Can we buy a house

Hi, looking for any advice,

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

Thanks

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Yes, you can buy when ever you want. But, I would urge you not to and rent for at least 6-12 months to get a feel. Oz cities have as many bad areas as a UK city and it takes time to learn them the same as anywhere else. Also, a suburb can seem attractive until you get to know it.

Depending on which city, but £15k is not much of a deposit. Call it $30k and it won't be a deposit big enough for most cities for a half decent house or will require mortgage insurance which is very expensive.

But, lenders won't consider anyway until you are working and have several months payslips.

Do you know what state you will be moving to? Housing costs vary wildly depending if you are looking for a 1 bed unit to a standalone house, and also what city you are looking at and how far from the CBD you are prepared to live.

As VS mentioned approx $30K will not even cover the min deposit for the majority of housing, let alone flats in most of Australia. Then you have the additional fees that go with buying.

I would suspect you would need double that for a half decent deposit, excluding fees.

Hi, looking for any advice,

 

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

 

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

 

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

 

Thanks

Would you be able to buy a house in the UK if you had £15,000 and no job. I suspect not as nobody would give you a mortgage and your LTV (loan-to-value) ratio would mean your deposit would be too small even if you found employment.

Frankly I would be very worried if it were possible for anyone to be able to get a mortgage in such circumstances as that was one of the prime reasons for the GFC in 2008.

I would say yes, you will be able to get a house.. one day. If you keep saving. I agree with the others 15k is not a great mortgage - most lenders require minimum 20% and there is also stamp duty to consider (albeit some States have concessions). I also agree spend some time in areas as you may find you don't actually enjoy an area as much as you thought you did initially. You may even move State!

Can get mortgage with 5% deposit if you really wanted to and if building a new home or moving into new build and are first home buyers you can get $20000 towards home/deposit and no stamp duty (depending which state) also where I live they are giving an extra $12000 to anyone who builds in the area so thats $32000 towards deposit on top of what you may already have saved. If you have no savings they can use rental history as savings history instead. Also there is a builder in my area who will loan you deposit needed...not options everyone would want to do but need to look at what's available in your area. I got a mortgage and house on half acre block with help of the grant and only had to show three payslips which was 6 weeks employment proof.

Also, you burn through a lot of savings in the move. You will need money to live on until you find work. You need to budget for that taking at least 3 months and up to 6.

Hi, looking for any advice,

 

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

 

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

 

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

 

Thanks

Would you be able to buy a house in the UK if you had £15,000 and no job. I suspect not as nobody would give you a mortgage and your LTV (loan-to-value) ratio would mean your deposit would be too small even if you found employment.

 

Frankly I would be very worried if it were possible for anyone to be able to get a mortgage in such circumstances as that was one of the prime reasons for the GFC in 2008.

I'd be scared stiff. It would confirm a very dodgy market. We already know it has way overshot value. But on such a small amount would point to lender desperation.

You'd get a decent car for that money but not a house, nowhere near unless you lived in the bush where there is very little work anyway. Get settled in a good job , rent as cheap as you can and save save save.

Hi, looking for any advice,

 

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

 

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

 

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

 

Thanks

There are no visa issues with getting a mortgage. But £15k is barely going to cover stamp duty, it is not going to scratch the surface of being a house deposit. I would honestly have to question the wisdom of moving with such a low sum and no job to go to, make sure you buy a return ticket anyway as you might just need it.

Of course you will not get a mortgage with no job and £15k.

Unless this has changed with less than 20% deposit you would have LMI to pay and on a $500k house that would be over $10k

To buy an average house in most major cities you would need around $80k

If you are on a low income there are schemes to help - in WA its Keystart http://www.keystart.com.au/ where you can build a new house without such a large deposit bear in mind though the kind of housing schemes where this is possible tend to be poor investment and without knowing the detail of your circumstances I would say you should live there for a couple of years at least before committing to a mortgage.

We built a house rear strata in an established area and sold it 3 years later for around $120k more. Friends who had built a house on a housing scheme around the same time made a $50k loss & just this week I was talking to someone who made a $100k loss on the house they bought in Australia.

Renting is relatively cheap in Australia, so I would put aside ideas of buying for now. The market is flat - estate agents are saying its hit the bottom which is a sure sign prices will go down further!

There are no visa issues with getting a mortgage. But £15k is barely going to cover stamp duty, it is not going to scratch the surface of being a house deposit. I would honestly have to question the wisdom of moving with such a low sum and no job to go to, make sure you buy a return ticket anyway as you might just need it.

 

Of course you will not get a mortgage with no job and £15k.

Bloody hell Bungo you are telling the poster to get a return ticket as he hasn't enough money??? I find that hilarious! (Sorry!) Maybe the poster has money to live off as well? Maybe not but who knows? Neither of us do!

Bloody hell Bungo you are telling the poster to get a return ticket as he hasn't enough money??? I find that hilarious! (Sorry!) Maybe the poster has money to live off as well? Maybe not but who knows? Neither of us do!

Well if they have more money then they don't need to worry about what I said do they, I am sure they are perfectly capable of making that decision for themselves and don't need your interjection. Presumablay the OP is perfectly capable of reading a range of responses and drawing from them what they require.

I would stand by my statement that £15k is not a lot of moemy for a family or a couple (they say we) to move on without jobs to go to. What is the harm in taking sensible precautions.

Hi, looking for any advice,

 

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

 

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

 

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

 

Thanks

Hi you are getting loads of crap answers here, without a regular oz income you will not get a mortgage.

Well if they have more money then they don't need to worry about what I said do they, I am sure they are perfectly capable of making that decision for themselves and don't need your interjection. Presumablay the OP is perfectly capable of reading a range of responses and drawing from them what they require.

 

I would stand by my statement that £15k is not a lot of moemy for a family or a couple (they say we) to move on without jobs to go to. What is the harm in taking sensible precautions.

I took it as they have 15k to put down now and maybe have other money available. You came across incredibly negative as to them coming over in the first place in my opinion! I would agree that 15k isn't a lot of money to come over with without any jobs or leads at least, don't think I'd book a return ticket just yet though!

I would certainly suggest scoping out areas first before buying, market has dipped and real estate agents have been telling me that they hope for an improvement next year. Not sure why they are optimistic, maybe hopeful is the right word. As a first time buyer you could qualify to be stamp duty exempt (first purchase in Australia?) If you build you can get a 10k grant towards the cost of the build and use this as part of your deposit if you wish. As LR has posted there is LMI to pay if you have under 20% deposit. This can be added to the loan in many cases, but sometimes not depending on your mortgage and the finance you have in place. Hopefully you can get work quickly to establish your finances and look at your options. Good luck!

I'd talk to a financial planner when you get here to acertain whether you have a chance. You will need to have a secure job for a while though, so plenty of time to sort it. There are ways around not having a full deposit. Also building is a great option if your deposit is small and you may get a first homeowners grant and pay no stamp duty dependant on location.

I'd talk to a financial planner when you get here to acertain whether you have a chance. You will need to have a secure job for a while though, so plenty of time to sort it. There are ways around not having a full deposit. Also building is a great option if your deposit is small and you may get a first homeowners grant and pay no stamp duty dependant on location.

I agree with what you're saying but building can be financially stressful as you have to pay rent and increasing mortgage payments as the build progresses & the deposit has to be paid before the first homeowners grant is payable, as the building has to be at a certain stage (I think it's block down but can't 100% remember. What I do remember is being in the bank in tears because our so-called financial advisor had included it in what we could afford as a deposit, he also said we didn't have to pay stamp duty but in reality we did on the land and could then claim it back). Not to mention that unless the build is 'turn key' there are lots of costs in addition to the build - external painting alone cost us $15k

As I said there are organisations and builders such as Keystart in WA that overcome some of these issues for lower income families but those builds can be risky as they are aimed at first homeowners and difficult to sell, as the people buying tend to need the same type of low deposit, no LMI, turn key build etc so build new themselves.

To jump straight into one of those schemes without living in Australia for a while and knowing the suburbs you like let alone whether you'll settle in Australia is probably not a good idea - you need to know you're there for the long haul.

Hi you are getting loads of crap answers here, without a regular oz income you will not get a mortgage.

Not sure why you say you are getting lots of crap answers. People are responding with there opinions, whether they be positive or not. The housing market in Australia is now driven by investors.

Without a job or alternative income, no mortgage.

Approx $30k deposit just will not cut it, especially when you take in consideration the other fees.

Realistically they would be looking at around $100k, to cover all costs IMO.

Hi, looking for any advice,

 

We have been granted our permanent residency visa. Can we buy a house almost immediately? I will be trying to get a job before but may need to look when we get there.

 

We have 15,000 gbp ready.

 

Will we have to wait until we have been in our jobs for a set amount of time?

 

Thanks

I doubt anyone is going to give you a mortgage with that amount of savings and no regular job. You'll need to wait a while, secure work, get some payslips behind you and some more savings I'd think and then see if you could qualify for mortgage. Don't be surprised if you have to wait a year or so before this happens.

Focus on finding a rental for 6-12 months, find work that hopefully gives you a decent income and save as much as you can. And keep an eye on areas you like, house prices and so on and work out what you could realistically afford. When the time comes and you hope to buy, a good mortgage broker could be all the difference so consider who you use and so on.

I'd always recommend renting for 6-12 months first, regardless of whether you could get a mortgage or not. It gives you a chance to get a feel for an area, and if you decide that you don't like where you have landed it gives you time to research other areas nearby which might be suitable.

On paper the place that we rented when we first moved here seemed perfect. However, after eight months of living there I was more than ready to move out of the area and into a different one with friendlier people and better facilities. Waiting gives you a bit of time to save up a bit more deposit too.

Although if you are paying $500 a week rent then you are paying $25,000 off someone else's mortgage rather than your own. And some would say $25K wasted.

Pluses and minuses,

Although if you are paying $500 a week rent then you are paying $25,000 off someone else's mortgage rather than your own. And some would say $25K wasted.

 

Pluses and minuses,

the capital element of that $500 on a mortgage would be minimal, more so at the start of a mortgage. Most of your payments would be swallowed up in interest. Not sure of the exact figures but youd be nowhere near paying $25k of capital off in that first year.

Remember getting my first mortgage statement from Abbey and being gutted at how little Id actually paid off in that first year :biglaugh:

To the OP, assuming your looking to stay long term in Oz though it still makes sense to buy if you can for the long term