Are we mad?

[pommiecheeks]

Hello all.

We are a family of 4; husband and myself, two daughters 18 and 10 years. Just got the go ahead (today!) to move to Melbourne in early December with my husbands new job. My concern is we do not have enough time to sort out visas and flights, not mention letting the house, removals...etc.

Is this time line optimistic? The new employers are keen to get us there before the schools close for Christmas and are happy to pay for a 3 month serviced apartment until our belongings arrive. Has anyone made the move in such a short space of time? Or are we setting ourselves up for failure? Its all very exciting but I can't help feeling just a little bit rushed.

[pintpot]

Hello all.

We are a family of 4; husband and myself, two daughters 18 and 10 years. Just got the go ahead (today!) to move to Melbourne in early December with my husbands new job. My concern is we do not have enough time to sort out visas and flights, not mention letting the house, removals...etc.

Is this time line optimistic? The new employers are keen to get us there before the schools close for Christmas and are happy to pay for a 3 month serviced apartment until our belongings arrive. Has anyone made the move in such a short space of time? Or are we setting ourselves up for failure? Its all very exciting but I can't help feeling just a little bit rushed.

 

There's an awful lot to do if you're talking about moving in less than six weeks

 

If your husband has a new job, I would hope that visas are being sorted by his employer. I would hope that flights are too; if they are happy to pay for a serviced apartment it sounds like they're properly relocating you? (in which case I'd expect them to sort removals as well?)

 

We have been organising ourselves for the past 3 months since I resigned from my last job. We could have done it in 2 I think, but my timescales were driven by my notice period in any case

 

I've got a project book open here with all the categories of "stuff" we had to sort:

 

 

• Money (Working out our budgets, what we needed to buy before we went, what we needed to sell, getting it sold, understanding tax situation)

• Paperwork/Admin (organising work contract, visa, leaving son's school & obtaining reports, getting references, advising UK tax)

• Packing (working out timings, what to take and not take, what to do with stuff that's staying, organising and cleaning)

• Things to do before we go (People to see, things that needed doing that had been put off (dentist!))

• Research on Oz (where to live, schools, bank accounts (which one?), vehicles, other transport, mobile phones, how things work)

• Practicalities (tidying up UK financial affairs, mail redirection, how & when we will get paid & ensuring money to cover)

• House Sale (timing, work to get house on market, pushing the sale through, where to put the money, cancellations, mail redirection etc)

 

 

Your kids being older than mine (esp. the 18 year old) adds another layer of complication on top of that as they will have their own lives to sort - or you sort for them

 

Daunting, but it can be done.

 

If it were me, I'd be sending my husband off first this side of Christmas and following him on in the New Year. But every family is different

 

Good luck

:biggrin:

[pommiecheeks]

Hmmm, yes it is an awful lot to do.

I should have clarified, that we are going out on a 457, company paying for everything and allocating a relocation agent. We are renting out our house as opposed to selling, we want to keep our options open for a couple of years to see how things pan out.

I had thought about sending my husband ahead, but if he is working will he have time to look at schools and possible areas to live? I can't decide, any advice from anyone who has made the move as to how it worked for them would be gratefully received!

[pintpot]

Well I reckon you can do it if you prioritise. You'll both be wanting to look at schools together I guess (certainly I wouldn't want the responsbility of picking one and getting it wrong!) likewise places to live

 

Must urgent thing is to get the house on the market - even for rental you need to be a few weeks in advance, and if you're renting rather than selling you need to consider stuff like:

Advising your mortgage lender, if you have one (they might stick you on a BTL rate, they might not, but you have to tell them)

Likewise sorting out insurance including landlord's insurance

Getting legal checks etc done, like the gas service & certificate

Working out whether you are renting furnished or unfurnished

Engaging a letting agent

Working out what you are taking with you

 

.....and then getting yourselves organised for the shipment - selling, clearing, dump-running, cleaning etc

 

 

Most of the paperwork/admin/research stuff you can do online or wherever you can fit it in

 

The other key issue is/could be your elder daughter's education - is she heading for A levels at the moment?

 

 

I wouldn't worry too much about visas and flights - the company will sort those out, and 457s come through quickly

[Guest marchatfield]

This is very simaler to situation i am in now, yes it can be done but for each thing you need to sort make 2 plans Best case Worst Case we have found this usefull already.

 

If you are renting and on a morgage you will need a consent to let form from your morgage supplier, most major banks do it so it shouldn't be a problem. this will allow you let your property for a set amount of time (ours is 3 years) without changing the terms of your morgage - i have just done mine today with halifax and took 10 minutes.

 

can't help with school issues as mine is only 6mths old so others maybe able to help.

 

i would book to get a quote on removles asap as when i phoned (monday) the woman said it could take 3-4 months over Christmas (we are going for a shared container) a single use one may be Quicker

Hope this helps, Marc.

[pommiecheeks]

Thank you all for your helpful posts. And good luck!

[Guest ThreeShiresinOz]

This is very simaler to situation i am in now, yes it can be done but for each thing you need to sort make 2 plans Best case Worst Case we have found this usefull already.

 

If you are renting and on a morgage you will need a consent to let form from your morgage supplier, most major banks do it so it shouldn't be a problem. this will allow you let your property for a set amount of time (ours is 3 years) without changing the terms of your morgage - i have just done mine today with halifax and took 10 minutes.

 

can't help with school issues as mine is only 6mths old so others maybe able to help.

 

i would book to get a quote on removles asap as when i phoned (monday) the woman said it could take 3-4 months over Christmas (we are going for a shared container) a single use one may be Quicker

Hope this helps, Marc.

 

Hi Marc

 

Do you mind saying which company said it could take 3-4 months? We'd been told it would be 4-6 weeks so there's a bit of a difference, but it makes sense that it would take longer over Christmas due to the number of people moving over during Summer! Eek, we have an 11 month old son and not sure we can cope without his toys for that long! Will have to start planning :eek:

[Guest ThreeShiresinOz]

Thank you all for your helpful posts. And good luck!

 

Hi Pommiecheeks, thanks for your message on our thread (about the lists!). Hope everything goes well for you regarding the move. I've now written a list of things to do and am more worried than I was a couple of days ago! We'll probably be moving out in January but there's a possibility that it could be December. Keep us posted!

 

Good luck x

[Guest marchatfield]

Hi Marc

 

Do you mind saying which company said it could take 3-4 months? We'd been told it would be 4-6 weeks so there's a bit of a difference, but it makes sense that it would take longer over Christmas due to the number of people moving over during Summer! Eek, we have an 11 month old son and not sure we can cope without his toys for that long! Will have to start planning :eek:

 

Hi threeshires, sorry for the delay, Had pickfords in yesterday so thought i would wait and give a more accurate update, They said it would be 12-14 weeks for a shared container so 3/4 months did say if we used a sole container it would be 6/8 weeks but our port of entry is brisbane so that might make a big difference?

 

Marc.

[Guest nataliehayden]

Hi

We got our visas in September and moved over here for October 25th. Everyting was such a rush but we did do everything on the home front just the packing was riduculous. We have three small boys with no help from anybody but your girls are a nioce age to help with everything even if its just to mind the smaller ones. I'd say start sorting your house now. we aren't horders at all and we had so much crap it was unbelievable. Check flight over the three weeks you decide to go as the price changes way to much.

 

You are right to rent somewhere for a while once you get here as we have only rented for two weeks and are finding it impossible to find a house. Its a stupid system over here for renting houses. Everything takes so long.

It is very expensive over here so be prepared. Buy your clothes and children clothes before you come as the prices here are ridiculous especially for pj's so stock up. Furniture is a joke so it is deffinately worth paying €5000 for a container to fit all your furniture in to as they want $1000 just for a washing machine here!! Sinead Horan/Horgan (can't remember surname) from Careline is very good. Her number is 0879112315.

 

It definitly can be done just start packing now.

 

Good Luck with the move

 

Natalie

[Guest]

Hmmm, yes it is an awful lot to do.

I should have clarified, that we are going out on a 457, company paying for everything and allocating a relocation agent. We are renting out our house as opposed to selling, we want to keep our options open for a couple of years to see how things pan out.

I had thought about sending my husband ahead, but if he is working will he have time to look at schools and possible areas to live? I can't decide, any advice from anyone who has made the move as to how it worked for them would be gratefully received!

 

Hello!

Six weeks does seem like a little amount of time, but I am sure with help it can be done, espcecially if your husbands company is paying for relocation and giving you an agent.

 

Do you work, I did until last week, so that made organising stuff alot harder. I think if you pull together (your children are probably old enough to help too) and you are determined enough it could be done, but that decision lies with you.

 

For my experience, my DH went on ahead of us, about a month ago, with me following in six weeks. I have pretty much organised everything myself in that time (he cleaned the garden equipment, spades etc.....).

 

DH has found us a house, and a school for the kids. He did this in his lunch hours. Getting a house was the hardest thing, but I see from your posts that is being organised for you.

 

Its hard being apart, my children are only 8 and 5, and my DD has been really poorly for the last week. If you can stay together....

 

Women are strong and we are doers, and I am really proud of what I have acheived, although there is still loads to do.

 

Consider your family, did they know about this before, it took around five months from the job offer until DH left, so we made people aware then, so they had time to come around to the idea.

 

Anyway I am running on.... good luck whatever you decide!

:jiggy:

[Guest ThreeShiresinOz]

Thanks for the info Marc! We'll bear this timeframe in mind. We're going to Melbourne so I'm not sure how much this will affect the shipping time, compared with Brisbane. We're going to have a sort-out in the next couple of weeks and then obtain quotes from removal companies.

 

Well done Norfolk gal on getting everything organised! I would find it very hard to be away from hubby for that long, especially with small children. It's worth it, but it must have been difficult for you.

 

Thanks Natalie for the advice - we have an aussie friend who has advised the same thing i.e. to buy clothes and furniture etc before we leave as everything is so expensive. Great excuse for a shopping trip over here (hopefully we'll move mid-Jan so we can take advantage of the Jan sales!)

[Guest marchatfield]

I'm not sure if i read somewhere on here but you can be hit for tax if you send new stuff over?i think you have to have owned it for 12 months - not 100% sure but you may want to check!

[Guest Loz66]

Hmmm, yes it is an awful lot to do.

I should have clarified, that we are going out on a 457, company paying for everything and allocating a relocation agent. We are renting out our house as opposed to selling, we want to keep our options open for a couple of years to see how things pan out.

I had thought about sending my husband ahead, but if he is working will he have time to look at schools and possible areas to live? I can't decide, any advice from anyone who has made the move as to how it worked for them would be gratefully received!

 

We are almost in the same boat but the good lady wife has decided it's just too soon for her to go this year so I will be the advance party and the family will follow on about 6 months after. Ditto with renting the house out here for the just in case option. Visa app is quick if you have all the right info for the 457 so should be an option in the time.

However you do it, it'll be a great adventure rather than a task to do!