Professional Land Surveyor Supervisor (remote with seasonal deployments to Antarctica)
@jimcox Median price for a home in San Diego county is something like 850k.
The median for New Zealand is $944,767 pacific pesos
Which is about 17.5 years at median wage
And Auckland affordability is even worse 🙁
Tragic. You guys don't have long-term fixed-rate mortgages, either, correct? So your monthly payment (and overall principal+interest) could change dramatically every few years.
Tragic. You guys don't have long-term fixed-rate mortgages, either, correct? So your monthly payment (and overall principal+interest) could change dramatically every few years.
That is true - NZ is an easy market for the big Australian banks
Mortgages here are usually 2 to 5 years
With current interest rate going from around 3% to around 6% many kiwis are seeing huge jumps in housing cost
And Auckland affordability is even worse
Not for the seller LOL
Not interested at any wage offered. You might say I have cold feet.
I might have been interested when I was younger, just for the adventure in it. But the wages and benefits are really not sufficient given the qualifications and responsibilities. Never mind the remoteness. You can get that, and more, in this business these days without leaving your hometown.
Tragic. You guys don't have long-term fixed-rate mortgages, either, correct? So your monthly payment (and overall principal+interest) could change dramatically every few years.
And the other AMAZING thing about our mortgages are they aren't just tied to the house. No jingle mail here, if you get under water on loan the bank can have a forced mortgagee sale and if it doesn't cover the loan then either you get the remaining debt converted to a personal loan or they bankrupt you.
Our houses are criminally expensive. Talking to a recently licenced local surveyor (~25yrs old) they said on their pretty good salary it was only due to family money that they had been able to buy a house. We have avoided a class system in this country till now but can't see that staying the same due to houses being investment vehicles not human rights in a developed society.
Austral summer average temp -18F. I'm taking San Diego over Antarctica, at the same pay, every day of the week. You can easily expect to make $110,000 in San Diego as a PLS so to get me to Antarctica would take a substantial bump.
I would totally do this if I had the chance. Pay does seem a bit low, for sure! But like Alaska, there aren't too many places to spend it there anyway. I assume they put you up on base. I also doubt it's year long, as they say the pay rate is annualized. So go down for 6 months or something and have a lifetime of stories!
I almost did a 3 month stint with a LS here in Antartica. But I have been focused on the whole exams and studying and had to do some serious thinking and remember I have been all around the globe and its time to let the young folks get an experience that they will remember for a lifetime. I have told several young crew chiefs to do a stint and they would have a great experience. Thats the best way to do those is do a rotation once or twice. While young. But you have to watch out for the angry elfs ????.
