Moving from Toronto CA to Melbourne - General Finance Questions

slee123 on 17/09/2019 - 08:32

Hello, I’m from Sydney living in Canada and my Canadian husband and I are looking to move to Melbourne. Sorry if my questions are a bit dumb… I’ve been away from Australia for a long time now and it’s just very overwhelming what we have to do and find out… I will be posting various questions on relevant OzB forums so I apologise for all my posts.

Banking:
I can see ING direct is the popular vote for banking but just wanted to see if anyone has any other recommendations for banks with branches? I have ING direct and Citibank bank accounts and never had the need for an actual branch. Or are there banks with deals for newcomers to Australia (ie with credit cards etc)? Fee free, free general banking (atm withdrawals, transfers)…

Rental:
We will need to rent first to get a feel for where to live… I’ve never rented in Sydney and not really in Toronto (lived at home or with in laws or in our owned condo). How easy can we get a rental? My husband will have a job when we get there but I’m going over unemployed but will search when I’m there (will have worked up until about 4-6 weeks before we arrive)… any tips appreciated.

Mortgage:
We will look into getting a mortgage too eventually. We have a condo in Toronto (in his name as I had no credit history) which we will rent out… I have never owned property in Australia… will we qualify for first home buyers? I’ve heard conflicting info… we will be able to have a decent deposit… any recommendations for mortgage lenders would be appreciated.

Transferring currency:
We have $50k USD in a Canadian bank account that we would like to transfer to AUD. It seems OFX is a “good” one with free transfers… according to the Canadians in AU group… any other recommendations? Transferwise has been the preferred company for Aussies in a Canada.

Financial

Comments

  • tomsco on 17/09/2019 - 08:54
    +1

    if anyone has any other recommendations for banks with branches?

    Look, generally with ING and (I think) Citibank, you can do all you really need at Aus Post. Big 4 ATMs no longer charge fees for other banks, so you can generally get cash out whereever. In saying that, NAB do a fee free debit card account, so no real harm in having that.

  • RM on 17/09/2019 - 09:00

    Will try and share our experience from when we moved 6 years ago..

    Banking - Comm Bank (and I hear some other banks from the top 4 too) waived our monthly account keeping fee for 12 months, this is for everyday transactional account, fee normally is $5 a month. I was advised not to apply for Credit cards until have a job and some payment history of essential services etc.

    Rental - Similar to your scenario, I was the only one earning and wife joined me later. Without rental history, found it tough but eventually got one application approved - had to attach my contract/joining letter (blocked sections about remuneration).

    Mortgage - if you have never owned a property here and are permanent residents/citizens, you should qualify for first home buyers. We found dealing with Mortgage brokers eased a lot of pain (both in Sydney and Melbourne). PM me and will be more than happy to send you their details (mortgage broker and conveyancer). Conveyancer would be able to confirm the first home owner grant/waiver also.

    Transferring currency - We carried traveller's cheques - then encashed and deposited in the accounts. Sorry do not have any experience with dealing with transfer companies.

    • sparkles on 17/09/2019 - 10:51

      Her husband is Canadian. Wouldn't he be limited to foreign buyers regulations ie. can only buy a brand new or off-the-plan property? As an Australian citizen you may be eligible for first home owners benefits according to state but you would assume it would have to be 100% under your name alone. I doubt you'd get a mortgage as someone not working married to what the banks would see as a foreigner.

      • RM on 17/09/2019 - 10:54

        If he is a permanent resident he would be eligible.

        • sparkles on 17/09/2019 - 10:58

          Yeah, the situation needs clarification. On what basis is he coming, what visa will he hold, is he simply sponsored by an employer etc.

          • slee123 on 29/09/2019 - 06:27

            @sparkles: I completely forgot I posted these, so I just jumped on now to read the replies!
            Yes, husband is Canadian but we are unsure what sponsorship his work is providing, but safe to assume it is temporary resident visa only.

            So I am guessing that mortgage will need to wait until 1) I get a job and/or 2) he becomes PR…

      • djkelly69 on 17/09/2019 - 11:36
        +2

        Wouldn't he be limited to foreign buyers regulations ie. can only buy a brand new or off-the-plan property?

        No. As long as OP is an Australian citizen and they will be buying as joint tenants, there are no restrictions.

        Source is here.

        • slee123 on 29/09/2019 - 06:28

          This is fantastic, thank you!

  • Ocker on 17/09/2019 - 09:25
    +3

    For shifting your CAD50,000 forget OZFX - their rates are not competitive. Try
    https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

    I just checked and with OZFX you would receive AUD54,445, and with XE you would get AUD54,701

    Quite a difference.

    • HighAndDry on 17/09/2019 - 09:36

      For shifting your CAD50,000

      Just in case it makes a difference:

      We have $50k USD

      • [Deactivated] on 17/09/2019 - 09:38

        It's the Trudeau effect.

      • Ocker on 17/09/2019 - 10:08

        Apols. But the CAD quote will provide an example of the difference in rates between the two companies.

    • spiff on 17/09/2019 - 10:54

      Is there a limit of currency you can transfer?

      • netjock on 17/09/2019 - 11:46

        No. Long as you've satisfied anti money laundering checks. Anything over $20k is automatically flagged to AUSTRAC anyways just you don't know it.

  • aussie bargain on 17/09/2019 - 13:27
    +1

    This is from my personal experience:

    • Banking - Depending on who you bank with in Canada, you can get good assistance with relocation. I bank with HSBC overseas and they were good in helping me with the move, so I have a bank account etc by the time I was in Melbourne. Generally, if you have HSBC Premier, I think you can get credit cards, savings account, etc arranged beforehand so you won't need to worry about banking. However, I know that in ozb, some people don't have a good experience with HSBC. I still bank with them now and have a relatively good experience with them. I would highly recommend them when you are moving countries as I didn't have to worry about bank accounts and they have physical branches in major cities.

    • Rental - I don't know about the rental market now, but there were some stories a number of years ago when renters had to compete for a rental property (I was told that you have to be ready to submit the application during inspection to get a chance). However, I don't know how the market is now. When we moved to Melbourne (about 2011), the rental RE agent didn't seem to care about rental history (as we told him we lived overseas) and probably just looked at my salary (he just said - with what you are earning, there's no problem at all). I think that if you are eyeing a rental place that many people want, then there would be many competitions. If not, then you should be good. We got a place in 2BR/2Bath apartment in Travancore back then. It was initially advertised for $460 a week - previous tenant paid $450, but the place was vacant for about a month or so. So we offered $430, which was accepted.

    • Mortgage - just shop around, you will find good deals. I would recommend a broker that offers cashback for the life of the loan (not sure who still do them though - try matesrates) or Athena home loans (which seems to have a very good rate, but no cashback)

    • Transferring currency - as you have USD, then you first need to decide if you want the whole sum converted (AUD has weakened a bit over the last few months - but it is really up to you). It is true that generally the bigger the sum, the better the rate. I don't know about the Canadian market, but in general (compared to Asia), rates offered by Australian banks are atrocious so OFX, transferwise, worldfirst would be options for you to look at (just shop around and use their online quotes).
      What I have done in the past is actually use HSBC Global Transfer (free for premier customers) to move money between accounts in Australia and elsewhere. Sometimes, the FX difference between HSBC online get rate (real time FX rate) is not that much compared to OFX, etc., so I just convert the FX in my HSBC account and then have it ready in my account almost immediately (vs waiting at least a day with others).

    Best of luck

  • Third_Gear on 17/09/2019 - 14:11
    +1

    My experience. Prepare yourself for constantly being asked where in America you are from….

    • [Deactivated] on 17/09/2019 - 15:03

      The ellipsis stands for 'eh'.

    • slee123 on 29/09/2019 - 06:35

      I think it is fair that he gets asked where in America he is from, I have dealt with where in England I am from for my 7.5 years in Canada.

  • melay0326 on 23/09/2019 - 08:14

    if you got Citibank in Canada you can transfer your money instantly into a Citibank Australia account

    • slee123 on 29/09/2019 - 06:39

      There are no Citibank branches here in Canada! Well, not really for consumers I don't think… It was the biggest disappointment when I first moved here…

  • MarsTitan on 24/09/2019 - 00:04

    Good time to come here, your Canadian money will give you an immediate 10% boost. Day to day living expenses will be more (say 10~20%) in Australia though.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/09/2019 - 08:29

    People mentioned the four big banks. That possibly means nothing to foreigners.
    So, 4 big banks are Commonwealth, Nab, Anz and Westpac.

    Transferring currency

    Maybe try Transferwise. I see OP mentioned it.

    Banking

    Ubank is a favorite for many, but is online only.

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