What you want:
Start getting rid of the big things like cars, houses, furniture, pets in time.
What you think:
Start early so you're not stuck with it.
What they DON'T tell you:
For my views on what to get rid of, see this post.
Don't sell anything until the VISA is in your hand! A million things can go wrong in a year - the typical processing time for a PR/Permanent Residence VISA - so patience is needed. We started by getting a quote for the furniture relocation, which then let us understand how much space we had to pack into. We then measured up everything and decided what to get rid of. We also got settlement prices for the cars, and a valuation on the house. We prepared all the adverts for the household stuff, took some digital pics, and prepared an email to circulate amongst our friends... and then waited.
and waited.
and then the panic moment arrived. The VISA came through.
We sent the FOR SALE email to our mates and most stuff went within a week - you'll be amazed how effective this is - interesting to find out who's being coveting your possessions with lustful hearts!!! ;-)
Cars went within about 3 weeks with the right price -don't expect market value if you're in a hurry, but be careful not to get shafted. If you don't sell in time you can always leave signed papers with a lawyer or trusted friend to handle the transaction. It's not a big deal.
Selling the house is tricky because it's very dependant on demand in your area, but once you have a buyer and he's paid a deposit and all is signed, very little normally goes wrong. All the paperwork after you've accepted the offer can be done remotely, so keep things in perspective.
Pets were hardest, simply because we wanted to hand-pick the new owners.
So, repeat after me - Don't sell anything until the VISA is in your hand!
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3 comments:
Excellent site! Just what I was looking for in a moment of "white panic". It's definitely time to leave this country...but I cannot imagine parting with my 2 beloved Dachshunds... DO you have any info about taking them with? Is this an impossible task?
Hi - bad news, I'm afraid. We had 2 lovely chow-chow's - part of the family - that we had to leave behind. It was the hardest decision of all. The quarrantine period here is 7 MONTHS. That's insane! We couldn't bring ourselves to lock our dogs up in solitary confinement for that long, and then when they came out, they'd be weird and screwed up. So we gave them away to a lovely family in SA. Still breaks our hearts every day, but you're choosing a better, safer lifestyle for the rest of your life, so in the end it was them or us. Sounds selfish, but it was worth it.
If you decide on solitary ;-) for them, they are well cared for by professionals, and you can visit as often as you like, but the centers are normally out of town. If you can deal with the heartache of deserting them every week (we can't), maybe it's an option. It's around R20000 to fly them out and around $3000 per month for them (times 7!), so you need to weigh up how much you need to get out of there... also, consider your housing when you arrive. Most rentals don't like pets. Good Luck.
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