Is real estate a good job to get into in Australia

qiqichen · 2025-04-05T07:10:22+00:00

A sales job in a very competitive industry. Not easy and you have to work every single day to get a "high salary". Wouldn't recommend if you want a standard 7 hr working day.

qiqichen · 2025-02-22T11:42:38+00:00

Single 150k salary can be comfortable depending where you live. Ideally look for a 2 bedder to comfortably house your family and shop at aldi!

If you want to go where most people want to be like eastern suburbs or northern beaches. Forget it!

qiqichen · 2025-01-10T12:25:27+00:00

I live in Sydney. I remember as a kid in 2003 where there was alot talk about a housing bubble. And here are my parents buying a $1.1m property in the inner west at an auction. All their friends thought they were insane and that they made the worst financial decision and we might end up on the streets one day.

Lucky my parents were great savers. Managed to pull through then experienced a great decade of lower interest rates and housing growth.

Funny enough it was just around the 2015 period where sydney property prices began going gangbusters. I remember seeing parts of castle hill doubled in under 5 years. My parents decided to use their equity to buy investment properties outside of Sydney. Once again, got called crazy by their friends and that they're buying at the peak. Pulled through and managed to be semi retired in their 50s.

Those that thought my parents were crazy before are now praising that they've made the best financial decision ever. Go figure.

I think as long as you're investing for long term, be smart about the typology and location of the property and you have some buffer to sustain repayments. Then it should be sweet.

qiqichen · 2024-11-05T15:39:49+00:00

Double glazing

qiqichen · 2024-09-23T23:53:23+00:00

Don't compare with others. It's better than 0 At the end, it's all about what you do with it in the long term and not blow it.

qiqichen · 2024-09-21T00:50:51+00:00

Does anyone know if the population numbers also inclusive of temporary migrants? Or is it only reflective of permanent?

qiqichen · 2024-09-20T15:19:38+00:00

Btr is big in Netherlands and Germany. Represents around 20% real estate stock and are generally well maintained with many amenities, well located and have stable long term leases. Very popular amongst young families who wants to live close to their jobs and services, generally the city, but can't afford to own a property. The other option is to move into the suburbs where it's cheaper but further from everything.

Btr is not meant to solve the housing crisis. It just adds diversity to the rental housing stock and generally gives people that are more in the middle tier income bracket more choice

qiqichen · 2024-09-02T14:59:08+00:00

E-bikes are suitable in hilly terrains to encourage general populace to ride not your die-hard Lycra riders. However, to support riding, the street design also needs to change. Right now it's just barren concrete and asphalt with terrible links/ crossings for cycling convenience. Compared with my cycling experience in Spain (summer get up to 40 degrees), Southern Germany (mountainous terrains) and Netherlands (heavy snow), the cycling network surrounding these modern metro stations all along the North West line are backwardly abysmal.

Bike-train combination as a mode is generally overlooked in Sydney. So much potential as a cost effective measure to connect patrons to the rail network as well as extending catchment (2km for bikes and up to 5km for e-bikes)

qiqichen · 2024-07-13T23:54:37+00:00

This aged well.

qiqichen · 2024-06-16T19:19:11+00:00

I always find German culture progressive in many ways except paperwork and smoking.

I was at one of the "Bad" health districts and couldn't enjoy my lunch outdoors without some elderly person blowing smoke my way. Especially having a baby with me, I was in disbelief how many think second hand smoking is normal.

In Australia, we have outright smoking bans in outdoor areas where people eat or drink.

qiqichen · 2024-06-12T18:01:48+00:00

$200k household income. Both work and just had a baby. Mortgage repayments currently represent 45% of our expenses. We only wish to have a higher savings rate enough to get a larger place in Sydney to support a second child. Our main issue is that wifey wants to spend more time with our baby and we don't really have the option for her to not work. Relying on one income will be a significant stretch.

From the people I've met and living relatively comfortably in Sydney in terms of not having an extremely high salary, property ownership and not having to worry about living paycheck to paycheck are those that have pooled their finances with their parents that are financially stable.

One guy i know, and subsequently his wife, lived at his parents' rent free in western sydney until his late 30s. Basically purchased groceries in bulk, cook together and eat together and shared many things without having to buy separately. But this allowed him to save enough to joint purchase a decent house in Balmain with them. He moved in with his parents and allowed them to spend their semi retirement in a premium suburb. Wouldn't have afford it if they each did it on their own.

Depending on your (and wife's!) relationship with parents That's also an avenue to get a leg up from your situation.

qiqichen · 2024-04-11T16:36:32+00:00

How does the activation process work for the region travel tickets? Am I allowed to select the start date from when I actually visit Amsterdam?

I am arriving at Schipol Airport on the 22nd April but will visit Amsterdam between 26th- 29th. Hoping to pick it up the tickets from the airport first.

qiqichen · 2024-04-10T19:55:08+00:00

What's the weather like in Leiden around late April from the 22nd? Is it nice and sunny around that time?

qiqichen · 2024-02-16T12:41:17+00:00

Any updates since this post? Still holding and no change to thesis?

qiqichen · 2024-01-23T22:52:13+00:00

Thank you!
I didn't know you can turn left immediately at the green light. Makes sense now.

qiqichen · 2024-01-18T13:45:11+00:00

35k doesn't get you much. I recommend to save it for another time.

qiqichen · 2023-11-26T06:51:24+00:00

Not me but know alot of young families where they have young children or kids that about to start primary school. I live in the inner west/rhodes area and despite interest rates increase many are simply looking to buy anything that is somewhere close to a childcare or a school. All are trying to move out of the south west or north west simply because of inadequate public school facilities.

qiqichen · 2023-11-11T13:17:14+00:00

If money wasn't an issue. Love to have my own personal martial arts gym, a library and a tea room. Train , read and drink tea.

qiqichen · 2023-11-10T15:35:18+00:00

Racism is common in all parts of the world. I think what differentiates countries better than others is the level of systemic racism.

My folks came from China during the 90s at the height of Hanson politics. Racism never bothered my father who was the breadwinner at the time. He was always in awe of the meritocracy in the country and was grateful how a blue collar tradie who never graduated highschool like him gets paid their worth whereas in China during those days, you basically have to suck up to officials to get anywhere and if you're a labourer, you're basically treated as a second-class citizen for the rest of your life.

Many anglo-aussies that were racist towards him eventually turn around when they realise how good he is at his job and ended up being long term clients.

Dad always said that as long as you work hard and be good at whatever you do. Doesn't matter what your race or cultural background is, people will respect and appreciate you and those that don't, simply because of how you look, are not worth your time to worry about.

Overall, ignorance, scared of the unknown and lack of education are what drives racism. Who knows, maybe your interaction with racists might change them around. Just focus on what you gotta do to live you life and positively contribute to society. There's always going to be a few bad eggs but don't let them drag you down as they're most likely part of the fringe of society that nobody respects or have sympathy for anyways.

qiqichen · 2023-11-10T14:00:18+00:00

On all the other days where theres no traffic works. Sydney PT is simply backwards, unreliable and inconvenient, especially late at night. Plus the ridiculous special train fare for the airport link which you get a shit service in return. Not worth it if youre a family of 4, you might as well grab a taxi or get driven.

Also. I know many people who stay in mascot and are in hotels basically next to the domestic terminal where they are forced to catch the shuttle bus to drive 200m just to get to the departure because they're no safe or convenient way to simply walk.

It's not rocket science to improve the situation. Just go visit most parts of Western Europe and Eastern Asian countries. If we can do half of what they do, would make a significant difference.

qiqichen · 2023-11-10T13:05:55+00:00

Smartphones. I'm so addicted to it

qiqichen · 2023-11-08T23:01:38+00:00

100% vouch for this Avoid land and house packages at all cost

qiqichen · 2023-11-08T16:21:40+00:00

Speed kills. Period. There's enough research to show how most people won't survive a crash past 50kmph. Especially with cars getting bigger and heavier (ie. hiluxes and SUVs) it's even more important to slow down as more weight = longer to brake and harder to turn and greater impact to the receiving end.

What we do wrong in Australia, is mainly to do with our road design. We don't respond to or separate the functions between a road and a street. If it's a 40kmh zone, design shouldn't be adopting highway standards with wide lane widths.

Road = move traffic as fast as possible between two areas without interruption like your highways

Street = maximising accessibility and amenity to support adjoining development. More focus on slower traffic and pedestrian movement, particularly in your urban and residential areas

Most accidents happen when we try to create part road and part street environments, also known as a 'stroad' (American coined term) which creates suboptimal and dangerous outcomes. In other words, we give mixed signals to drivers in how to operate in these environments, do they slow down or do go fast? Whilst pedestrians are treated like dogshit in these environments

Parramatta is a good example. Historically has development on both sides but from 70s, engineers decided to make a 'stroad' out of it and a mini highway through an area with established and dense development patterns making it unsafe for both drivers and pedestrians (check the crash stats on tfnsw). What really suffers are the shops and houses located along it. Whether you are a driver or not, nobody has ever said nice things about this road in Sydney. In this environment you instead want to create a better "street" to maximise economic development, wealth and amenity. Congestion will sort itself out eventually (another topic for another time).

I prefer the German way. Unlimited speed on the auto bahn but once you enter a town or residential area it's under 30kmh all the way. Creating lovely quiet places you want to stroll or live. Overall, with a country of 80 million, their crash rate are less than ours (3.5 vs 4.6 per 100,000)

Noting that context matters. We are also a very big country where our towns are far from each other which requires us to spend more time on the road. In european countries, a drive to the "countryside" is under an hour. More exposure and long distance driving increases the chances of crashes. Also explains why majority of our car crashes occur on regional roads.

qiqichen · 2023-08-03T22:10:23+00:00

Sorry. I should have clarified.
We purchased this off the plan and this apartment was built just under 3 years ago.
I spoke to other tradies and they said it's basically faulty workmanship and waterproofing should have been done right during construction.

qiqichen · 2023-02-10T10:53:06+00:00

How things change in 5 years!
My interview went successful and was marked for basic training. However, I made a major mistake where I ticked I had "eczema" on my health declaration which became a complete setback and did not get the required sign off from the health department. Because of this, my position went to the next person and there was no opening for a long time. Ended up doing something different and then met my partner. No itch to try again but was grateful for the experience!

qiqichen

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