First home buyers have it really tough nowadays. In Sydney esp, u would need to sacrifice either location, commute time or size to secure a property within your budget.

As an example, a small 2br apartment is easily 800K in a 'better' area with 'good' schools and a decent professional demographic ie. Lower North Shore.
Ditto, in Melb. if u look at the eastern suburbs, prices are easily 800K.


U may want to seek an alternative arrangement eg equities to fund yr kid's education. With properties there are also no certainties, n realistically speaking returns are only 2-2.5% of yr investment. U hope for capital appreciation but that's a bit of the roll of the dice.

As for the kids fees, if u r PR, assuming the gov doesnt change the rules its 10K per year (plus CPI increases of course). So relatively affordable.

If u r willing 2 take up citizenship, all the better, all fees can be deferred til yr kid earns 60K or above.

That's right. The fees change every year as well depending on what gov deems as priority 1.
To get HECS you need citizenship. To get citizenship u need to live here few years.
Once u get HECS u can tell the kids they r responsible for their fees. So if they fail and hv to redo subjects it will come out of their own pocket.

In Msia its simple. U pay low taxes. But u get zero in return.

I m talking in general la. What benefits do we in M'sia get?

I studied in Oz some time ago. Education then was FREE. No strings attached.

I landed in Oz years ago. When I bought a house less than a year after I moved, the Vic and Fed government gave me $15K as a grant. No strings attached.

Now the kids in uni, they get an interest free loan. Us parents no need worry abt coughing up the fees.

I was born and raised in M'sia. And all my nenek moyang. For all our contributions, what has the gov given back.

No. It was FREE. As in, no need to pay fees AT ALL.
Labor phased it out in the mid 80s cos it got too exxy.

Seek
Indeed
Facebook Melbourne groups
Gumtree

Just sharing.

Recently I have met many ppl who have relocated for work.
This is despite the fact that their partners live in diff states.
I think it just goes to show the state of the jobs market right now.
The right opportunity comes along, n ppl will relocate accordingly.

I can't tell whether this is sarcasm or not.
Realestate, esp off the plan, is not easy at all.

U must get a license before going into this career.
At the moment there are plenty of new developments, not sure how this can be sustained.
Knowing Mandarin is a huge advantage now as the PRC ppl are still investing.
It takes a certain mindset to succeed. A majority are commission based only, n the pressure is to keep selling.

If possible take an Oz TAFE course such as for Aged Care or Community Services.
Or a day course for Responsible Service of Alcohol/Gaming.
This will open some doors 4 u for temp/part time employment.

Networking is key. Speaking frm experience, a lot of business associations have members who have job openings or know of ppl who have job openings.
These jobs are not advertised in the normal channels as well ('hidden' job market)

I would encourage newcomers to join as many associations as he/she can and to attend functions and make themselves known. One needs to practice selling him/herself at these functions and make an impression.

Blasting CVs out is pointless. If a recruiter receives hundreds of applications for a role, what will make yr CV go up to the top of the list?

Its very simple. What can u contribute to Aust? Skills or $?
If u really want to migrate, take a course first. A TAFE course with skills recognised in Aust.
Then and then only think about migration.

There are two types of share house, some where ur name is added to the lease. This is 100% legal n u will be afforded protection if anything goes wrong. But it is harder to get as u need to get approved, and more expensive.
The other type is cash only.Generally much cheaper but illegal. Typically a person renovates a house, then rents out all the rooms. With this type of rental, there is no protection.
In either cases, get a room that can be locked. Place yr valuables in a safe spot. Take out renters insurance.

Renting studios is typically 100-200 a week more than renting a room. The more the privacy the more the expense.

U have also chosen three of the most expensive areas to live in Melb. I would not recommend Docklands as u will find it painful to get to St Kilda Rd by public transport (Walk, then swap trams a few times).
Its also a ghost town (not many ppl live there).
With Sth Yarra, public transport to St Kilda Rd can be quite limited as u only take the no. 8 tram to St Kilda Rd (takes long time as Toorak Rd is v congested) and swap trams again.
There are certain pockets in Sth Melb such as in the Dorcas St area which may be more suitable and slightly more budget friendly.
However if u do want to save more on rent look at St Kilda East or Windsor.

What do u mean there is no legal or illegal?

Legal means u have officially the rights to live in the place. You are completely protected by law. Landlord will need to go through proper processes for repairs, rent increases or evictions.

If u subrent the room and get caught, u may be subject for further action and u may end up getting evicted in the worse case scenario.

This is Oz, where anything also can attitude doesnt apply.

Yes, I think these investors figure its much safer to park their money in these apartments rather than to leave it to the whims and mercy of their government....

Pity the shopowners, half empty, half constantly changing shops.

I really hate going to this area cos of the feeling of failure.

I think Richmond and Southbank is not much better off...

IT industry is not good.

The best way to get jobs is via networking.

If u r relying on Seek and just online applications, it is extremely unlikely u can get a job.

I mean each recruiter receives hundreds of applications per position from all over the place.

What would make the recruiter shortlist or even, look, at your resume?

There is no such thing as a 'good' recruitment company.

It depends very much on which industry u r in, the positions they have, and the relationships they have with their client.

If u go to seek.com.au, u can pretty much gauge who the big recruiters in yr industry by the number of positions they list.

Er...not quite. 80K is only good for an engineer with couple years experience. (And if u convert to RM - but then RM is performing so poorly now...)
Starting pay is 60K.
Anyway dont forget that on a working visa, taxes are higher cos there is no tax relief...
Not pouring cold water...just laying down my thoughts.

option 6 - obtain a student visa while studying for SOL-related courses, work 20 hours a week

Actually a TAFE course can be finished in a year or so...so better chance the SOL may not be updated so quickly....
Also need to fork out the AUD for fees.

This post has been edited by shazam7: Sep 26 2016, 11:10 AM