jatkins Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Hi All, What are peoples experiences of securing their first longer term rental property when they first arrive in Australia? Specifically if you don't yet have a job/job offer, will having 6 or 12 months rent available to pay upfront be considered as acceptable by agents? We sold our house last year and have funds which we have started putting putting into the NAB account we opened from the UK - so we can show we have the $$cash. We've organised short term accommodation for the first few weeks when we arrive, during which time we'll looking for work - but this is expensive! We'd obviously need something longer term pretty asap. Cheers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Get as much documentation as you can to show the property manager. Bank statements, records of employment history, whatever references you can find, documents showing the sale of your house. Look as respectable as possible when you show up. Obviously a lot will depend on the demand for rental properties in the area you're interested in. While owners want good tenants, they also don't want their properties vacant for too long. Where are you going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jatkins Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Get as much documentation as you can to show the property manager. Bank statements, records of employment history, whatever references you can find, documents showing the sale of your house. Look as respectable as possible when you show up. Obviously a lot will depend on the demand for rental properties in the area you're interested in. While owners want good tenants, they also don't want their properties vacant for too long. Where are you going? We are heading for the Redlands / Bayside areas of Brisbane, around Wellington Point / Ormiston. We have applied for school places from here in the UK for our 3 daughters and will be due over permanently around May/June time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 A copy of a healthy bank account and maybe offering a few weeks upfront will do the trick. The agent just wants to know you have funds to cover the rent. I would also include a cover letter explaining your new to the country and currently job seeking, hence no job just yet. Good luck but you shouldnt have a problem. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Proof that you have plenty of cash will definitely help, e.g. recent bank statements. There's a kind of points system used by real estate agents, listing the kinds of things they want to see. Have a look at http://www.tenancycheck.com.au/tenancy-forms/rental-application-forms.dot for some examples. Sounds like digging out evidence that you were paying your mortgage will help. Also get references etc. from previous employers (which you may have already done for your visa application anyway). Interesting to see things like degree certificates in there as well. At the end of the day this is a real estate agent and the landlord who are looking at this stuff, to make a decision on whether or not you are a risk (as well as how many kids or pets and other home-destroying companions you might have). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philbert Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 If you can offer 3 months rent in advance it will go a long way to getting your property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Proof that you have plenty of cash will definitely help, e.g. recent bank statements. There's a kind of points system used by real estate agents, listing the kinds of things they want to see. Have a look at http://www.tenancycheck.com.au/tenancy-forms/rental-application-forms.dot for some examples. Sounds like digging out evidence that you were paying your mortgage will help. Also get references etc. from previous employers (which you may have already done for your visa application anyway). Interesting to see things like degree certificates in there as well. At the end of the day this is a real estate agent and the landlord who are looking at this stuff, to make a decision on whether or not you are a risk (as well as how many kids or pets and other home-destroying companions you might have). You will have to pay four weeks' rent as a bond anyway. I don't really think you should have too much trouble. Basically the property manager and the landlord want to try to ensure, as much as they can, that you will pay the rent on time, not do a flit, and not damage the property. When you do get a place, make sure you take detailed photos of everything. There will also be a form where you tick off that everything is in order; pay close attention to this, and make sure that everything works properly. If you have a choice, don't get a place with a garden that is big and/or hard to maintain. If so, is there a rainwater tank? Remember that the landlord will expect you to leave the garden in the state you found it (the property manager will also be taking photos) and that you will be paying for water usage. Even if there is a tank, it will soon run dry if it doesn't rain for a while. Water is now quite expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Just found this post i made ages ago on an old thread, hope it helps The more you can submit the merrier, i will list some of the things we used- Passports for everyone over 18 Driving licence (UK) for everyone over 18 (Aussie ones better if you have them) Paid up mortgage statement Copy of a healthy bank balance so they knew we had funds behind us Paid up gas and electric accounts (UK ones) Personal Reference from the place we rented for some of our holidays in UK Aussie paperwork was a copy of my Medicare Card and bank card. I also included a covering letter stating we were new migrants who had owned our UK home ,.hence the lack of rental history and Asutralian paperwork Hope this helps Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Hi All, What are peoples experiences of securing their first longer term rental property when they first arrive in Australia? Specifically if you don't yet have a job/job offer, will having 6 or 12 months rent available to pay upfront be considered as acceptable by agents? We sold our house last year and have funds which we have started putting putting into the NAB account we opened from the UK - so we can show we have the $$cash. We've organised short term accommodation for the first few weeks when we arrive, during which time we'll looking for work - but this is expensive! We'd obviously need something longer term pretty asap. Cheers.... We were in a similar situation when we arrived last year, we found demand for rentals high in the areas we chose so went in to the viewing with all the paperwork from the website filled in, copies of relevant documents and offered 6 months up front. We stayed at the first place for 6 months and then moved on to a better one through the same agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jatkins Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks for all the advice. I'll get all the info ready before we arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rattatoile Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Moved to the Redlands 3 weeks ago with my wife! Stayed with friends in short term rental and went for viewings over 1st week. Got the first one we went in for. Rented in UK so had letter from old landlord, bank statement to prove you have funds, passport and copies of VISAs. That's all that required of us. You pay four weeks bond and 1st two weeks rent up front which we did. We also put down references of friends we know in Aistralia and they were contacted. We're prepared to pay six months up front but didn't come to that. [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 You can also prepare in advance by registering and uploading your docs to https://1form.com/ -- although not all agents use it, it's a useful prompt/checklist anyway. Once you have all the electronic versions of the docs you can also keep them all together on your computer, so you're ready to go at a moment's notice. On their site they list this kind of thing: To assess your application, this property manager requires the following copies of your identification and supporting documentation. 100 Points of Identification - You must upload at least one form of photo identification* 50 points*- Primary/Photo ID (Eg. Drivers License, Passport, Keypass, Proof Of Age) 30 points - Secondary ID (Eg. Birth Certificate, Student Card, Medicare Card, Health Care Card, Vehicle Registration) 30 points - Rental History/Proof of Address (Eg. Rental Receipts, Signed Lease, Utility Bill, Bank Statements, Rental Reference) 20 points - Employment/Proof of Income (Eg. Payslips, Letter of Employment, Employment Reference) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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