find this funny.

Did you ship any 4 way adapters? For the plugs, if you do not feel comfortable changing them yourself, a sparky will be quite expensive, me thinks. For anything that the cable is not fixed, might be cheaper just to buy a new adapter cable. Not sure which state you are in, but in Victoria from memory just book an appointment. Cannot remember if you need to complete a form before hand or when you turn up for your appointment, they give you the form. All quite simply. You last question cannot answer.

I see so many empty properties around the suburb I live in. Landlords/Owners do not care in Australia, they are riding the investment boom. Unlike the the UK which experienced a crash Australia never experienced it and people here think property only goes up in value!!! Landlords here know that they can put a property on the market and it will get rented out, no matter what state or condition. I have seen so many scary properties and realized when I viewed them why they had no pictures. One I went to visit, when I opened the front door I was disgusted and after a quick walk round I thought WTF how are you renting this. A few weeks later it was rented.

OK makes sense and agree, pdf's you cannot edit!

I would also stock up on towels(expensive in Oz for anything decent)(hand, bath, etc), dusters(I know, but I read this from another poster before I moved and now makes sense). If you are into cooking and buying nice pots and pans,etc double check the prices here and consider if worth purchasing in the UK and including in your freight shipment. Was a little, very, shocked at the cost of reasonable cookware in Oz!! Also are you shipping a lot of electrical gear, if so consider 4 way adapters as only means one plug to change. Not sure if you are shipping your bed and duvet(doona here), if so bring some extra sheets and covers as sizes here are slightly different as you have already noted. And can be expensive to buy anything decent, not like just popping round to Tesco. Some things you might not expect, not exactly sure(not checked your profile) what state you are moving too. But I am in Melbourne and have never owned so much thermal clothing in my life. Get down to M&S and stock up on some long johns, thermal vests etc if moving to SE Australia. Also if you are a fan of M&S, stock up on underware(I have found it hit and miss here and the quality so so) and even singlets(for hubby)(useful in the hot weather to wear under shirts to keep the sweat under control) Not sure of your exact moving date, but you are close to London. If you can make the most of the sales at John Lewis for pillow slips and pillows, maybe even duvets if you are already thinking of them. Ikea is useful and cheap here, but quality can be hit and miss. Probably same can be said for the UK! Think about the things you would not buy the most, but that you would think essential creature comforts. Choice can be limited in Australia and with that can sometimes be expensive. M&S now does shipping to Australia and from memory if you spend a certain amount, free shipping(I could be wrong on that as not used it for a while or even double checked) Depending on your budget and your lifestyle places like Ikea and Fantastic Furniture, will help you get started cheaply. If they are not to your taste, then things can get expensive quickly.

Not sure if this helps, but I am also relocating and looked at importing my car to the UK. I called the UK dept about, cannot remember which one as was many months ago. They did not mention import tax. Only thing was a few checks to comply with the UK standards, maybe a couple of conversions(cannot remember exactly but think part of the dashboard which displayed the speed, as only in kmph and not mph) The best bet is to call the DLVA and discuss with them as they will give you the official answer.

Yes I have noticed that too. Some of the rental properties I looked at in the past and asked if they would be fixing certain items and the answer was no, the landlord is a pensioner and does not have the money to spend. They have already put in a new carpet and cooker... Systematic of the rising house prices here and the demand for rentals, landlords can get away with doing the bare minimum as they know it will get rented no matter what state. It took me more than 6 months to get a leak in the toilet sink fixed, having to have a jug underneath to catch the water. Suppose it did not help the real estate agency also has a high turnover, and the girl I reported it too never contacted the owner from what I was to understand.

Nice post OP, put a smile on my face as I agree with just about everything you wrote. Agreed about the flashing of headlights, I noticed that in Sydney also when I lived there. Another oddity coming from the UK, if you are listening to the radio during rush hour people would call in to tell the presenter of police traps. This was very useful. My only comments: People abide by the speed limits as the police will pull you over for going over it. Much stricter here than the UK. 100k on the freeway is pretty much that, 70mph in the UK you can get away with 80mph easily and possibly 90mph. Aussie drivers will drive on both lanes on the freeway both sitting at the speed limit. Annoying as you cannot overtake. Tailgating here, well in Melbourne, is such a common occurrence, never really noticed it in the UK. And the road rage that goes with it here is shocking. The amount of times people just pull out of junctions and you have to slam on the brakes. Pedestrians have the right of way, but what gets me is that a large majority just step out and never look. And agreed if they done this in the UK they would be mowed down. I would have to disagree most poor driving is done by 'P' platers, I think Australian driving standards are poor overall compared to the UK. One thing that still gets me and even talking to friends and colleagues is the hook turn, only in Melbourne because of the trams. Even people who have lived in Melbourne all there life, still hate it My summary is it is different, some things easier, some things worse.

Not to high jack the thread, but have you thought about photo copying them and storing them in dropbox, google drive or something similar. There are a number of programs that you can download that allow you to append to pdf files. What I personally do when I find recipes on the web, I use an application called Evernote and copy and paste including the picture. So when I am cooking I just open the app and recipe on my tablet.

I have found emigrating the best way to declutter Anything that is in pretty good condition or even otherwise, try freecycle or gumtree. You will be surprised when things are offered for free how many people will contact you. Maybe take a look at everything, and decide what really holds the most sentimental value and offload the rest. There are probably loads of people in and around your suburb who cannot afford some of these items even going to the op-shop.

Thank you for the advice and comments above driving, really appreciated. Reminds me a lot of the UK, 70mph on the motorway but most people driving around 80/90 mph quite easily. One thing about the speed limits in Australia, they are enforced quite strictly, probably why you notice that. Agreed about the UK, the amount of times here I wave to a car that has slowed down on the main road turning into a side road and they are a little confused and hang there waiting for me to cross and I keep waving them to go. Still find it odd coming from the UK. Not many roundabouts in Melbourne that I have come across, Melbourne is a mostly a grid system like NA with the a few dotted around.

I would say IELTS would be off higher standing. Try to get Agile and Scrum certs under your belt as they would really help, seem to be all over the job ads. For some reason or another they have taken off, I have chatted to my Dev Manager and he thinks they suck!!! Waste of time and resources unless you are in a big enough team to justify the time/resources spent devoted to the effort involved. What level of ITIL, try to get past foundation as this also adds more weight and if you can demonstrate practical experience in one of the competencies even better. Thinking about it further, get Prince(PM) and Agile(BA), and then look at Scrum as they would offer the best bang for buck IMO. But check out seek.com.au and see what the roles offered are looking for and take it from there.

You can always ask, they may do or hold you to the original price, which is probably more than likely. Remember to check out what is covered in the policies, cheap does not always mean better. But I suspect less accidents here than parts of Canada! Drivers in Australia, while i think slightly better than Ontario are still poor compared to the UK. Tailgaters, the amount of times I have been cut up, people overtaking on the left(which would be the right for you), pedestrians that just walk out and do not even look(reading about Toronto they would be run over, not here) As a side note, please take note of the speed limits here a 100km does (usually) mean 100k, where as talking to my colleagues in Canada a lot more leeway. The amount of times on the freeway both lanes just sit at 100km. So different from the UK where you can go over a bit and not be stopped and people do not hog the fast lane at the legal speed.

As Brit, now living in Melbourne, now moving to Ontario and still paying more than that in Australia. I think that is cheap! What car did you get by the way? I am shocked at the prices in Ontario, nearly 3 to 4 times what I pay here and that is not for a new car.

So had to look up Shellharbour, just south of the gong. Really lovely area, the gong has some amazing coastal areas north and south. Is such a perfect spot. When I first went to Sydney, 2002 myself and friend got a job in the gong, at first the commute ok but after a while kills you. Lucky we were going against the traffic, unlike your hubby!. We got lucky on the project we were on as we could work our lunchbreak and leave early but if your hubby if planning the next x years doing 3 hours+ commute I really feel for him as driving will kill him So just checked out google maps approx drive time this route could probably take up to 4hours round trip or more. So much for family time! Where is your hubbies office based or is he going to mobile day to day which means he is always driving from client to client? Sydney was tough in 2002 at rush hour, I would hate to deal it now but know what I see on the news now and it is chocka. Any of the areas you have mentioned mean hubby is driving with the traffic into the city, this is not so good. Parramatta is somewhat doable but he is driving with the traffic in rush hour, would he have free parking. If not, then imagine central london prices. Penrith, not worked out the distance but on google maps, I personally would not consider it, same with Windsor. Does your hubby need a car everyday, or can use public transport, work from home occasionally, or be flexible in the times he drives. Sorry re-reading the posts I am also unclear if the job is based in Parramatta. So the areas you have mentioned are just over an hour, google maps but the reality may be different. While Shellharbour means easy access to the beach for you and the kids, your poor hubby is stuffed as probably come the weekend he has had enough! As a FYI, friend was recently looking for a 1 bed apart in N Sydney, prices shocked him even though he found a shared 2 bed for $500/w each in North Shore and it was not that great. I am based in Melbourne and on the weekend the roads are mobbed around the central coastline of Melbourne in the East coast, trying to find parking is another matter and will not be free. But at least 1 hour South East or West and you can find some amazing spots. You have left it quite short notice to start researching.... 2 weeks to go! PS I checked out some of you posts and it appears you have never been to Australia, but got sold the idea which so many people do with programs like wanted down under. I am not going to be negative but you are planning to move to one of the most expensive cities in the world and have no idea about it. I really hope your hubby has a very very good 6 figure salary.