Chris and Mele Latailakepa are among Kiwis selling their Auckland home and moving across the ditch in search of a better life and salary.
Chris and Mele Latailakepa are among Kiwis selling their Auckland home and moving across the ditch in search of a better life and salary.
“Having accepted a new job, confirmed a start date, and booked their flights, our vendors are becoming increasingly anxious to sell their family home.”
That was how mum-of-four Mele Latailakepa advertised the sale of her Manurewa home ahead of the family’s move to Australia this Sunday.
Like thousandsof other Kiwis, the Latailakepas are heading across the ditch in search of higher salaries and a better life.
And Tom Rawson - head of one of South Auckland’s biggest real estate agencies - says his team are each week seeing more and more homes being sold or rented out by those making the Aussie move.
“We recently sold a property for Mark Hunt, the UFC fighter,” the co-owner of Ray White Manukau said, referring to the former star fighter who has lived in both countries.
“We’ve had warehousing people, we’ve had teachers, we’ve had all sorts of people leave and go and then we’re selling remotely for them,” he said.
Others are choosing to rent their homes out to start with.
Rawson said Ray White’s property managers will be “busy through January with people moving to Aussie this Christmas break and renting out their properties”.
“They’re testing the water - and that’s the typical thing that happens where people move and rent out their property for a year.
“Then if they love it [in Australia] and the kids have settled in school, they’ll stay and sell their house with us remotely.”
The pull of Australia is even being felt among Rawson’s staff.
With Ray White operating in both countries, he said four to five of his staff have decided to make the move to sister offices in Australia.
Chris and Mele Latailakepa sold their Manurewa home in November and are making the move to Queensland with their children for a better salary and lifestyle.
That includes Rawson’s stepsister, who left for Australia to work in a Ray White office in Surfers Paradise.
She recently wrote on social media that she’s not coming back.
“She’s posting a story the other day just how grateful she’s been for the last year being there in the steady weather and the people and the energy,” Rawson said.
Rawson advised those moving to carefully calculate the numbers before making quick decisions to sell their homes.
However, he also advised homeowners to talk to real estate agents before leaving, even if they didn’t plan to sell straight away.
That’s because it’s easier to build rapport and choose a selling agent in person rather than over video calls.
Most agents will be happy to chat, even if homeowners aren’t planning on selling until perhaps a year or two later, Rawson said.
Latailakepa, meanwhile, had hoped to keep hold of her beloved three-bedroom home and rent it out.
“We had so many memories and family ties to the property, it meant the world to us,” she said.
It had been the setting of many family events, some of her children had been born there while the Latailakepas lived in it and the primary school was right across the road.
However, the house needed expensive maintenance to make it suitable as a rental.
It was a cost the couple couldn’t stump up on their single income, while also paying accommodation costs in Australia.
The family declined the first offers they received from buyers but “didn’t lose hope” and eventually accepted an offer they are happy with last month.
“I told my husband this is it, do your numbers, make sure everything’s all lined up,” she said.
Latailakepa’s husband Chris had earlier spent the past six months testing the waters in Australia by working in Rockhampton, north of Brisbane.
Chris and Mele Latailakepa had many family memories tied to their Manurewa home, which had "meant the world" to them, yet they've had to sell up as they head to Australia for new lives and jobs.
A specialist glass cutter, he was offered better pay across the ditch, the opportunity to train as a glazier who can fit glass windows to buildings, and the chance for career advancement given his new company has outlets across Australia.
“My husband had long work hours, wages were low and he never [got to] spend enough quality time with his children,” Latailakepa said about the job Chris had in New Zealand.
“With inflation and everything being so expensive, he knew he had to make a change.”
She said Chris has been loving Rockhampton, but she and the children are yet to set foot in the regional city of about 80,000.
Her fingers and toes are crossed it turns out for the best.
“I’m just waiting to see what it will be like once we put our feet in the door in Australia, but I trust the plan,” she said.
