Hints & Tips for Moving to Perth...4 weeks in!!

[windswept]

Hi Burns Clan,

 

Thank you very much for all the information you've provided. I've found it very useful. I'm currently in the process of booking a furnished holiday let for us for our first 6 weeks in Oz. We've been asked to pay half of the total amount as a deposit to secure the place which is alot of money and the payment is required by a bank transfer to a UK account. Is this what you did for yours? Has anybody else secured a furnished rental in this way please? I was hoping we would able to pay by credit card so have some kind of protection. I'm not sure how I can know that there will be a holiday let for us when we arrive in Perth or am I being too paranoid?? Money is a little tight at the moment so can't afford to make a mistake with this.

Any help would be very much appreciated :biggrin:

Thank you

Hev x

 

Hi Hev,

This is fairly common with short term lets - we do the same thing. As long as the property is neat and clean and no major damages we always return the bond in full. It's basically for two things - 1) to stop people from booking property rentals then cancelling at the last minute (although this does sometimes happen!) and 2) to form the bond in the event of damages etc.

Jen

[hevchick]

Hi Hev,

This is fairly common with short term lets - we do the same thing. As long as the property is neat and clean and no major damages we always return the bond in full. It's basically for two things - 1) to stop people from booking property rentals then cancelling at the last minute (although this does sometimes happen!) and 2) to form the bond in the event of damages etc.

Jen

 

Hi Jen,

 

Thank you very much for your reply. :biggrin:

Yes, I'm quite happy with the bond which is $200 on top of the rent and is cash on arrival which like you said we should get back in full having left the property as we found it.

I'm concerned about the deposit to secure the booking. :unsure:We would like to rent the place for six weeks so the lady would like half of the total rent to be paid to her now into her UK bank account as the deposit to secure the booking. This will be approximately £800. If you wouldn't mind me asking Jen is this what you normally ask for to secure a booking for your rental? And how would you ask someone abroad to pay you the deposit to secure it? I'm sure that half the rent is suitable for a week or fortnight booking but is it normal for a 6 week period? I'd be grateful if you are able to answer my questions. I'm planning on phoning the lady over the weekend to have a chat and maybe see if she has any previous guests who wouldn't mind me contacting them for piece of mind. I'm just rather wary of paying £800 into a bank account for something that it is another country.

 

Thank you very much

 

Hev (not sure which forum is the right place to discuss this kind of stuff!) x

[chrisandelaine]

excellent post the burns clan. keep up the good work lol its invaluable info for us all.

[Guest brickie001]

you cant choose your public school your area deides that.quinns beach my 2 sons go there for now its fine no problems.this aint the uk ur options are go with it or pack up....been here 20 months n gawd where did u lot find ur visa app...kellogs box or what ...least we did some research...sayin that any genuine questions ask away

[Guest Sandisonsonthemove]

Thanks Burns Clan for a really helpful post. We have house to sell yet so it could be a while before we get there but hey it will all be worth it - I hope :goofy:

 

I have done so much research on different places my head is a muddle with it all so I think we will just go through it all pick out a few favourites and decide where we will live when we get there - dependent on rentals of course.

 

Wishing you well.

 

Donna x

[Guest TTAJ]

Fab Fab post cheers, i have been scouring this site for weeks as our time gets closer, all a panic my son just turned 14 awkward age to start new school and yet to find a good one.We hoping to go nor think i may turn to the pin in map idea coz my head is in a mess trying to research just have to see when we arrive i think.

cheers tracy

[Guest texasaggie]

Thanks for all the great information. My head is also in a confused state from trying to sort out all the information needed to relocate. It is so helpful to not only read the helpful tips but to also see that others have the same questions as I do.

 

My husband will be in Perth during the month of August for work. Then, he has to come back to the states for some meetings/work in September. Finally, the two of us will move to Perth in October. Hopefully during his visit in August, he will be able to sort out a location for us to live. My head is spinning right now as I go through pages and pages of various websites on real estate.

[Guest sjmmdm]

Thanks so much for post, i haven't been on in a while but we have meds on thurs and police checks done so hoping with luck to be going to Perth early next year.My sister is in clarkson and her girls go to st. andrews and love it , she has sent me an application form for my daughter who'll go into yr3 and i'm going to fax some documents to try and get on interest list. My son will start high school and have been looking at these and whilst not as expensive as private here like you mentioned uniform etc. is costly. Though i have my sister your tips on first few weeks were invaluable and hopefully we'll all be doing the same soon.:biggrin:

[Guest Burns Clan]

Hey sorry for the delay in getting back......didnt realise there where so many posts and questions!!!

 

Car Finance - this was very similar to the UK, usual info visa, id, job detail & salary etc( no pay slips required!) small deposit and bank details for Direct Debit, it was really straight forward and easy to do!

 

Rental - yeah you usually do need to pay a certain amount up front, which we did via bank transfer that way you have a record of your transaction should you need ( unlikely) any comeback.

 

Quinns Rock was a nice area and handy for most amenities, so did the trick for temporary but also has some lovely houses especially in the Quinns Beach estate.

[Guest Burns Clan]

School - we went with St Andrews Catholic Primary in Clarkson, its a lovely school and they take non - catholics also, there is a huge choice of schools and lots of really good state schools also, just depends what you are looking for.

 

Our kids have settled in really well and I guess that has made it easier for us, I think the parents worry more about the kids than they need to ( same the world over!) kids are really resilient and tend to make friends really easily, my eldest son has been out loads and made great friends through his football team and school.

 

We have now moved into our long term rental and have had most of our furniture delivered, our boxes should arrive next week ....I know I am going to open them and think why did i bring all this crap with me lol

I feel more settled now that i know i will be in this house for a while, we managed to get our Foxtel installed and phone etc really easy to do all of this just need to keep buying more furniture to fill the extra rooms!! Have to say all the furniture we have bought has been really good quality when it arrived and all of it was pre- assembled only had to get the beds together ...so that was good.

 

Sorry if I have forgotten anything ....give me a shout if you have any questions.

 

Cheers

C

[Guest Crosby Family]

School - we went with St Andrews Catholic Primary in Clarkson, its a lovely school and they take non - catholics also, there is a huge choice of schools and lots of really good state schools also, just depends what you are looking for.

 

Our kids have settled in really well and I guess that has made it easier for us, I think the parents worry more about the kids than they need to ( same the world over!) kids are really resilient and tend to make friends really easily, my eldest son has been out loads and made great friends through his football team and school.

 

We have now moved into our long term rental and have had most of our furniture delivered, our boxes should arrive next week ....I know I am going to open them and think why did i bring all this crap with me lol

I feel more settled now that i know i will be in this house for a while, we managed to get our Foxtel installed and phone etc really easy to do all of this just need to keep buying more furniture to fill the extra rooms!! Have to say all the furniture we have bought has been really good quality when it arrived and all of it was pre- assembled only had to get the beds together ...so that was good.

 

Sorry if I have forgotten anything ....give me a shout if you have any questions.

 

Cheers

C

Hi just been reading all the great info you just posted.We are a family of 3 comming over from ireland we to hope to get short term rental in quinns rock as we hope to be over in nov. How did you secure short term rental ? i have tried hollidayletting.co.uk and stayz but everything is so expensive for something nice. Where did you buy your furniture?

Thanks

M

[lees]

Fantastic post really usefull glad you getting on well keep us all posted

 

Donna

[Guest Karen n Nige]

Thanks for all that really useful info. We are due to arrive in Perth on 7th November :-)

[Guest Pollypocket41]

Hi all

 

Hoping to be in Perth by October, my partner has a job offer and I think we must have been really lucky as they have offered relocation package and I have to say have been amazingly helpful. Our 457 visa application was submitted last week, medical done(only I had to have it) so its the waiting game now:wub: Thank you so much for your brilliant post, we were looking at Scarborough might I might try a few others from your suggestions. I dont drive so need to be near a good rail link or bus service but I also really want to be near a beach, any thoughts ? Our son is going to go into year 12 so have been trying to research high schools, there is so much to think about and it gets over whelming sometimes but really cant wait for the day we can book our flights. Hope all your plans are coming along for all on here. It would be lovely to make some friends. Take care of you all

 

Michelle

[Guest perth42]

Hi

 

I too start work in a few weeks in Perth and will be relying on trains and foot power to start with..My future boss has sent me this link: http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/

and warned me buses are very infrequent. If you have an iPhone you can download the app think it's about £1.99.

 

Good luck :wink:

[Guest Pollypocket41]

Have you already got your visa ? I will stay in touch and let you know if I find the ideal place :spinny:

[Guest perth42]

Yes 176 got it in May... And have been busy selling the house and finding work. Is yours an employee sponsorship one? Are you going to try and apply for a perm one or don't you need to?

[Guest Pollypocket41]

You lucky thing, our visa appliaction was only submitted last week, I have had the medical done (my partner and son didnt need one) so really hoping it doesnt take long but from what I have read it can be days to months. Yes we are sponsored by my partners new firm on a 457 Visa. We are going go for the 4 years and then see. We are all really excited just keeping everything crossed for the visa now.

[Guest perth42]

Took us 6yrs to finally get our visa and two attempts! I think for temp visa meds they have a quicker turnaround time so I'm sure you won't have to wait too long.

[Guest Pollypocket41]

Wow,perseverance :notworthy: paid off. Congratualtions and good luck

[Guest perth42]

Lol 'Tenacity' is my middle name!! Although some of our friends thought I was living in Lala land and thought I ought to 'get on with life!'

So it's those friends who have been totally taken aback with the words 'we've booked our one way flight!'

 

Best of luck with you too & hope the move goes well :biggrin:

[Guest Crosby Family]

Hi Burns Clan,

Hope everything is going well for you .We got oue Visa on thur 28th July, we booked our flights today with Singapore Airelines, for 6th Oct. We are thinking of booking our short term rental in Quinns Rock, same place as you stayed ( sandsandon) what was it like? how did you find the area? any info on the house and surrounding ares woul be great

Thanks

Muriel

[Guest Burns Clan]

Hi thats grt news. The house was sold just as we moved out so not sure if any changes have been made etc, however the house was fine, it has a lovely pool area etc, it only has one TV!! which caused some fights with our kids! The cpoking facilities were a bit tired etc chipped plates and stuff but did the job for a few weeks to get settled. again not sure if that stuff has been changed etc. Location is fine very handy for parks, beach and clarkson train station( 5-10 min drive_), there is also a Coles supermarket 5 min up the road in Butler. The bedrooms etc were okay, basic but there was plenty of room and we found we were out a lot exploring the area etc so did the job.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest Burns Clan]

Sorry not been updating much recently!! Been the school holidays so the kids have been keeping me busy!!!

 

That is us 8 weeks here....wow cant believe it!!

 

So far all going well with kids enjoying school, met lots of friends and had lots of parties!!!

Hubby enjoying work and is very impressed with the train service, we are in Clarkson so that is the last stop on the Joondalup line, the trains are every few minutes and it seems as though there is always one there when you get into the stations!! also the bus service is very good and are generally timed with the trains so always one arriving or leaving at the same time or a few minutes after the train. Hubby reckons costs him about $50 bucks ( check me with the lingo already!!) a week and that gets him in and out of the town and if he jumps on the bus to the station also, so not too bad, the buses in the CBD are free so thats good at the other end.

 

I have been dabbling in the job hunting and there appears to be loads of opportunities out there and the employers do seem keen to take on people from the UK etc.

 

I had my first real wave of homesickness on Friday, and it just started over nothing and i had a good wee bubble and then i was okay again......think the problem is a bit too much time on my hands with the kids at school etc, but again not too bad considering i have been here for 8 weeks.

 

Boxes arrived and as predicted about 10 of the boxes were okay, kids toys, plasma tv's, Wii etc all good and a few of the boxes, it thought wtf did i bring this crap for!! lol However kids were delighted and it was good to have my photos etc here. All the furniture has been delivered and i have to say i am impressed with the quality of it, also there has been a few trips to Ikea to get bits and pieces, so we are slowly getting there and it is starting to look and feel like our home ( albeight its a rental!)

I got a shock last week, after all the hassle to get the mobile on contract i have managed to run up a monthly bill of $500 ...aaarghhhh i think it was my lack of attention to detail as i didnt read any of the fine print!! I was picking up all my emails on it, using the gps functions....oh and phoning my sis in Scotland for a long chat!!! Lesson learned...the hard way!!

 

We also got foxtel installed.....not impressed!! we took the family package + sports was $80 per month but hubby not keen on the sports and is just going to get Setanta for $15 per month, so canceled the sports down to $50 dollars and apart from the kids Disney channels etc and the music there is sod all on it!! I am not into UK soaps so if you like them you have UKTV but they are about 3 months or more behind!! We tend to watch the Oz tv channels which arent too bad, i am hoping in the better weather we wont be bothering with the TV etc!!

 

Got phone and broadband in for $100 per month and that gives you 100gb ( dont ask me what that means....again not good with the fine print!!) but signal is grt and skype has been working fantastically.

 

OMG .....I can go on a bit lol

 

Any questions feel free

Cx

[northernbird]

you cant choose your public school your area deides that.quinns beach my 2 sons go there for now its fine no problems.this aint the uk ur options are go with it or pack up....been here 20 months n gawd where did u lot find ur visa app...kellogs box or what ...least we did some research...sayin that any genuine questions ask away

 

you can apply to enrol your child at any public school in Perth. You won't necessarily get in, some schools aren't full and will take children out of catchment, some won't. Your local catchment school has to take you.