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Old 12-29-2011, 11:04 AM
 
Location: K.T.
454 posts, read 1,580,913 times
Reputation: 243

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I agree that Cloudwalker's post was very informative. What my family and I are struggling with is the weather in New Zealand, especially the water temperature. We are looking for a more laid back approach to life as described in Cloudwalker's post, we want our children to have that independence without as much of the worry and risk that can happen in other areas. Obviously jobs will always play a big factor because as nice as a place may be, if the opportunity or reimbursement are not sufficient to provide a good quality of life then the whole concept is for not. I am fine with simplifying my life, downgrading from a 4000 sq/ft house with 3 cars to a more modest life with a smaller house and less cars and even a slightly smaller salary, but we still want to be able to vacation, eat out, shop, etc...even if we do it less. Also, my wife and I are fairly tired of the workaholic nature of Houston...this is a great city to make money and to find good employment, but it's just not a place that I truly see raising my children. So we have been debating New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii. We are from San Diego originally and have not ruled out SoCal either just for the ease of the move. I'm just not sure that we will get the quality of life we are looking for in SoCal, even though we could make more money there compared to anywhere else. But again, I'm mentally telling myself that money is not what I am looking for, so if I can find a job that can satisfy our "new lifestyle" elsewhere, then I am fine with making a bit less and maybe spending a bit more on housing....just may have to downgrade the cars a bit to make up for the difference so that our family doesn't have to live a completely foreign life to them. We are trying to find a place while our children are still young enough to assimilate into the new environment and be treated as locals as they go through school and not always be looked at as the "Americans" since that seems to conjure up fairly negative reactions in NZ, OZ, and Hawaii. We are just mellow laid back people and want to enjoy the simpler things of life a bit more than we do now. So we have just now began looking for the potential right place for us.

My wife's career is in Healthcare Finance and Management, does anyone know where the larger medical centers are in New Zealand or Australia? I feel she would find a better job in those regions, or in a University Medical school location if there are any in the region. I would prefer to keep her career on track. I work in telecommunications management so I have a far broader spectrum of work that I can fall under.
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Old 12-29-2011, 06:53 PM
 
4,434 posts, read 6,952,425 times
Reputation: 2261
Australia is very expensive for buying an home. You be better off buying an home back in the USA. If I lived in America I would consider staying there due to the lower housing prices.

Anyway buying an beachfront home in the USA is cheaper than buying an typical home in Australia thesedays.Here is the proof:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...mes-a-bargain/

Anyway there is an thread about US Beach houses cheaper than Australia's worst homes:
U.S Beach houses are cheaper than Australia's Worst homes

Anyway even things may appear greener on the other side for you Americans, in reality its not really true. That's the most off putting thing for foreigners to move out here due to this. Anyway I recently spoke to an English guy that has permanent residency in Australia but has no intention of buying an house in Australia now and rather buy one back in the UK as its even cheaper there than here.

Of course live in Australia is amazing yet thats the worst aspect of living out here due to the housing prices.

Last edited by other99; 12-29-2011 at 07:20 PM..
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Old 12-29-2011, 09:44 PM
 
Location: K.T.
454 posts, read 1,580,913 times
Reputation: 243
Anyway.
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Old 12-29-2011, 09:51 PM
 
Location: Central Bay Area, CA as of Jan 2010...but still a proud Texan from Houston!
7,484 posts, read 10,407,030 times
Reputation: 8955
Quote:
Originally Posted by lane_change View Post
Anyway.
You should check the AU Immigration website to first see if your jobs fall into high skilled worker status...sorry for assuming if you have already done that.

http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration/

Australian Visas : General immigration information
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Old 12-30-2011, 01:29 AM
 
823 posts, read 1,048,320 times
Reputation: 2027
Some more information to throw into the mix for Lane Change. 4000sq ft is a very large house by NZ standards. The average new house size is about 200sqm or roughly 2150 sqft (although they will tend to be slightly larger in the provincial areas as there's more land available at lower prices), but a lot of older houses (villas and Californian bungalows) are more like 150-175sqm. Having said that, NZers are seriously into housing and there are some great houses around with large extensions and new builds with really well thought-out design. And you'll pay for it. As a gross generalisation, NZers seem to have smaller houses with more land while Americans seem to have larger houses with less land.

A key factor in the lifestyle available to you there will be how much money you have to take with you because it's not a place where you can expect to increase your wealth significantly. If you have enough to pay a decent chunk of your housing costs, you'll make enough to have a reasonable lifestyle, especially if you are both working.

Re work/life balance, New Zealanders work hard, but there is a pretty good understanding on the part of employers about the need to spend time with a growing family, with lots of flexibility to go to school plays, sports days, etc assuming your work is adequately covered. The legal minimum paid vacation time is four weeks and that generally increases with seniority. Both in and out of the workplace, I think there is a good recognition of the role of fathers and you see lots of hands-on Dads around.

In terms of climate, it's going to depend on what you prefer. Although Auckland has relatively high humidity, it's not like Houston. It's an island climate, so you don't get those continental heatwaves that you do in the States and Australia. Because it's long and narrow, you also get quite a lot of variation. In general, the further north you are, the warmer and wetter it is, and the further south you go, the cooler and dryer it is (but hot dry summers).

Auckland and parts north are sub-tropical, so relatively warm and moist (rains on average every 36 hours). Beautiful climate for six-seven months of the year, Dec/Jan-June, warm (av 23C/75F in summer) and mostly sunny days. Winter is mild (av temp 58F/14C), but it can get pretty cool at times with a lot of rain. Snowed in downtown Auckland this last August for the first time in 70 years. Can comfortably swim from January through to April, but you won't get the water temperatures that you do in the Gulf or Florida. Much more like SoCal. Quite a few people swim year round and certainly windsurf year round with a wetsuit. Spring is unpredictable - can be gorgeous, but can have very dramatic storms, again with lots of rain. The upside of the rain is the greeness and the growing season, but there's no denying it can get on your nerves, especially around Sept/Oct when you've had enough but it just keeps going. You have to have a strategy to manage it, like quick trips to one of the Pacific Islands or Australia which can be fairly affordable.

In terms of cars, new cars are quite a bit more expensive than here, but up until the tsunami, there were lots of cheap good quality used Japanese imports. As an example, three years ago we bought a seven year old Honda Odyssey at a car auction with 60,000 km (37,000 miles) on it for $NZ8000. It now has about 120,000km on it, to give you an idea of mileage use, remembering that we lived fairly close to work and schools. We are looking at cars here and I was staggered to see a 2005 Honda Odyssey with 93,000 miles (150,000 km) on it listed for $12,900. So we'll be buying something like an Outback new. Take a look at Turners Car Auctions in Auckland (turners.co.nz) to get an idea of what they import and sell. We were a bit wary about buying by auction, but had the car checked out and then bid live online. You could also look at trademe.co.nz for an idea of car prices, also very good source for real estate throughout the country as well as appliances etc. It is New Zealand's E-Bay.

And don't worry too much about the anti-American comments. You will get thoughtless comments from people who conflate (global presence) America with Americans and who wouldn't dream of giving offense in other ways, but most people will be pretty friendly and curious. And your kids won't experience it from their peers at all, their mates will just think they have a cool accent.

In terms of healthcare jobs, New Zealand has a public health system, but also quite a few private healthcare providers. The public funds are managed regionally by District Health Boards, their websites are good places to look at jobs. There are two medical schools, the University of Auckland and the University of Otago in Dunedin, which also has a med campus in Wellington. Lots of interesting research being done, in spite of the pitiful funds allocated to research, with lots of collaboration with US researchers and participation in/running of drug trials.

Also have a compulsory no-fault accident insurance scheme run by the Accident Compensation Corporation with the NZ govt as the shareholder. Could be worth looking at that too in terms of employment. Funded by levys from employers and the self-employed and car registrations.
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Old 01-06-2012, 08:11 AM
 
93 posts, read 347,366 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudwalker View Post
And don't worry too much about the anti-American comments. You will get thoughtless comments from people who conflate (global presence) America with Americans and who wouldn't dream of giving offense in other ways, but most people will be pretty friendly and curious. And your kids won't experience it from their peers at all, their mates will just think they have a cool accent.
That is a comforting thought! Thanks.
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Old 01-11-2012, 01:29 AM
 
4,169 posts, read 4,825,946 times
Reputation: 3868
Quote:
Originally Posted by other99 View Post
Australia is very expensive for buying an home. You be better off buying an home back in the USA. If I lived in America I would consider staying there due to the lower housing prices.

Anyway buying an beachfront home in the USA is cheaper than buying an typical home in Australia thesedays.Here is the proof:
US beachfront homes a bargain - The West Australian

Anyway there is an thread about US Beach houses cheaper than Australia's worst homes:
U.S Beach houses are cheaper than Australia's Worst homes

Anyway even things may appear greener on the other side for you Americans, in reality its not really true. That's the most off putting thing for foreigners to move out here due to this. Anyway I recently spoke to an English guy that has permanent residency in Australia but has no intention of buying an house in Australia now and rather buy one back in the UK as its even cheaper there than here.

Of course live in Australia is amazing yet thats the worst aspect of living out here due to the housing prices.
It gets worse. I was looking in London and flats in Chelsea and Mayfair were comparable to the better parts of Sydney.

I'm thinking it might be time to consider a move over to the US. Australia is really starting to price itself out.
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Old 01-11-2012, 03:01 AM
 
Location: Sydney
201 posts, read 414,854 times
Reputation: 264
That's not going to continue, house prices are currently declining. The bubble is over.
Except in Sydney though, this city has a true shortage of stock.
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Old 01-11-2012, 08:54 AM
 
93 posts, read 347,366 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by BCC_1 View Post
I'm thinking it might be time to consider a move over to the US. Australia is really starting to price itself out.
Surely you jest! Or perhaps intend to simply discourage immigration to Australia. On the off chance that you were indeed serious, you may want to read these articles:

15 Signs The U.S. Housing Market Is Headed For Complete And Total Collapse

2012 Housing Market Predictions and Mortgage Rate Forecasts

Predicting the housing market in any country is not easy, but it's safe to say that the real estate market in the US is NOT good, nor expected to be good for quite some time! Certainly nothing to rate moving to to the US for it. The "latest" projection on our real estate market FULLY recovering here in the states is the year 2023.

We own 2 homes in the US. The 2nd was purchased just 2 years ago on the false assumption that the market had finally started to recover in the area. Much to our chagrin, it had not…and we now already find ourselves under water on it.

For us, the current state of the real estate market Down Under is NOT a big factor in our immediate decision to move there or not. Of course, if we do move and stay…we will eventually look to buy a permanent residence. Until that time, we will look to rent. It's simply the smarter move at this time for us…even if we move elsewhere in the states in 2012.

What little is left of the "middle class" here in the US is renting now instead of buying. It's smarter and more cost effective for them to not have the burden of paying the interest on home loans (with declining and uncertain values) and incur the costs of any repairs and associated fees.

I think it was you (BCC1) you said this earlier in this thread (albeit a tad differently)…."why buy the pig when you can have the sausage for free."
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Old 01-11-2012, 09:24 AM
 
9,327 posts, read 21,948,327 times
Reputation: 4571
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScooterPilot View Post
Surely you jest! Or perhaps intend to simply discourage immigration to Australia. On the off chance that you were indeed serious, you may want to read these articles:

15 Signs The U.S. Housing Market Is Headed For Complete And Total Collapse

2012 Housing Market Predictions and Mortgage Rate Forecasts
One of your links says total collapse with a pic of a burning house. The other says we are close to bottom (down only 6-8% more). So again, nobody knows. I'd personally find a mainstream business news source (e.g., Bloomberg). Business Insider (first link) does not hve that stellar reputation for business news.
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