StraighttothePoint

Just be careful because there are several streets in the area that back onto, or are near, BBR that are full of state housing. This is the area where you will could see 4 x 2 houses on the REIWA website, with biggish blocks, that sell for around the 485k to 500k mark. Certainly very good if you want to get into the cheaper area of the old suburb and renovate but risky if you choose the wrong street and then want to try and recoup your capital and investment costs. Upgraded / semi upgraded 4 x 2 houses, on decent sized blocks, away from that area are selling from about $525 upwards without a pool. One opposite me, no pool and needing upgraded just sold for $590k. Old Joondalup suburb is all about the location within it so do as much research as you can would be my best advice. I have lived here for over 10 years now so PM if you have any questions.

Yep that is what we are going to do. I think a lot of folk will suss that is a sound tactic so we may even use Port Beach car park and walk from there as it could be busy, busy. Our usual walk is Cotty train station, over the hill, along the beach to Port, then to the bridge opposite the old hotel (the Swan) and a bus into Freo, lunch and a train back to Cotty. For many coming from the north perhaps best bet is train and just a short walk over the hill to the beach at Cotty? It is not going to that hot on Saturday so should be easy enough. Come on the dolphins.....

The landlord may have had the line disconnected? Have you asked that? If Telstra are saying though that they cannot see an active line on their system then they will need to test that and stick something into the board at the exchange, possibly at the property and even possibly at both ends if there is a snag or two, then Telstra guy after checking will go into his magic laptop and create a job to either re-activate the line, confirm that a Telstra line is not "presented' at the property, fix a fault (faulty wire in the socket for example) or resolve anything else. To be honest it is the same as what BT would do if they could not see an active line. As I say a phone point does not equal fully working line.

Sounds about right to me from what we have done before here. If you think you are bad we faced the same problem but were running a business!! Imagine that, think we had three days without a connected line in our new office. We got round it by using mobiles and the purchase of a USB stick thingy for Internet connection and used Skype for some of our calls via a laptop. Also just because you saw a phone point it may not mean that Telstra have one of their live lines connected to the building or indeed a line to it from the local exchange. The phone socket could be just a show pony.

Emiartes for me as well. Never a probelm with them. Always book the two hour stop in Dubai to get back as fast as possible. More expensive but hey ho less time wandering around aimlessly in Dubai airport itching to get back. Also if you are going economy then book online at their site so you control the booking not a travel agent. Then you hop onto their site and you can book a seat near the back of the plane if you like and if you are lucky have at least one empty seat beside you. Reckon I get that one out of every two flights in either direction. Also book any meal other than a standard one and you get served first, so you are therefore finished first, and then can wander round freely while everyone else is trapped in their seats with all the trays!! And lastly you check in online and then when you rock up to the airport to check in you miss all the big lines of waiting passengers who are there. All in all worth any extra cost. Just let me know your dates so I am not on the same flight otherwise you may be in the empty seat I was expecting

Joondalup, the old suburb, and the city itself, is ideally situated and has virtually everything on its doorstep except the catchment area does not have a state run high school. However if I was coming from England now, had a young family and / or was on a budget I would head further north.

Is it a private school? My son was at one and we got these all the time, then they wanted us to buy chairs in the school hall and put our names on them, then it was do you want to contribute to a fund for new gym equipment and on and on. Ignored the lot of them and only paid the fees on the basis that the fees were high enough and we had no spare cash at the time. Never knew what they were but always assumed they were for things that the school wanted but could not get public funding or other sources of funding or support for. Nobody came near us ever for non payment in 6 six years, I am still alive and no magic spells placed on me or my family If it is a state school then could be a similar reason as to why they ask - government cutbacks. Sure somebody will come on and confirm.

Luckily my wife is a small eater so taking her somewhere as special as that would be a waste Sounds interesting though, must have a look online at the menu. We did go out for a treat recently for our birthdays, it was ok but the menu was limited to chicken or beef and one veggie option. Mind you Macca's has always been limited in its offerrings, probably to keep their overheads down and profit levels high:wink:

Fellow Scot here who also lives in Joondalup so.... Take as much advice from the SECC show and from a few chats to some different registered agents. You can apply yourselves but that involves time which may be more a priority to you than paying fees for a service in relation to getting the visa organised by someone else on your behalf. Muck like anything really when services are available for hire. We did our own ones, and there are many on here who have as well, so it can be done. Sure as a police officer your husband will be familar with paperwork Joondalup hospital is very good as are the majority over here so you should not have to worry about that side of things in terms of your current situation or future job opportunities. For visas look here and go through the wizard for your options, list them and check when you go to SECC if you like. http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx Also if you send me a Private message with an e-mail address I will send you an excel budget sheet that will help with calculating all costs in relation to the move also a list of must read websites. Good luck

Both suburbs have a high number of British residents, schools get pluses, both are near the main infrastructure / all the things you will need, both 10 minutes to the beach, Carramar cheaper than Woodvale probably due to location and block size. If you are to work in the city, and can afford it, then Woodvale would be my choice due to the shorter commute. Really down to what you want from a suburb and your budget I guess.

Is the issue, and actually again linked to the OP's question, that Gen Y / The Baby Boomers or whatever they are called, 9you and me probably Ports), have seen the massive property gains over several periods of time and therefore everyone coming along at the back of us think it will be the same for them? Like you my time is for playing, doing stuff I like and a bit of work here and there. Everything else just seems too hard to consider:wink: Aussie style though is investment properties and good luck to them and those that follow that route. For UK folk coming here I honestly believe the trick is to box clever, think outside the square, do not put all your eggs in one basket and keep the debt down, down as Status Quo would say!!

I would at this point rent here. Get a job, use the salary to pay the rent and invest the 120k. I would gamble 30k on premium bonds in the UK and invest $70k now in Oz as a safety net. If it goes up a few cents in the future hey ho. You can only get about 0.00001% interest in the Uk at the moment so I would just shift it. But this is only me mind and not financial advice to the masses..... PS Still waiting for the spreadsheet to spit the real answer out....

Yep more employers in Perth are starting to use LinkedIn as a method of searching out new employees. We have been using it for a couple of years now and have got involved with some good quality people in the ICT sector. Agency fees too high, Seek costs still a lot in comparison to the service but LinkedIn very cost effective and economically sound for a range of employers including us as margins get tighter. Set your status to seeking employment.

Who know's but with the expected population increases expected in the Perth area / WA in general then you would expect demand to out weigh supply. However...... Is it a maths question though? Let's say we are couple who are 40'ish. We have been paying our mortage for over 10 years already. If we were to say sell our house in the UK and end up with cash of a hundred thousand pounds that would be roughly $170000 in hand. If we needed to use some of that for start up money over here then it could easily drop to $120,000 in a matter of weeks if not months. House prices here are what they are, no point in thinking high or low, and so if we now want to buy in a reasonable suburb within reasonable travel time to the city then we may need to pay say $550,000 for a house. We are on one salary over in Perth a good one. Keep with me everyone... Ok so now what do I do. We think we can go for it and buy a house for around the $550,000 mark and stick down $100,000 leaving a mortgage of $450,000 but we cannot get the loan because we do not earn enough. Ok plan B we move much further out of the city and get a new house in the burbs that we can get for say $400,000 land and house and built to our specification or a smaller, second hand one even further out for $375,000. We now have a much further commute than we wanted and a $300,000 mortgage. But we need to take that out over 25 years to afford it. Do we take interest only and hope the house prices risea lot or do we take a repayment one to try and get the debt down asap? Ok just one of a thousand examples and the different senarios are endless with this but the question is are you going to be better off financially coming here? We can all argue till the cows come home that the move is a better lifestyle one but put that to one side. Are people, in general, making a good financial move? If the house prices keep going up and up then possibly it should come good for many but even then not all. Perhaps the secret is, I always keep saying, not to over extend yourself and create too much debt too soon. The more debt the higher the risk in the UK where we have seen how that can pan out. Keep the debt high on arrival here in a new country where people appear to leak cash then, to me anyway, that is a risk too far because I would want to enjoy my life here not have to come here and just worry about money all the time. Mind you I have always been a chicken

Google Child Care Joondalup and loads of information comes up including on the left hand page a map of those located in Joondalup suburb.

Reckon folk are best not to compare individual prices. If you use that spreadsheet I sent you. Stick in a weekly shop figure, based on your family size, as part of an overall budget otherwise you will probably just go round in cirlces and concentrate on too much detail. Appreciate the individual cost differences can be interesting but they are only a small part of the overall jigsaw and considering how many thousands you are preparing to spend in getting here, getting set up and starting off then the price of a pound of butter is neither here nor there to be honest. Shops here are Coles, Woolies and IGA in the main and they are all more or less the same in terms of pricing with some things cheaper each week at the different store. One thing is for sure unless you are going to be earning shed loads over here then everything can / seem to be expensive

http://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolsonline/home.do Looking at this to see state schools. Put in the name of your suburb or exact address for a list of options in terms of state schools. I guess a place is gauranteed based on your address and a couple seem to come up other than Safety Bay. http://www.australianschoolsdirectory.com.au/search.php Alternativey have a look at this site and search for private schools in Madora Bay or a nearby suburb as an alternative to state schools. Problem is of course what is wrong at the moment, what does he want / gain by moving to another school and also how do each of us decide / determine what is "good"? Year 12 is a critical year and moving could just be from the fat into the fire. A real risk, good luck with it all.

But they are not qualified in terms of WA state rules and regulations in relation to gas and plumbing and I assume they need to be. Not saying arise from $700 to $3200 is right but surely there is a difference otherwise there would be no gap training required? Or is there absolutely no difference at all? Or is it an ego thing and there is a difference but nobody wants to admit it? Or is it that health and safety run the roost and are forcing the governing bodies to put this training in place? Reason I ask is that for years I have read these types of similar posts on here, never commented because I have never appreciated the actual basics of it all so would be good to hear the facts to help with the understanding of it all. Not just for me but for other casual observers.

Or indeed you may be someone who spends money easily, cannot budget and gets themselves into a fix regardless of income then is it enough? Personnaly I always find it hard to say everything will be great because of the unknowns but $160k + bonusus per annum in Perth terms is good for a single wage. Our contractors are on circa $150pa up to $230pa and in our number we have a couple that still ask for more because they are forever skint!! Is it because the money is not enough or is it because they cannot manage themselves? As I say $160pa is good but is it enough for you? Who knows?

As an employer in Perth, who has interviewed many people in the same position as you, we know the signs and what to look for during these types of discussions. If we have a position, and take somebody on, who is "dropping" down the leagues we know that in most cases, not all, but most that the people are only in it for the short haul. It then makes it very difficult for us to offer them the job because of the difficulties we face when the person leaves suddenly for either a better paid job or for something thats suits them more personally. The point is that experienced employers in Perth all know the situation with new incomers. This is probably why so many ask for WA experience as it ensures that they do not get caught out. We have experience of both people who we know that have either sat tight until the type of position, and associated salary, they want has come along and also ones who have gone in slightly below what they have been looking for and have been prepared to wait and develop. A lot of this comes down to cash, your personal situation and style and family resposibilities. If you are here cashed up, or your partner has work, then you could take the view that it is worth waiting for the right job or if you come here without planning for that long wait then you may need to try and get something that pays. Problem is now that with so much getting cut back are the senior roles still there and paying the higher salaries? Not sure in your case as you do not mention the sector you are operating in. For example we are in ICT Consultancy and Change Management as we know that things are about to get a lot tougher after several really good years. If it was me now I think I would look at it all from a lifestyle perspective. Perth is a city to live in and enjoy. Is it reknowned for helping everyone coming here in their career development? Probably not so consider that and maybe, if you can, come here and try a different approach? Not sure but all worth considering.

I have sent you a PM.

Of course you are right it is just that we have all been in WA too long and had to listen to the replies, from our pollies, to all the relevant questions they get asked and fallen into that same trap of answering the questions we want to and not the ones asked!! Plus we are men, I think, and so we like the sound of our own keystrokes:wink:

My point exactly re isolation and I said it at 9.21am which makes me either deeper or sadder than you

Given your age in relation to the harm effect just keep smoking for three months and then buy the things when you are 18 The thing that surprises me is that a 17 year old can get a credit card, I thought you had to be 18 at least to apply for one do you mean you have a debit card?

Geez Portaloo and I thought you were up there with the greats You canot say people who find it boring here are dunderheads, seriously. Boring to some people can be for quite legitimate reasons and be linked to their own circumstances. As for isolation Perth is isolated, you acknowledge that in relation to geograpghy, and again for many that can be hard to come to terms with both in the sense of being able to cope menatlly being so far from anywhere and/or key people and the also the cost implications in relation to travel. Perth is what it is and is filling up with all types including dunderheads which is not a bad thing it just makes it different surely?