money mortgages stay or go

[Guest batleys]

hi we have just got a job offer for my husaband which is fantastic, untill i started thinking...... his salary will be $54000 which i think is bit low for 5yrs of nursing, plus i will not be working due to baby hopefully.( this was the reason to come to australia). But now i don't know, after looking at house prices and looking at what the banks would lend us on his salary it looks like we will never be able to be a house over there, this was not then plan. The equity in our house here is disappearing fast. The dream is now stating to fall apart i don't know what to do now, we both have ok jobs here nice house ...

 

Over there i would ould not be able to work for a few years until baby older is the dream possible on one wage do not want to rent for ever .... is it only me that is thinking this , or am i talking myself out of this. ( dream - nice house in aus on a block of land stop at home mum etc etc )

[Guest guest569]

You should get the $5000 baby bonus and also if you are PR then centrelink and family allowance / rent assistance or the first time buyers grant up to $21000 if you build a new home.

If you are on a temp visa then things might be tougher.

[Guest batleys]

yes we are looking to go out on a temp visa when we first started all of this we had 60k equity this has now halfed if would could sell but nothing doing at the moment also will prob have baby just before we fingers crossed

[Guest ReadyPenny]

I too dont want to rent forever. However, the way I look at it is this. When I first started work my salary was not enough to buy the kind of house I wanted and it will be the same in Australia. I consider it as starting all over again, and that, for us means at the bottom of the ladder. this time though we will climb the ladder slowly, but in a lovely place.

 

Mandy

[Guest batleys]

i know i know glas half full and all that , i suppose since he got the job offer realisation set in and panic and this is a girl (woman ish) who cannot decide on a pair of shoes , forget about deciding this one just keep going with the process, like i have just said to my mum with chris's job if worst does happen we could always come back.

[Dawn&Andy]

i never thought we would buy in oz, we came out with no equity left for a deposit for a house, and i really thought we would be renting for at least a few years, yes if you want a huge house on a huge block then you could well struggle to finance it, but if you like us just want summat to call home, then it still is achievable.

 

Hubby earns a basic of not much more than you quoted on your post and we have recently bought our first home on just his wage, we are on perm visa tho so do get help with family assistance and we got the first home owners grant. We could only afford a small 3 bed in the area we wanted but its home and we much rather be living in our small house than renting for the long term, so dont give up hope , like i said if you dont mind being flexible in what your idea of a dream house is then it is still possible

 

We have 3 kids too, not sure how many you have but we manage just fine and have a decent standard of living, yes we have to mind the cents n dollars at times, but we wouldnt change our life here for the world now:D

 

Dawn x

[Guest Martin and Val]

Sometimes the dreams just take a little longer to become reality but it's worth the hard work in our opinion and we are still waiting for the dream to come true.

Our dream was to sell in England, move to Adelaide, buy a nice house after first renting for a while to make certain of the area. Me to work and Val to maybe do some voluntary work in a school or something like that when and only if she felt like it.

Reality, when we arrived last October the house was still up for sale or let, we both gave up good jobs and we had a very comfortable life generally with two good holidays a year normally a nice cruise around the Caribbean, myself a new car of my choice every nine months from work.

Here we are at the end of Feb 2009 our house in England has tenants we have spent almost half the yearly rental income on electrical work and a new gas boiler just because we couldn't provide the paperwork saying the old one had been converted from Propane to Natural Gas.

Our savings have taken a huge dent and I'm still out of work. Luckily Val secured a good position just prior to Christmas and without that we would now be up the creak without a paddle. Our children have all grown up and flown the nest so it's just us which makes it easier.

In a nut shell we are managing on one wage but we are using savings fast although the spending has slowed down now since we have set up home and don't need anything else.

In our opinion, it is all well worth it but don't think it is going to be easy because it isn't and if you have a job offer it is more than some who are currently living the dream.

To be honest without Val working and without savings we wouldn't be here now, but whats the choice?

Unemployed here with no benefits or come back to England and be unemployed and claim benefits.

If your able to ride the storm and stick it out as things will only improve, Australia Wins hands down for us every time.

Good luck and we hope it all works out for you, everybody else already here and those yet to take the plunge.

Martin

[Rachiegarlo]

the 54K quoted may be just the base salary. I work shiftwork(nursing) and my base salary is $62417. However the shift penalties for working lates, nights, weekends and Public hols bring this nearer to $80,000. When your children are babystage, although you need help to have time to yourself, it is possible to live cheaply. Many people do live on one wage here. Think through all your possibilities. It may be harder to move later on, but only you can decide.

[Guest batleys]

thanks for all of you support i suppose you will get used to me the closer we get to go, i work for a unpopular high street bank and i have to work the numbers out all the time thats who iam,but the more i do the worst it gets and i do panic. But we are deffo going to go. Everything was so different jan 08 when we got back from our recci , as for the kids question - answer none yet but since i have have to do everything at once, i am three days in on my ivf treatment will let you all know the outcome in about three weeks fingers and legs crossed

[Guest dibdobs]

Oh bless you Lucy, I wish you all the luck in the world for your IVF.

Life is short, too short to think "what if?"

Just go for it.

We don't know how our finances will work out (we have no jobs to go to), but we are going to stick together and enjoy the adventure.

Good luck.

[Jo & Steve]

Hi Lucy and Chris, well done Chris on the job offer, good luck Lucy with the IVF will keep everything crossed for you. I think the 54,000 will be basic without enhancements. Also renting in Australia is the norm and a lot cheaper than paying a mortgage so you could hopefully save a little towards a deposit. We are renting our house out in the UK and only taking small amount of savings apporx, £6,000, but walks on the beach cost nothing, lucky for us we prefer the quiet night out not clubbing, Just knowing the sun will be shining when I get home from a early shift and I can sit in the garden with a glass of chilled white wine is a good incentive to move. Dont give up your dream if it is what you truely want.

Take care and keep your chin up, good luck again.

Jo x

[ozzieclare2be]

54k basic for 5 years nursing sounds about the norm here and is better than the uk, im 10yrs qualified and on $60k but thats in community which is slightly under public system. Of course this will be without enhancements and if you have salary sacrificing then again it will bump it up. Agency nursing is also a good way to bump it up, i can get $60 an hour doing a hdu shift at weekend or night, normal wards your looking $45-50. So it can all add up. I earn more here working 3 days a week than my husband does fulltime. only thing here is the holidays arent as great as nhs, neither is the sick leave but you cant have it all lol.