How will this move affect your family, those that are going with you.  Will this experience be beneficial to your career?These are all questions to ponder, but perhaps the greatest deciding factor is a financial one.  What is all of this going to cost?

When my family and I decided to undertake a move to Australia we found that, while we thought we had researched the costs pretty effectively, we were woefully unprepared.

Let’s assume you have decided to move to the great “Down Under” or are at least seriously contemplating the matter. What should you do first?

We’ll hope that you have negotiated a reasonable sum for moving expenses.  This can be a very expensive process and, as we move along, I will get into the particulars. For the moment, suffice it to say that when my wife, Laurie, and I packed up our two young sons, in early 2004, the total bill came to something like $25,000 USD.  My original contract had called for $20,000 Australian dollars (A$) to be allocated for moving expenses (roughly $15,000 USD).  This was changed to cover “all reasonable expenses”.  However, if you and your employer have not discussed what would be included in that broad phrase, a set sum might be wiser.  I ran into a situation where some of the monies I was looking to have reimbursed became a source of debate. 

Just a few of the major items to consider are a reconnaissance visit, the cost of moving your household goods to the other side of the globe, accommodations and a rental vehicle while you get settled, plane tickets, and the basic necessities you will require while you wait for your goods to arrive (which will invariably take at least a month longer than you will be told by the moving company).

Our first move was a checking it out visit-this was particularly important to keep my wife interested in the idea.  When I first approached Laurie about the subject her initial reaction was something along the lines of “I don’t think so” but with a lot more expletives.  She pictured us living in a grass hut, in the middle of nowhere, fending off hostile natives and hungry dingoes.  Where would she be able to get craft supplies?  What would we be eating?
Needless to say, my wife doesn’t get out a lot.  Apparently, she was basing her opinion of Australia on a few Discovery Channel documentaries.

We were put in touch with a lovely lady by the name of Tracey Miller, to help us relocate.  Tracey was invaluable as an agent and I would recommend her services without a moment’s hesitation.  Miller Property Consulting is located in Lake Munmorah, New South Wales.  This is about an hour and a half north of Sydney in an area known as the Central Coast.  I am reasonably sure that Tracey would be willing to assist anyone in the greater Sydney area, but as it happened, we were relocating to the Central Coast, so things were just hunky dory with that.   I would definitely say that a relocation agent is a must.  Tracey’s fee was fairly modest (especially for all that she did), A$1425. 

We scheduled a visit to Australia for April and forwarded our itinerary to Tracey.  It would be just the wife and I on this visit. ane tickets were roughly $1300 each, roundtrip from Detroit.  When you place the order for your tickets the airline should ensure that you have the proper Visa to enter Australia.  This is free of charge for a Visitors Visa, and you won’t get into the country without it.  It takes the ticket agent about two minutes to process it and there is nothing for you to put in your passport or show to immigration officials.  It will be in “the system” and available for the Australian agent to pull it up on computer.

 We opted for a very nice hotel, Hilton on the Park, in Sydney and arranged for a rental car to be available at the airport. Excluding meals, souvenirs, and standard tourists costs (museums, shows, etc) the trip, all up, was about $4500 USD.  So far that brings us to a grand total of about $5600 USD (including Tracey’s fee).

In our case, we were already 90% sure that we were relocating, so we weren’t too worried about seeing the sights.  We knew we would have some time to do that once we moved and then we could share it with the boys. We planned to spend a few days seeing Sydney and a few days exploring the Central Coast and checking out houses.  We also wanted to wander through some of the department and grocery stores, to do some price comparisons. We needed to get a feel for the money we would be spending on basic items, like groceries, and also what kind of money we would need to set up house.

Australia runs on 240 volts and 50 hertz, as opposed to the U.S., which runs 110 volts and 60 hertz.  Essentially, this means all appliances, lamps, audio/video equipment and pretty much anything else you can plug in, will be absolutely useless to you if you bring it from America, or you will have to invest in expensive converters.  Some of the small stuff will work with a basic adapter but you never know.  In fact, some items can be down right dangerous.  Unless a particular item states that it runs at 50 or 60 hertz (as some do), you’re best off just leaving it at home.  Laurie had an interesting moment in the hotel when she tried to use her hair straightener.  It started out okay, but as it warmed up we began to notice an unusual smell followed by some very alarming crackling noises.  She opted to unplug it and throw her hair in a ponytail for the remainder of the trip, rather than risk burning down a five star establishment. 

Due to the fact that our electrical goods were useless in Australia, we would be required to purchase phones, a microwave, a washer, dryer and a refrigerator. A great number of people don’t use dryers, due to the temperate climate, and hang their clothes to dry, instead.  Laurie was having none of that.  The appliances would set us back about $1300 USD.  That brought our tally to $6900.

We were fortunate enough to actually secure a home during our reconnaissance visit.  It only took about 14 viewings and two days of negotiations. The house we had organized to rent was going to cost us A$350.00 per week (almost all rents are paid weekly, rather than monthly).  This is toward the higher end of the scale.  For one, Sydney is the most expensive area to live in the country, with Melbourne a close second.  enerally speaking, I would say you could expect to get a pretty nice place for between $200 and $300 per week, depending on the room you need.  Our house had four bedrooms (one to use as a spare for guests) and an in-ground saltwater pool. All up, there were three bathrooms.  If you were to sell the house, it would go for about A$450,000.  This is pretty dear for a middle class suburb, but probably not as much as you would expect to pay for something in a similar neighborhood in California.  Of course, coming from Michigan, you might expect the home to go for $250,000USD. 
Our initial trip was pretty successful - we had accomplished everything we wanted to and more.  Now we had to head back to the U.S. and prepare for the move.

Procuring a moving company can be a bit of a pain.  I found a list of International movers on the web, and picked half a dozen to get quotes from.  Besides telling them where you are moving from and to, they will also request a list of the items you are moving.  This will help determine the size and/or number of containers you need.  Basically, you can get a 20 foot or 40 foot container.  The price difference isn’t very much, so if you are close on the 20-footer, I would suggest the 40.   The more complete the list you give them, the more accurate the quote. It’s best to have a representative come out and do an assessment of the goods you are taking and it’s wise to make sure that general packing material is included in your quote.  You will also get charged based on how many flights of stairs the movers have to traverse, how many special boxes they use (for packing mirrors and the like) and how far they have to park the truck from your front door.  You can save a fair amount by doing most the packing yourself, but even if they tell you that the packing materials are included, you can expect a few miscellaneous charges. - Article Continued Below -