Where to begin??

[Dorsetbrit]

Hi everyone for the first time I’m posting after receiving our visas and not asking about visas. My wife, son and I have our sponsored permanent visas for NSW. After two years we can finally plan. We hope to leave on the 1st September but where on earth do we start with planning?

I have to finish my landscaping business which is not to hard but want to work for as long as I can, we have a house to sell but would be great to not have to move out plus how to rent etc as well as shipping all our stuff. It’s completely mind boggling, exciting and scary all at once and we have no idea with timings so any advise will be amazing.

Thank you in advance.

Darren.

[Marisawright]

It's such a big move, you'd think there would be heaps of things you need to start doing now - but actually there's not much you can set in motion far in advance.  

The one thing you can do is start decluttering now, because you probably have a lot more non-essential stuff in the house than you think, and if you put it off, you'll have a scramble at the end.  Sell the good stuff on Gumtree or eBay or put postcards up on the supermarket notice board.

There are two very good reasons to declutter. One, you don't want to pay to ship stuff you don't really need. Two, the house will sell much better if you present it without clutter lying around (or even packed into cupboards).

The best way to kick-start is to get a few removal boxes and start packing odds and ends that you can manage without for now - mementoes, ornaments, etc.  It really makes you think - "If I can pack this now and not miss it for x months, what am I keeping it for?"      Start a box of small stuff to sell at a garage sale nearer your leave date.

Get a quote for shipping now, even though you're not ready to go.   It will help you decide how much to ship and what you need to get rid of.  You may be thinking it's not worth shipping stuff that's second-hand, but remember that if you don't take it with you, you'll have to buy it new at the other end.   Get on shopping sites in Australia like harveynorman.com.au, jbhifi.com.au, target.com.au, petersofkensington.com.au and do a pretend shop to kit out your new home in Australia.  That will give you a better idea whether shipping is worth it.

Unfortunately with the UK's property laws, there's no guarantee of being able to coordinate your house sale with your leave date, I'm afraid.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Marisawright

[Dorsetbrit]

Your completely right and that’s something we have thought about doing already, I’ve been looking through the garage to see what I can sell. I’m guessing plug sockets are different so any electrical items would need plug converters.
It’s so daunting I feel I should be doing more but maybe just keep researching shipping costs and where to live etc and as we get closer I’ll be a little more informed.

Thanks for your reply.

[Jon the Hat]

We have been tyring to sell our lovely house for about 14 months on and off.  Hopefully the market is picking up now, but don't assume it will sell in a few weeks of going on the market. 

[Dorsetbrit]

We have been tyring to sell our lovely house for about 14 months on and off.  Hopefully the market is picking up now, but don't assume it will sell in a few weeks of going on the market. 

Good point but if it was to sell fast we’d be homeless maybe we Calum’s do a short rent but most would be 6mnths minimum.

[Jon the Hat]

2 hours ago, Dorsetbrit said:

Good point but if it was to sell fast we’d be homeless maybe we Calum’s do a short rent but most would be 6mnths minimum.

There is not easy way around it - you either leave it later a risk delaying your exit, or go early and risk short term let.