Any advice on where to start would be great..

[deedee]

Hi,

new to all this! After years of talk we have finally decided to do something. My husband runs his own construction company and is a carpenter and joiner by trade, I am just ending my hairdressing course. We have two kids age 9 and 6 and feel we could have a better life down under.
Could anyone give me details on what to do first? We will take a couple of years to raise the money we want to take with us, we will rent for a while before deciding to buy. Dont want to live in the city was thinking of a quiter area on the outskirts.
Any advice would be very gratefully received.
Thanks x
Dee and Steve

[kevtheplasterer]

are you thinking of using an agent

[deedee]

Hi Kev,
Not really to sure what to do?
Can you give any suggestions?
Thanks

[kevtheplasterer]

we went through an agent australian migration and visa lawyers im glad we did with the amount of paperwork all together it cost £2000

[deedee]

Thanks kev, no regrets then?

[kevtheplasterer]

no were just waiting for a case officer been told there is a delay of 3 months im sick just want to be there which part of perth are you looking at moving to

[deedee]

Well not too sure at the mo, we were thinking of Perth, but property prices have risen quite alot. Now thinking of Gold Coast. Any views??

[2PLUS4vks]

Hi Deedee
We are n similar position. Talked about it for years. Now we're doing it. OH has construction company to and is carpenter by trade. Going for independant skilled visa. Have just submitted out TRA to get his experience and qualifications assessed etc. Waiting for answer. V painful process and we haven't even got to the visa bit yet! The process has all changed for carpenters as of 1st September 07 and now have to get qualifications/experience assessed by VETASSESS as I understand it. Have say we agree with kevtheplasterer. There's lots of paperwork and with 4 kids and the business to run we never seemed to get proper time to do it on our own. It's the more expensive way but maybe the most proactive. Also if there are any hitches then the agents can advise to get around the problem. Usually they are quite good at this! We have never been to Oz at all but research tells us to head to Perth. We have a couple of contacts there who say oh will have no problem finding work. More than happy to offer details of our experiences to date if you would like more!

Kev - have you been out there? Where are you thinking of going to? Do you have a shortlist of suburbs or areas that you are interested in?

Keep posting
Jill

[kevtheplasterer]

we are looking at warnbro or bunbury we were at gold coast i n october house prices really expensive try domain.com.au to check out house prices

[gobbyjock]

We`ve been in Warnbro since June this year, hubby is a sparkie, although hubby had been to Perth before myself & our daughter hadn`t, I can honestly say that so far we are loving it here (in fact we are just about to buy a house). We used an agent for the TRA part but went DIY for the visa application as it was pretty straight forward. I don`t think either of you will struggle for work - there are loads of adverts every saturday in the West Australian and if you look in the right suburbs you can still get affordable housing. In fact real estate agents have been telling me that it is a buyers market at the moment and houses aren`t shifting, therefore prices are coming down (certainly in Warnbro/Rockingham area).

[2PLUS4vks]

Hi Kev and Deedee
Great news for us, having just moaned about waiting! We got a positive TRA through this morning. We are really pleased, obviously. Hopefully we will get the visa application in this week so fingers crossed this time next year will will be saying hello Perth, goodbye UK. We shall see!
Keep posting
Jill

[kevtheplasterer]

do you know if there are many pubs in warnbro

[deedee]

Excellent news for you!
Well done xxxxxx

[kevtheplasterer]

well done we have just lodged our visa and been told there is a 16 week delay

[gobbyjock]

You`ve got the last drop tavern or there is the Port Kennedy tavern further down Warnbro Sound Avenue. I haven`t been in either yet so I can`t tell you what they are like.