May Move to Australia I need advice

pinkstateside

Hi

Massive mortgage, gas bills, food and drink costs are getting the better of me.

I may have an option to transfer to Sydney with my job.

Me and my wife are early thirties, 2 kids under 5, bewildered.

If I sold my house I could probably bring 500,000 Oz dollars with me

I would appreciate any advice, positive or negative about moving to Oz. I must say, I have never been there, just living off other peoples memories.

Should I stay or should I go now?

Maccattack

Well it depends on what youre looking for.

If you are looking for a change in lifestyle. You will find it.

It is much more laid back there - but that also dpends on where you go. Sydney and Melbourne are big cities with a fast pace. Queensland is sunnier and lazier. If you have motivation you can succeed there more easily than the southern states. Qld is growing very fast.

With 500k yr back pocket you could buy a nice house and have change for a car or two or whatever you want. depends where you go.

Obviously its not the promised land. Some people do well, some dont. some have money, some dont. yadda yadda yadda.

But if you like the outdoors and want your kids to breath fresh air and play sports and swim etc. then go. what have you got to lose?

dSTAR

I have lived in Ireland, England, Holland and the United States. None of them have a patch on Australia for bringing up kids.

I also have two kids under six and there is no shortage of things for them to do. It is a much more active and outdoor lifestyle here than in Ireland.

You may find it hard to adjust first particularly with kids but once you get into the lifestyle here you will never go back!

You are welcome to PM me if you have any specific questions.

All the best!

susanna

Go for it. The lifestyle is fantastic, people are laid back, cost of living is far more reasonable than Ireland, and I cant think of a better place to bring up children. I'm going home next month as I'm only on a year long visa but I would love to get sponsorship and come back to live in Melbourne

Good luck whatever you decide

Zambia

I was thinking along your lines a few weeks ago to decided to go for it.

All you have to ask yourself is that if you look back at this spot in 5 years would you regret not going. I am doing this completly on my todd , if your company will get you in just go. The worst that can happen is you spend a few years in Oz get a tan and return.

If you leave it , your kids will reach an age where they want to stay with their "friends" (people they will forget naturally in a few years) and the upheaval will be worse. Then when your 60 and say "Son we could have lived in Australia" do you think he would be upset?

However one word of warning, Australia is one long as**d place to get to and family and friends will be a long way away. But if your outgoing and up for it I say go and go now..

best of luck

bucks

I lived there for a year and out of all the countries i have visited Australia is by far the best. Hopefully within the next two years i will return for good.

Lifestyle, cost of living, weather... it all adds up to less stress and enjoying life.

Ye are still young, go for it and if its not for ye then at least ye wont grow old here in Ireland thinking "what if we had of gone".

Zambia232 wrote:

Then when your 60 and say "Son we could have lived in Australia" do you think he would be upset?

Funny you should say that, my folks told me that 4 years back, when i was a kid they were so close to packing there bags and heading over, man was i pi**ed when i heard that!!

SydneySider

Hi Pink

All good advice so far. People seem to like this place!

The link below may give you a feel for what sort of house you can get in Sydney for your money. For a 3 bedroom you may come out of $500K with some change, but not much if any. House prices in Sydney are ridiculous, even now with the prices easing.
You will most likely need to buy in the outer suburbs, most of which are nice, but you may need to drive a considerable distance to work, depending on where work will be, of course. Considerable could mean anything up to an hour.

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?s=nsw&t=res&snf=rbs&a=sf

The laid back lifestyle that people mention certainly exists here...on the weekends anyway.
For the rest of the time you'll be working your @ss off to pay for the lifestyle!

Make sure your house has air con. It's one thing to be a tourist swimming at Bondi on a 40 degree day, it's another thing to be at home in the suburbs....

For all of that, I love it and you will too as long as your expectations are level!


Glen

daveg

I'm popping out at lunchtime today to post our 136 skilled migration visa for Australia. We've passed the skills assessment so fingers crossed this will be the last stage. We hope to move to Melbourne January 2008. We spent nearly 3 weeks in Oz in January this year and loved it. We have a 7 year old son who is really looking forward to the move.

We have found loads of great info and have recieved some great advice on http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

Also check out the "any Irish emegrating to Oz thread (which was started by me ).

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362576&highlight=irish