[5kings]

Hi,

As I always say on here, we are too skint for a recce trip, but today I thought maybe we should add another £10k on the mortgage, tie up a few debts and do a recce trip.

Thing is that will be £10k less we have when we sell, so I am not looking for professional financial advice or anything, just opinions as to whether it would be a good investment before we take the leap?

Neither of us have been to NZ as adults so could be a good chance to get a better feel for the place, on the other hand we could sell the house, and just come out anyway.

Any opinions? I keep changing from 'yes let's go for it asap' to being more cautious and am driving myself and family bananas.

Thanks

Helen

[Rusty]

Not sure how much this will help...
If it was me, recce - yes, more mortgage - no.
I know that doesn't help, I guess it depends on whether you can afford the extra mortgage without any problems and how much you want to take the trip.

[Carey]

You say you haven't been as adults; does that mean you have been as children? Are you generally risk takers/adaptable/not too set in your ways? If the answer's yes, then go for it! Try deciding one way or the other, sticking to it for a few days and see if it feels right?

Not as easy decision I know but one of you'll probably have a gut feeling?

Good luck!

[5kings]

Not sure how much this will help...
If it was me, recce - yes, more mortgage - no.
I know that doesn't help, I guess it depends on whether you can afford the extra mortgage without any problems and how much you want to take the trip.

I agree with you 100%, sadly did not win lottery tonight though, ;) so can't afford a recce trip without remortgage.

I know more on the mortgage is not a good idea though, maybe we'll have to be brave and just go for it and sell up.

Thanks for your opinion though!

Helen

[victoria24]

if you do need the cash don't Remo and tie yourself in with a redemption. you'd be better off getting a regulated secured loan (under 25k) as the settlement penalties would only be max 2 months interest (approx 300)
or take it on a 12 month interest free credit card (virgin or barclaycard platinum are best at the mo)

[5kings]

You say you haven't been as adults; does that mean you have been as children? Are you generally risk takers/adaptable/not too set in your ways? If the answer's yes, then go for it! Try deciding one way or the other, sticking to it for a few days and see if it feels right?

Not as easy decision I know but one of you'll probably have a gut feeling?

Good luck!

Hi,

Gut feeling is don't remortgage, just take the plunge sell the house (if we can) and go for it!

I have been to NZ as a child, my parents nearly emigrated, my Dad had a job offer and employers prepared to sponsor the whole family out there. My folks didn't go due to feeling obliged to their parents. I can't say they have regretted it, but I have to go and try, or I will torture myself with 'what ifs?'

I wouldn't say we are set in our ways, we know we have to move somewhere else soonish (no jobs round here) so we will have to sell the house. I just want to go asap, hubby a bit more reserved, but I think he is worried all the financial pressure is on him. I've nearly finished my degree, and was going to go for teacher training, but now am thinking about going to NZ and trying to get on the Early Years teaching training, or maybe do something else.

Decisions eh?

Helen

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi,
I am not sure that you would be gaining anything by adding to your mortgage to finance a recce. Many people on this forum just came over without ever being in NZ, us for one. With the help and advice on this forum we learnt all the pros and cons and were well aware of what to expect. Having said that everyone is different and this forum can't make up your minds for you and the final decision is yours but you will need as much money as possible to move over,moving costs etc. There are threads on here about costs needed to move over and a search will find them.Two or three weeks on a recce in my opinion is not going to give you all the in depth knowledge you need to know when contemplating a major move such as this.It is just like a holiday where 99% of holidays all seem fantastic and a relief from your normal life.I think you would be better off thoroughly researching this forum learning all the pros and cons without having to remortgage to finance a recce.If you were comftably able to afford it then go for it. At the end of the day as I have already said the decision is yours. We were determined that we were coming here and coming here before would not have changed our minds and we would only have seen the tourist side anyway which is always glossy.
This is my own personal opinion.
Hope this helps

[sizzlingbadger]

We wouldn't have remortaged to do a reccie trip. With three young kids in tow it was a huge and bold move to do having never set foot in NZ before but we felt if we did the reccie then it was going to end up feeling more like a holiday.

IMO you sound unsettled where you are currently, if that is the case then don't make any big decisions just yet, get the house sold, move in to rented, then decide where and what you want to do.

Emigration is very expensive, cost us a whole lot more than we had anticipated and now we're looking at getting citizenship which is around $1500 for all of us but worth every penny as the kids will have dual passports which they would never have got if we stayed in the Uk :nice1

[pinkpiggy]

I agree. I would definitely not remortgage for a recce trip. The money will be of far more value to you in your pockets, should you decide to just 'go for it'. As has been said, I would do more research, either using this forum or other sources, and by asking questions on here if you can't find what you're looking for, in terms of which part of NZ to go for, what a particular place has to offer etc.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Georgebulldog]

Hi
I really wouldn't re mortgage or get a loan as I think it cost us £10k to get here emmigrating so you could get here & be able to stay & still have spent the same amount of money. In the end it's if you think you take that chance, we did & so far so good. I can say at the expo we went to in London when they asked how many people had been before less than half the room put their hands up so it's not unusual :)

[5kings]

We have decided NOT to remortgage.

We have a bit if work to do to the house, before it goes on the market, so will have a good few months to carry on the research process.

I feel we have a good idea of expenses of both the move and living, and really we both want to come over, I guess we are having a scared moment!

What we have decided though, is to try and do a few non-NZ things before we do take the plunge, kids to Disneyland Paris being one thing we want to do and can't from that side of the world!!

I think we have gone back to our original plan form a while ago, which is do up the house, wait till I have my degree certificate back (if I pass!!) and try and do a few things we can't do from NZ. This probably means we stay here for another year, but unless an opportunity throws itself our way I guess that is the sensible thing to do.

Thanks for all the help,

Helen

[skibumwa]

good choice! :nice1


John

[victoria24]

its a tricky one.. forget the remo bit for a mo and lets work on 10k for a family recce of a month.
if you do the recce and dont like NZ, then youve saved a whole lot more as opposed to emigrating and then returning.
if you do the recce and like NZ then youve spent the cost of a new car for when you arrive for no reason!
i know 50% of us emigrate without having ever visited NZ so what to do?????

[dusk]

I'd stick with your very sensible sounding plan too if I were in your position :D

[Janey]

Helen
I went through the same delima Oh wanted to view the place we will live my thouughts as yours are cost (also being an accountant) we have done a recce but a week only and limited the cost/travel to where we want to settle as we see the tourist side when we arrive. Our house is taking a long time to sell so we put the cost on 0% credit card and are paying it back while the house is on the market this way one we have not dented the mortgage but 2 have seen and liked what we want we also tied it up with school visits and job contacts which are always useful
best of luck what ever you decide incidently there is a disney in Japan or hong kong or LA so you could make the trip on route when you come

[Georgebulldog]

What we have decided though, is to try and do a few non-NZ things before we do take the plunge, kids to Disneyland Paris being one thing we want to do and can't from that side of the world!!

Helen

But you can do DisneyLand LA on the way over as your coming this way anyway :yes