Moving to australia and looking to invest,

Hi, my name is Patrick. I am from Ireland and am soon to become an Australian resident. I am comming over on a skilled migration visa as an electrician and intend to work in the mining industry. I am also very keen to get involved in property investment. I would just like to introduce myself and ask you guys your opinions on a few issues. As I am a complete novice and have only just begun to study and research the market any advice will be greatly appreciated. Is off plan purchase my best option for a first purchase,  as I would imagine it would allow me time to save and to have the required six months of bank statments for a morgage. I have some savings and which should cover an initial deposit, or would I be better to wait until I had at least a 20% deposit saved? Basically what advice would any of you have for someone in my position. 
  Thanking you in advance, Patrick. 

Hi Patrick,
What state are you moving to?

Hi pcheah,
I am moving to Western Aus, to Perth but I am not sure where I am looking to invest. As my first property will be a buy to let I would be hoping to invest in an emerging or established growth area. Ideally this would be in WA for practicallity reasons but am open minded. Obviously I understand that it is more complex an undertaking than simply selecting am area, which is why any impartial imput is greatly appreciated.

positives of off the plan are stamp duty savings and establishing a foothold in the market before having to committ serious $.

other side of the coin:

ensuring the builder/developer will deliver a quality product;

if your timing/positioning is bad and the market turns you can be left with an overvalued property come purchase time (this has happened to people conned into high cost deals by property spruikers,  mostly flogging inner city aprtment deals)

my gut feeling is that , unless you know the market well (been living in Oz prior?) , you may be better getting set up , doing your research,  saving and then making your move.....but then I am conservative  :-)

Good luck with your move to WA,  its a nice part of the world

I think that what you will find when you move to WA is that lots of the guys working out at the mines already have investment properties and they will be happy to share their experiences with you. Also there are always free seminars coming up. These are usually held over one evening and are often just a taster for a more expensive course. However, they can give you lots of ideas and you meet many like minded people.

Craig Turnball at Aspire (iaspire.com.au) runs all sorts of courses and is a mine of local knowledge. His one evening market updates have been a real money maker for me.

If you are single and working at the mines, then saving for a deposit should not take long if you are committed enough

Basically I would hold off spending anything until you arrive in our wonderful state. You will find us all friendly and approachable.

Good Luck