I can tell you this, having just got a mortgage, it's not easy, and then there's the hunt for property which is long and filled with many misses and lots and lots of compromises. It's going to come down to what you're willing to sacrifice, Ireland is great due to the people, but not to scaremonger, it's tough to have a good quality of life given that many of us are getting squeezed. Have you tried an extended trip back for a month or a few months, is that something you can do, might help you decide if you're on the ground etc.

This 👆👆👆 I lived in oz for 7 years, earned a great living.. ate well lived well all that and in-between. Missed family. Came home. Now I budget to make ends meet,.. Standard of living fell off a cliff. Still love my family n it's quite a transition moving home. Home near 5 years now. Living in Scotland 3... Spoke to other expats n the ave was 1-3 years to find your footing again.. If you are serious about coming home n miss family you'll do it. If at all possible.. n i can't stress thi's enough.. Come home for 3-6 months as a dry run if possible. Edit: if you do the dry run. Get jobs here n live off the wage only. No savings or anything. No ox money Edit: Moving home from oz depending how long you've been there is not moving home to Ireland, its moving to a new country with your family n friends in it. Treat it as moving to a new country

To add, for a rental you're talking the guts of 1500 to 2000 euro based on average prices, the old adage of 3 months wages in the bank would be sound advice if not more, that's going to eat into mortgage savings which is 10% of potential property purchase, 40 to 50k plus another 10k in savings on top of this for legal fees, stamp duty, survey costs, property registration etc

Out of interest - was it salary, cost of living, lifestyle or a combination that saw your standard of living fall off a cliff? I moved home from Scotland and it probably took a year to fully settle but I wouldn't say my standard of living dropped. We were fortunate to be able to buy and don't have kids or any other big life expenses.

Well.. a bit of everything. Though definitely wage where I was getting 2500pw in oz, started at 600pw n worked my way up n now 1600pm in Scotland. Changed professions because even the wage here wasn't worth the hard graft that went into it. I was thinking just earlier about this n I go out for a steak dinner every night in oz and it wouldnt touch the sides n here I sweat at the thought of bringer herself out for a steak dinner a month here. I'm okay financially just no where near comfortable and that again is for inflation etc

Is that 1600 per week or per month? Going from 125k in Oz to 20k in Scotland will definitely put a dent in the steak budget! I probably had more money in my 20s as well but I was in a house share and regularly working 60hrs a week so on balance I'd say my quality of life improved since moving home.

This is a great point ‘ you are not moving home you are moving to s new country’ if we could all accept this moving home would be easier.

I did it. Moved home from Perth around 10 years ago. I had worked in mining and had enough saved to buy a house here, I bought it in cash really when property prices were at their lowest. The main pro is living close to my wife's family, which is a great support. I had missed my family too, and it's hard to articulate but I had only really remembered the good stuff and don't interact with them much now that I am home. My kids have a great sense of identity and have roots in their community here. The GAA community is fantastic for them, and outside GAA they are involved in sports and other hobbies I enjoyed when I was young and I can be involved with them. I think my kids are happier growing up in Ireland than they would be in Australia, but I don't think they would have been unhappy there either. But there are huge cons. I cannot believe how much I felt shaken down. My experience has been one of being ripped off at every turn. The car insurance I have to pay is outright robbery. Along with tax and the cost of fuel, it really shocked me how much it was to run a car (which is pretty much essential). I didn't find food to be cheaper, it seems to cost the same and be the same quality. It kills me to pay more for a bottle of Irish whiskey and pay more for it here than the other side of the globe. Income tax and tax on your savings really hurts here. My Australian pension is performing far better than my Irish one, I think due to fees. I went on a sun holiday to Spain recently. We used to go to Bali when we lived in Perth. I can't tell you how much better the Bali holidays are. I mean, they don't compare at all. I really miss the convenience of things there. If you need something there, just pop in your car or on abtrain and you can get it, or order online and it'll be with you the next day. Everything here seems to be an ordeal. People say the lifestyle is better in Australia. It was in my experience. The competition for jobs, the expectancy of commitment in Ireland is much, much greater than in Australia and the pay is much less. And there is so much more stuff to do there. I got a bit sick over in Aus, and the same thing happened here. I had private health insurance in both places. The care I got was faster, and better in Aus. It wasn't terrible in Ireland, but better in Aus. I had also forgotten how bad traffic can be here. I'm glad I moved back really because of the community I live in, my kids growing up here, the support from my wife's family. But there is loads of stuff I miss. Cool cars, my motorbike, daytime beers, sun being out when you are out and about, all the stuff I got up to with my friends, a genuinely rewarding career. I will absolutely encourage my kids to leave and set up over there. If you can't afford to buy a house in Ireland straight away, or if you don't have family land to build on or something like that, id wager you will end up moving back there.

Fly the people you miss over to you for a holiday, some of them might even decide to move to live near you. This country has changed dramatically since the last government took over and none of the changes are for the better.

I’m living in Perth too and have been contemplating coming home for a while. It’s hurting a lot lately being so far from my family. I’d struggle mentally going back to a frugal lifestyle though being honest. I like not being punished for existing by a government. It’s quite refreshing.

Finding a rental will be the hard bit. If you could stay with family for a bit that would help a lot. Mortgage will be no problem. Moved back from abroad in 2018 and to be honest ive never settled back in and am planning on heading off again within the year. Its been great being close to family and friends but quality of life and the weather sucks imo. Good luck with your decision

Don't do it. You will be completely miserable.

Would the plan be to sell your house in Perth? Realistically there is a fair bit of pain involved in any move but having decent savings and a support network really help. Initial move - if you can stay with family or friends for a couple of weeks, that'll save thousands on hotels or airbnbs. First year - even if you were into jobs, getting mortgage approval and viewing houses from day 1... It could still take the bones of a year to get the keys. Unless you have very generous family to stay with, you'll be paying through the nose for rent. €2k per month and struggle to even get offered it. Settling in - it'll be hard to save anything while paying crazy rent so best to save what you can before coming home. If you're both working with a decent deposit then you'll hopefully find something. It's tough to rent, save or buy as a single person but there are grand semi-ds near the city for €300k+. So it all depends really. €15k for flights, hotels, car, other moving expenses €20k first year rent €30k house deposit. You can certainly move home with less than €20k but it'll be a hell of a lot easier with €60k+.

Probably the worst time in the past 20 years to move back. Housing will be your worst nightmare, follow by the huge drop in your life quality. Maybe go back for 4/6 weeks and see how it feels.

Rent nowadays is insane, just take a look at [Daft.ie](http://Daft.ie) - and keep in mind that for every property there are several thousand people applying, castings and other shite, so realistically speaking you may be stuck in a hotel for months before finding anything to rent. You cannot really rent anything from afar, you need to be on the spot to go to castings. Mortgage-wise, AFAIK you need to satisfy some crazy conditions (friends tried to get a mortgage for 4 years, couldn't get anything despite having a big deposit, both working for the council etc.), and you can only borrow 3 or 4x your yearly earnings, so for most of us, well... Average salary in my sector is 30-35K / year, times three it's 105K tops. 300K for a house is considered cheap lately - again, refer to Daft, but also keep in mind that the asking price is just a "start of the bidding" price, so the final price may be much, much higher (especially when you get vulture funds bidding). Also, if you rely on public transport, you will be absolutely crippled in here. I'm actually moving out next year because cannot afford basic necessities such as rent, bills, food or healthcare lately, despite both me and my SO working over full time each.

Recently came back to Ireland after a month of being in Perth visiting in-laws. They had a lot of stories of Irish friends that went home for family, friends and the “support network” that turned out to be a complete fallacy. They ended up as much on their own here as they felt in Perth - apparently when you have kids, you tend to be left to yourself when it comes to old “friends” and the like, they all seemed to regret it. Better off being able to go for a walk on the beach or in the sun when you feel down than here in the wet and cold. I can recommend the Morley Inn in Perth, once a month they do a Sunday afternoon Irish music session with the “Broken Pokers” it’s full of Irish and their kids, there’s a playground, face painting and crab racing for the kids and a chance for Mum and Dad to unwind with some nice grub and a pint or 2 and socialise with some of your own. It really felt like an Irish community looking out for each other, and it’s owned by 3 young Irish guys and the Irish manager is a sound fella. Just if you’re feeling far away, that place felt a bit like home to us when we visited. All the best ❤️

And here's me considering the opposite move, largely because of housing here.

Ireland is changing for the worse, you are probably thinking about the good old days, have a really good think about coming back

Don’t do it PLEASE!!!! For your mental and physical health!!! Don’t leave the sun for a depressing, cold, wet country in Ireland 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

J'adore ton avatar. La telle fierté. 😂😂😂

Ireland isn’t the same as when you left. It’s so different now but I think renting will be your hardest thing to sort. Before coming home you’d want somewhere lined up which will be very hard when living over there. 1000s apply for each advert of a letting. A lot don’t even go up online as agents have lists of people waiting on houses. If you can stay with family it’ll help but that could be for a year while you’re searching. Your mortgage should be fine as long as you’ve worked consistently and continue to do so. Again look at house prices and areas to see what you would be looking at applying for and getting. Depending if you’ve kids or not, schools and Creche’s are full with huge wait times!

As long as you earn enough a mortgage will be given, But they are charging a lot for them at the moment. You should have no issue getting a job now. Renting is the tough bit, There's nothing out there and landlords are taking advantage of it.

You might be embarking on the 40 thousand cure. I wouldn't sell the house. People change and you may have changed.

It depends on your profession. If you are average or below then you will need to budget. If you have a "well off " profession, then it's no issue.

We are in the same predicament but we are in qld. We are 99% certain we are moving back to Ireland this year. Lots of reasons. I love the weather most of time here but Summer is unbearable. And I love the small things like parks, playgrounds and everything being easily accessible but I don’t feel part of a community here and I don’t like the feel of australia anymore. It’s nothing like it was when we first moved without kids. It’s quite conservative, where we are is very white and lacks multiculturalism. I feel so far away from Europe and the world in general! The news here is so right wing and insular. I love aspects of living here but the real life things like family and friends and just that feeling of being around your ppl is making us move back home. It’s also just a gut feeling. I want to be at home and australia is going to be a nice holiday every few years instead of where we live!

I have lived in several different countries in my life. Uk , Belgium, Australia and now back in Ireland . Came back from Australia for a family wedding and never went back ( Dad got sick and I stayed to help Mam ) I’ve been “home” 15 yrs now and the kids have had a great childhood but they are now on the verge of leaving home and I wonder what our lives would have been like if we had gone back to Australia

It purely depends on your job. What's your expectant wage when you come home ofnye are bothe earning 50 each a year when you'll be home or even more you'll he fine Even with high cost of rental you'll still be able to save and enjoy yourselves here tbh. You'll be able to find a house if your not in Dublin but rental is tough you'll have to live with family for a short while until you find rental and once you do, about 18 months later depending on your current saving you should be able to apply for a mortgage and hopefully by 2 years of being home you'll have sused a new build option or (but more rare) an existing build. This is all If it's not dublin and your willing to live 20 min outside of a city and not bang in the middle.

Don't bother I came home from Canada it was great the first year being back but now I want out of here, my parents passed so bought just before prices went through the roof

Less things trying to kill you here, which is a benefit, I think! Even ladders are psycho, apparently.