info needed on relocating !!!!

[Guest chipper]

hi there .. everyone ... i ll just bore you for a minute on my situ and then i will beg for info !! in july 2006 my hubby decided that the UK sucks and as a mechanical engineer working in aerospace he decided wages were rubbish aswell . having spent a wonderful year in his youth ( twenties) in sydney he has been dreaming of going back ever since . i was abit shocked but agreed to do the application ( thinking he would change his mind ..... i mean Oz ??? its miles away and what do they know of irony and good fashion !)but he didn't change his mind. anyway we bought a house to renovate and sell while we were waiting ( that was my plan as i thought once he was more settled here he wouldn't want to leave ....sadly it didn't work ) and we are now coming to the end ) two years later . i had my 2nd daughter and my lovely dad died and that is why we have been slow to finish things and move . we only have three years left on visa and we went out last may to visit my brother who lives in Perth to activate things otherwise we would have lost it . i have to say i was amazed at the beauty the friendliness and yes the culture . i dont know about eastern Oz as i ve never been but my hubs says its even better .

anyway back to now . we are currently still finishing annoying last bits on house but have decided against selling as we would like option to come back in a few years if needs be and we can't really afford to sell now . so we re looking in to agencies and their cost ,,,, does anyone have any advice about that ?and what about taking furniture ? is it better to take it out with us and rent unfurnished ? also we are looking at moving to sydney as i believe there is better job opps for my husband . what is average rent for house 3 /4 beds near beach and centre ... does anyone know ?

thankyou for readind this .... its been a rough time but we are finally getting round to sorting out his dream !!! last question ...will sydney live up to it ??!!

lou xx

[Guest]

Hi Chipper & welcome.

 

My OH also decided UK sucked & that was in Feb 2008, by November we we're here!

 

We've rented out lots of properties in the UK without any bother. The main tip I'd have is choose an agent that has lots of properties of your type on their books - no point putting a 4-bed family house with an agent that mainly deals with loft apartments for trendy professionnals & vice versa. I think it's less important these days with the internet but look at who has a regular prescence in the local rag & also walk past high street prescence. If it gets to a short list then make sure you compare the costs carefully, our agent charges nothing up front, nothing for the lease & 10% of the rent. Others will charge you for all the advertising, for doing the lease (& renewing it even with the same tennant!) even for doing the inventory.

 

Another factor that influence us was the agent we used mainly sells houses so when we do decide to sell up they will be able to manage that for us too.

 

As for furnishings I'd say think about the likely tennents - are they likely to be studennts, young professionals setting up home for the first time? If so leave it furnished otherwise don't as it may be harder to rent out - I would leave white goods though (or stainless steel as they are more likely to be!)

 

As for will Sydney live up to it? Nah!!! Come to Perth....not that I'm biased )))) Seriously Perth is very family friendly & very laid back, I've only been on holiday to Sydney but I wouldn't want to live there far too much hustle & bustle for my liking. Just because it was great when your OH was in his 20s doesnn't mean it's right for you as a family now & having a brother around to help you settle could make a big difference.

 

Have a look on www.reiwa.com.au to get an idea of rentals - anythig near tthe beach & centre will be VERY expensive though if it's anything like Perth (& be waryig of rentig somewhere you couldn't afford to buy especially if your children are school aged)

 

Good luck with it - I reckon you'll do well as you've not got hyped up expectations.

 

Jules

[BuddysMum]

I don't have much experience of these things but I can tell you that when we first married, OH was living in Ireland, so I sold my house and moved over there (eventually - long story!), while he rented out his fully furnished house near Southampton. He used an agency.

 

The agency was next to useless to be honest. Any time anything broke we had to go over and fix it or replace it. When the tenants changed we were ordered to redecorate!

 

I have since heard that letting without the white goods means that you won't have to get involved in repairs etc (and they are the most likely to break, I guess). But I am pretty sure that responsibilities and rights of the the tenant vs landlord are very different when you let the property totally unfurnished. That may have changed by now.

 

It might be best to get some legal advice, or at least approach an agency to see what they charge and what they will actually do. Australia is a LOT further away than Dublin!

 

 

Hope it goes well for you.

 

 

Edited to add that we did eventually sell the house to the tenants - we lost a bit of money but it was a bit easier.We just had to go over with a van and empty the house of what we hadn't negotiated for them to keep.