Making the move - real world opinion
Discussion
We were looking at rentals in Byford primarily. Armadale et al just reminds me of any town in the north east really. But what I really noticed is how copy/paste the little suberbs are. Tightly crammed developments of carbon copy houses, then a retail park with Hungry Jacks. KFC, McDs.
I found that hugely different from when I was last there. Why - when there is so much land in Aus are developers selling such (comparitively) small plots? - makes no sense.
The only properties I actually fancied were the 20 to 30 year old ones, which had a bit more space and none of that hidious metal sheet fencing.
Are there any other areas around there that I should be cautious of? It's that sort of area that we're considering as that's where the family is. What reputation does Armadale and Byford have?
Thanks again PG!
I found that hugely different from when I was last there. Why - when there is so much land in Aus are developers selling such (comparitively) small plots? - makes no sense.
The only properties I actually fancied were the 20 to 30 year old ones, which had a bit more space and none of that hidious metal sheet fencing.
Are there any other areas around there that I should be cautious of? It's that sort of area that we're considering as that's where the family is. What reputation does Armadale and Byford have?
Thanks again PG!
No worries. Must admit Armadale isn't great with a poor crime rate/reputation. Byfords ok but not heaps better. As you go hills its nicer.
I originally lived south when first moved here (aubin Grove near Cockburn, 15 mins from Armadale next to the Kwinana Freeway). Now I live North, up near Joondalup (5 mins from Barbagallo
) and ill never go south again.
The south feels more dated, desolate even. Just my opinion.
If I was new again and renting I'd rent near Subiaco, South Perth, Leederville, Mt Lawley etc - basically near the city.
I think a lot of people move out from the UK, straight to the 'burbs and wonder why it feels so boring and lonely with no friends and nothing happening. I'd definitely recommend being near civilisation where you find your 'lifestyle'.
I originally lived south when first moved here (aubin Grove near Cockburn, 15 mins from Armadale next to the Kwinana Freeway). Now I live North, up near Joondalup (5 mins from Barbagallo
) and ill never go south again.The south feels more dated, desolate even. Just my opinion.
If I was new again and renting I'd rent near Subiaco, South Perth, Leederville, Mt Lawley etc - basically near the city.
I think a lot of people move out from the UK, straight to the 'burbs and wonder why it feels so boring and lonely with no friends and nothing happening. I'd definitely recommend being near civilisation where you find your 'lifestyle'.
We are visiting my sister in Perth at the moment, love the place! She did tell me that it has improved a lot in the past five years and that it was pretty desolate when she first visited about 8 years ago.
We were already thinking of moving to Oz, but this visit has made it a 100% decision so we are looking into the best visa to go for or employer sponsorship and hoping we can get in
The big pluses for us were the weather, relaxed nature and the family friendly atmosphere. Just so different to the UK!
We were already thinking of moving to Oz, but this visit has made it a 100% decision so we are looking into the best visa to go for or employer sponsorship and hoping we can get in
The big pluses for us were the weather, relaxed nature and the family friendly atmosphere. Just so different to the UK!
Crush said:
We are visiting my sister in Perth at the moment, love the place! She did tell me that it has improved a lot in the past five years and that it was pretty desolate when she first visited about 8 years ago.
We were already thinking of moving to Oz, but this visit has made it a 100% decision so we are looking into the best visa to go for or employer sponsorship and hoping we can get in
The big pluses for us were the weather, relaxed nature and the family friendly atmosphere. Just so different to the UK!
Out of interest, where are you staying?We were already thinking of moving to Oz, but this visit has made it a 100% decision so we are looking into the best visa to go for or employer sponsorship and hoping we can get in
The big pluses for us were the weather, relaxed nature and the family friendly atmosphere. Just so different to the UK!
Crush said:
Ballajura (East of Perth CBD I think!) at my sister and her fiancé's place but currently in Dunsborough to see her wedding venue for next year
My sister reckons it is not the nicest area (Ballajura) but we think it's quite nice and quiet compared to where we live in Basingstoke.
My MIL lives there. Again, not greatest reptutation but perhaps not as bad as Armadale. Compared to Basingstoke they're both miles better My sister reckons it is not the nicest area (Ballajura) but we think it's quite nice and quiet compared to where we live in Basingstoke.
Have a look nearer freeway, sea-side of freeway and more north, say Darch, Lansdale (5 minutes up Alexander Drive from Ballajura). Much nicer but newer.
Funnily enough they're having a house built in Lansdale!
To be honest, we thought Basingstoke was a beautiful place having moved from the West Mids, Perth is just something else
Unfortunately, as much as we want to move to Perth I think we might end up Melbourne way due to the NBN rollout that my wife will hopefully get involved with.
To be honest, we thought Basingstoke was a beautiful place having moved from the West Mids, Perth is just something else
Unfortunately, as much as we want to move to Perth I think we might end up Melbourne way due to the NBN rollout that my wife will hopefully get involved with.
Crush said:
Funnily enough they're having a house built in Lansdale!
To be honest, we thought Basingstoke was a beautiful place having moved from the West Mids, Perth is just something else
Unfortunately, as much as we want to move to Perth I think we might end up Melbourne way due to the NBN rollout that my wife will hopefully get involved with.
Well Perth does have identikit housing like Basingstoke!To be honest, we thought Basingstoke was a beautiful place having moved from the West Mids, Perth is just something else
Unfortunately, as much as we want to move to Perth I think we might end up Melbourne way due to the NBN rollout that my wife will hopefully get involved with.
Melbourne - great choice. Seems to be the one place Perth people would go if they weren't in Perth.
Be careful, my wife reckons Melbourne has the hottest men. However Perth has the hottest women
I live up in Mindarie which is 10mins north of the top of the freeway. We find it's just too far away from anything having lived in Hillarys previously. Its also filled with "cashed up bogans" and people who have sold their council house in England and moved to a pretentious looking 5 bedroom "mansion" in the sun.
I agree with the comments about Armadale's reputation but, I visited a small business in Armadale recently and drove through thinking "actually, it doesnt look all that bad" - You can get actual figures from here:
http://www.police.wa.gov.au/Aboutus/Statistics/Sea...
Joondalup in the northern suburbs has a huge population of British and its one of the few new places that actually has shops on a high street! It also has the states largest shopping centre, an imported UK food shop, railway station to the city and easy freeway access.
If you're looking closer to the city, Bassendean and Bawswater are considered to be up-and-coming suburbs that could be worth looking at.
Ellenbrook and Yanchep are (according to last night's TV) the fastest growing suburbs at the moment and they're filling them up with copy and past houses on tiny blocks.
Personally I'd be happy with almost anywhere in the region bounded by Shenton Ave, Karrinyup Road, Marmion Avenue and the coast.
If you're looking for a good location and an established feel, you cant really go wrong with this one:
http://www.domain.com.au/property/for-sale/house/w...
I agree with the comments about Armadale's reputation but, I visited a small business in Armadale recently and drove through thinking "actually, it doesnt look all that bad" - You can get actual figures from here:
http://www.police.wa.gov.au/Aboutus/Statistics/Sea...
Joondalup in the northern suburbs has a huge population of British and its one of the few new places that actually has shops on a high street! It also has the states largest shopping centre, an imported UK food shop, railway station to the city and easy freeway access.
If you're looking closer to the city, Bassendean and Bawswater are considered to be up-and-coming suburbs that could be worth looking at.
Ellenbrook and Yanchep are (according to last night's TV) the fastest growing suburbs at the moment and they're filling them up with copy and past houses on tiny blocks.
Personally I'd be happy with almost anywhere in the region bounded by Shenton Ave, Karrinyup Road, Marmion Avenue and the coast.
If you're looking for a good location and an established feel, you cant really go wrong with this one:
http://www.domain.com.au/property/for-sale/house/w...
Fizpop said:
Why - when there is so much land in Aus are developers selling such (comparitively) small plots? - makes no sense.
Because (in no particular order)- profit
- shortage of housing
- cheap credit = first house is a McMansion
- there is f
k all outside the cities so build as close as possible to the city as densely as possible bearing in mind 90% want a detached house.Still, it isn't as tightly packed as the new developments in the UK with 3 storey townhouses wedged in everywhere. I reckon I could fit a dozen of the 2 bed mid-terrace I had in the UK onto my block here - I can't wait to subdivide and make a fortune
Edited by Jader1973 on Tuesday 23 December 06:51
200bhp said:
A colleague is currently seeking permission to subdivide his parents old block into eight units!
The town we live in is expanding rapidly. The coucil tried a minimum block size, no battle axe blocks etc but they just get taken to VCAT and over-ruled.Not far from us there is a newish sub-division. Biggest blocks are around 1200 sqm. One on the main drag sat empty for ages, then got battle axed and now has two houses on it.
The thing that gets me is a 3 bed unit is what would be called a 3 bed bungalow in the UK!
Apologies for the slight highjack but for all you Perth lot would be interested in how the economy, principally mining industry has changed over the last few months since this thread was started?
Indications from Mines & Money and other international conferences is that things aren't as bad as were initially predicted, bit more exploration and investment is creeping in. Is this how it feels in Oz, particularly WA?
Cheers
Indications from Mines & Money and other international conferences is that things aren't as bad as were initially predicted, bit more exploration and investment is creeping in. Is this how it feels in Oz, particularly WA?
Cheers
I work on the periphery of the mining industry, specifically supply of rail maintenance machinery.
The boom times are well and truly over (for now).
In recent months there hasnt been so much negativity in the local media as there was previously, mainly because there havent been the large job losses here that they have seen in the Eastern States. BHP have made a lot of "redundancies" in the last couple of years but that has been partially a restructuring exercise and many of those affected were re-employed either by BHP or sub-contractors.
BHP and Rio Tinto are, I think, happy to keep digging the stuff out of the ground at current prices. I think their profitable sales price is still below what the current price is so they're making money, just not as much as they were.
FMG on the other hand have a big problem. Their operating costs are massive, they have a lot fewer assets than the other two and if the price stays where it is, I dont see any way it will end other than a sale to BHP or Rio.
Gina Reinhart is building a mine at Roy Hill which for us, has been good because that means more railways line need to be built. How she's going to operate at a profit is anyone's guess.
There is speculation that Rio and BHP could be deliberately over-supplying to push the price down to a point at which it will be difficult for Gina and FMG to compete. Long term this would force them out of business, leaving the whole lot to BHP and Rio.
The other theory is that they're scared of the African nations coming on-stream and undercutting their Aussie prices. By keeping the Aussie price low the Chinese will be less inclined to go to Africa (I dont buy that theory myself given the amount of infrastructure the Chinese are building in Africa).
WA seems to be carrying on regardless with the local government spending money they dont have, thousands of houses being built for no one to live in and everyone buying a new car. What could possibly go wrong??
The boom times are well and truly over (for now).
In recent months there hasnt been so much negativity in the local media as there was previously, mainly because there havent been the large job losses here that they have seen in the Eastern States. BHP have made a lot of "redundancies" in the last couple of years but that has been partially a restructuring exercise and many of those affected were re-employed either by BHP or sub-contractors.
BHP and Rio Tinto are, I think, happy to keep digging the stuff out of the ground at current prices. I think their profitable sales price is still below what the current price is so they're making money, just not as much as they were.
FMG on the other hand have a big problem. Their operating costs are massive, they have a lot fewer assets than the other two and if the price stays where it is, I dont see any way it will end other than a sale to BHP or Rio.
Gina Reinhart is building a mine at Roy Hill which for us, has been good because that means more railways line need to be built. How she's going to operate at a profit is anyone's guess.
There is speculation that Rio and BHP could be deliberately over-supplying to push the price down to a point at which it will be difficult for Gina and FMG to compete. Long term this would force them out of business, leaving the whole lot to BHP and Rio.
The other theory is that they're scared of the African nations coming on-stream and undercutting their Aussie prices. By keeping the Aussie price low the Chinese will be less inclined to go to Africa (I dont buy that theory myself given the amount of infrastructure the Chinese are building in Africa).
WA seems to be carrying on regardless with the local government spending money they dont have, thousands of houses being built for no one to live in and everyone buying a new car. What could possibly go wrong??
200bhp said:
I work on the periphery of the mining industry, specifically supply of rail maintenance machinery.
The boom times are well and truly over (for now).
In recent months there hasnt been so much negativity in the local media as there was previously, mainly because there havent been the large job losses here that they have seen in the Eastern States. BHP have made a lot of "redundancies" in the last couple of years but that has been partially a restructuring exercise and many of those affected were re-employed either by BHP or sub-contractors.
BHP and Rio Tinto are, I think, happy to keep digging the stuff out of the ground at current prices. I think their profitable sales price is still below what the current price is so they're making money, just not as much as they were.
FMG on the other hand have a big problem. Their operating costs are massive, they have a lot fewer assets than the other two and if the price stays where it is, I dont see any way it will end other than a sale to BHP or Rio.
Gina Reinhart is building a mine at Roy Hill which for us, has been good because that means more railways line need to be built. How she's going to operate at a profit is anyone's guess.
There is speculation that Rio and BHP could be deliberately over-supplying to push the price down to a point at which it will be difficult for Gina and FMG to compete. Long term this would force them out of business, leaving the whole lot to BHP and Rio.
The other theory is that they're scared of the African nations coming on-stream and undercutting their Aussie prices. By keeping the Aussie price low the Chinese will be less inclined to go to Africa (I dont buy that theory myself given the amount of infrastructure the Chinese are building in Africa).
WA seems to be carrying on regardless with the local government spending money they dont have, thousands of houses being built for no one to live in and everyone buying a new car. What could possibly go wrong??
Very interesting, thanks for the insight!The boom times are well and truly over (for now).
In recent months there hasnt been so much negativity in the local media as there was previously, mainly because there havent been the large job losses here that they have seen in the Eastern States. BHP have made a lot of "redundancies" in the last couple of years but that has been partially a restructuring exercise and many of those affected were re-employed either by BHP or sub-contractors.
BHP and Rio Tinto are, I think, happy to keep digging the stuff out of the ground at current prices. I think their profitable sales price is still below what the current price is so they're making money, just not as much as they were.
FMG on the other hand have a big problem. Their operating costs are massive, they have a lot fewer assets than the other two and if the price stays where it is, I dont see any way it will end other than a sale to BHP or Rio.
Gina Reinhart is building a mine at Roy Hill which for us, has been good because that means more railways line need to be built. How she's going to operate at a profit is anyone's guess.
There is speculation that Rio and BHP could be deliberately over-supplying to push the price down to a point at which it will be difficult for Gina and FMG to compete. Long term this would force them out of business, leaving the whole lot to BHP and Rio.
The other theory is that they're scared of the African nations coming on-stream and undercutting their Aussie prices. By keeping the Aussie price low the Chinese will be less inclined to go to Africa (I dont buy that theory myself given the amount of infrastructure the Chinese are building in Africa).
WA seems to be carrying on regardless with the local government spending money they dont have, thousands of houses being built for no one to live in and everyone buying a new car. What could possibly go wrong??
200bhp said:
The other theory is that they're scared of the African nations coming on-stream and undercutting their Aussie prices. By keeping the Aussie price low the Chinese will be less inclined to go to Africa (I dont buy that theory myself given the amount of infrastructure the Chinese are building in Africa).
I suspect this is a huge issue for them.I don't understand why the African mines aren't coming on line asap. The Chinese must be desperate to be able to churn out minerals in countries where the entire annual wage bill for the mine will be less than the cost of a handful of Aussie miners, and they have none of this OH&S nonsense to worry about.
That is when the fun will really begin here. Just as well we've got a manufacturing industry that can use all the locally produced steel and aluminium.
Oh.....hang on......
f
k it, I'm going to grow potatoes.Pommygranite said:
robm3 said:
If you're happy in Newcastle, enjoying your local pub or community, surrounded with friends, can put up with the weather and traffic. Happy to have your child grow up there. And just not itching to get out. Then you'll be heading back to the UK within 2 years.
If you're feeling none of the things I mentioned above, I think you should make the move.
This. This is a great comment.If you're feeling none of the things I mentioned above, I think you should make the move.
I didn't like living in Perth personally and have found Adelaide to be much more suitable for me (but if I had cash it would be Melbourne!)....
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