Zoestewart83 Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Hi, My family want to give Australia a try, it's been on the cards for years now we are ready to get the ball rolling. We have spoken to an agent and we have more than enough points. My husband is a fully college qualified painter and decorator with extra skills and 10yrs experience and on the skills list. our problem is that we have about £20k equity in the house, do we sell up, spend the lot getting there on a PR with the possibility of wanting to return to the uk or should we rent out the house and give ourselves a try on a 457 then if we like it sell up, if not move home? Does anyone know the cost of 457 if we got a sponsor? We have 2 children 4 & 8. Understandably not everyone knows if they like it or not until they are there but we think it's for us then we read all the stories of people coming back and get a little scared at spending all that money. any advice would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Try before you buy is a nice idea, the practice though is somewhat different. In that finding a willing sponsor from overseas, in a trade, will be very difficult. I would maybe suggest you try and find one and then consider your options. At the moment the question seems a bit moot to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoestewart83 Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 Yeah someone said that maybe obtaining a sponsor might be a bit difficult. Might just have to be all or nothing. Nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 You don't have to sell up if you go for PR - still rent out the house, take a career break etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoestewart83 Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 We would have to sell to release the money from the house to enable us to find the cost for full pr. We were under the impression that sponsored visa would cost less initially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I don't fully understand your situation, nor do I understand your husbands' trade. However, based on what you have provided, I would advise you to tread carefully for the following reasons: - 20k in equity would have taken you a long time to build up considering mortgage interest and other costs. This amount of money will not get you that far here. The cost of living here is considerably more than the UK in my opinion. You need to think about flights (4k), 6 months rent in advance plus one month deposit (400-600 $/ week up front if you have no rental history in Australia and no jobs to walk into, furniture (not cheap here either!), shipping, school uniforms, contingency for living in case your husband cannot find work straight away, food. Day to day costs, which in general are more expensive than the UK! Visas as I'm sure you know are a big cost also, plus a migration agent if you feel you need one. - the jobs market here is arguably, suppressed at present. You may struggle to find a sponsor and come here on PR and be struggling to find work for a few weeks/ months. For or property, check out realestate.com.au and for work, seek.com.au I don't mean to let your hopes down but it sounds like you have a lot to lose. Best of luck with whatever you decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoestewart83 Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 I don't fully understand your situation, nor do I understand your husbands' trade. However, based on what you have provided, I would advise you to tread carefully for the following reasons: - 20k in equity would have taken you a long time to build up considering mortgage interest and other costs. This amount of money will not get you that far here. The cost of living here is considerably more than the UK in my opinion. You need to think about flights (4k), 6 months rent in advance plus one month deposit (400-600 $/ week up front if you have no rental history in Australia and no jobs to walk into, furniture (not cheap here either!), shipping, school uniforms, contingency for living in case your husband cannot find work straight away, food. Day to day costs, which in general are more expensive than the UK! Visas as I'm sure you know are a big cost also, plus a migration agent if you feel you need one. - the jobs market here is arguably, suppressed at present. You may struggle to find a sponsor and come here on PR and be struggling to find work for a few weeks/ months. For or property, check out realestate.com.au and for work, seek.com.au I don't mean to let your hopes down but it sounds like you have a lot to lose. Best of luck with whatever you decide. Yeah yeah we were told about £25k to get over and have enough to start with so we could easily save the £5,000 and sell the house. I feel that I need to go and see but as you say, it's a lot of money to lose. Sponsorship doesn't look like it's going to suit us after a bit more research , not with the kids anyway. It seems as thought there is a lot of work available for good painters and decorators in perth (where we want to go) but until we are there I suppose we won't know. Making this decision for our family is so tough. The more research I do the more confused I become. I have seen posts of people coming over with nothing and making a go of it, so I suppose we are in a better position than some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Well, what I was trying to say was it's a big gamble. Perth is expensive for property, beware! Due to dominant mining and oil and gas sector. My observations on Perth led me to believe it's a city of haves and have nots and not much in between. A bit like Aberdeen if you are familiar????? (I'm from there!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoestewart83 Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 Yeah I get it. That's what makes the research on suburbs and schools so hard too. Im from Edinburgh, so beautiful I sometimes don't know why I want to leave. And to own a house 5min from city centre isn't too bad either. I've been to Aberdeen once but it was a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knittingmumma Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Hi ya, We came over in Nov 2011 on a 457 sponsored by OH work. Whilst we have had it easier than some of our expat friends who have lost jobs etc, we have struggled in other ways. We have only just got our pr. In that time we have had no financial support from the government which we knew about anyway, and it was the tradeoff with having to wait longer for our visa to be processed in the UK. The thing we have struggled with most is childcare fees, and now secondary school fees. If we were in a position to have been able to spend more time in the UK before coming to Aus i would've stayed and got the PR. We have been obligated to my OH employer, and still are for another two years. We have family in Queensland and it would be nice to be nearer to them in some ways. You only live once, i know money is important but we didn't want to look back in our 60's and think 'what if'. Would rather try and fail than not try at all. As it goes coming to Australia is hard, but probably one of the best things we have done. I still miss the UK, the kids don't, and i don't think we will ever want to move back after experiencing life here. Good luck with whatever you decide to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srh82 Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Perth is a beautiful city don't get me wrong..... The areas between Fremantle and Perth are stunning (Leederville, Subiaco and Cottesloe), but very $$$$$$$ 5 mins from Edinburgh City Centre. Are you mad? Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 The first thing to do is plenty of research. You need to look at things like is there work available for your husband, if so what does it pay, what are you going to be able to afford when here, how much money you are going to need (£20k for a family is not going to be enough in my opinion for the visa process, move and living as you need enough funds to live for at least a few months). Then you need to sit as a family and weigh up if this is a good move and why - yes we have sunshine, but this is no utopia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Im from Edinburgh, so beautiful I sometimes don't know why I want to leave. And to own a house 5min from city centre isn't too bad either. And you want to move to Perth? You live in the most beautiful city in the world with festivals, culture, whisky, views, history, ready access to stunning countryside, opportunity for long weekends in Europe and you'd trade that in for a flat-pack bungalow in a flat pack estate somewhere in the grubby suburbs of a very bland city that is miles from even its nearest Australian neighbour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebloggs Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 If you have family and like stability you should go as PR, unless you love the thrill of a good gamble then 457. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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