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 So you are considering buying a house in Australia? We have attempted to provide you with all the information ammunition you will need to approach this rather daunting mountain. If you require additional information that we have not provided, contact us and ask. |
| Australian property options | ||||||||||
| renting | where to live | buying | home loans | additional info | terminology | ||||||||||
| our thoughts | what are your options | further info | ||||||||
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The Rental Market As you will need to find somewhere to live in a short space of time, we have put together a summary of things you might need to know when looking for your new home. It is quite easy to find suitable accommodation within a week to ten days of arrival. Rental of Houses / Units For Sydney, the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday has a good listing of rental properties. Alternatively, the following real estate agent sites: PRD Nationwide, Domain, Century 21, and McGrath. Inspection Properties are generally open for inspection on Saturdays for 15 – 30 minute timeslots. Those with no open time will have contact phone numbers, so you ring the agent to arrange a time to view. Admin Once you have found a property that you are interested in, you will need to fill in an application form (from the Real Estate Agent). You may be asked for some or all of the following in the application form:
Once you’ve filled in the form, you wait & see if you get chosen.
It can be a good idea to apply for more than one property. Once the application process is successful you will need to sign a contract with the real
estate agent. Rental agreements are generally 6 or 12 months. |
To rent or buy your home
Share Accommodation In Sydney, the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday is the best for share accommodation. Get up early on Saturday to go through the listings for the areas you are interested in. Spend a weekend exploring some different areas first to get an idea where you’d like to be. Call all the ones you want to see and make appointments. Be prepared to be quizzed quite thoroughly…and prepare some questions of your own. Some make up their minds on the spot, usually you leave your name & number & they get back to you when they have made a decision. Another option is www.flatmatefinders.com.au - individuals complete a form about themselves & the kind of place sought, which is used to match individuals to people looking for tenants. Get as much info on the phone and don’t bother going & seeing if it doesn’t sound any good – it’s very time consuming getting between the different places, so best to keep the list as short as possible. Sharing with others tends to be more simple than renting by yourself with regard to the documents you need to provide – less requirement for all sorts of references etc. You will still be expected to pay a deposit (called a " bond"). Furnished apartments For a furnished apartment, the bond will probably be 6 weeks rent (it will be lodged with a third party Bond Agency). Check as to whether they accept cash or not – you have to get a bank cheque or building society money order. Very few rental properties are furnished. If you move into share accommodation, then it is likely that the other people will have all the electrical goods / kitchenware that you need. However, you may well find that your room needs a bed, wardrobe etc. Renting the basics If you are moving to a unit or house, then you may need to rent or buy everything including the fridge! (stoves/ "cookers" are usually provided). |
Real Estate Agencies www.domain.com.au (popular choice) www.flatmatefinders.com.au www.prd.com.au www.century21.com.au www.mcgrath.com.au www.property.com.au |
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| where to live | ||||||||||
| our thoughts | what are your options | further info | ||||||||
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It all depends on what your lifestyle requirements are. I am sure that everyone wants the simple things in life like we do: a sea view, close to where we work, in an area of great capital growth, etc. Unfortunately the Sydney market is a great separator of dreams and reality. A reality check: The average price for a property in Sydney has just passed the $500k threshold - Dec 2003. We like the Sydney vibe (entertainment and work-wise) and exceptional beauty of being surrounded by water, coming from Jo'burg. But Brisbane is a city on the move (great growth in property value), with warmer weather and a more affordable entry market. Melbourne is the cultural capital of Australia with a beautiful bay, and Perth is just too damn far from anything. Adelaide and Canberra are also cities :-). For a more objective opinion regarding the states and cities, click here. But if you do like Sydney like we do, the next question is: So where IN Sydney? Again, depending on your social expectations, your economic graces and simple lifestyle requirements, you will find your spot in Sydney. From forested country life on a couple of hectares in Dural, to trendy city living in Rose Bay, this city has it all. But expect to pay for it...either by resigning yourself to paying off a huge bond, or bleeding yourself to death on the congested highways to work every day. See Sydney through Mark's camera. 
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Maps to find places: Where is? (street to state scale) Detailed Oz maps & info City websites: Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Adelaide Perth Canberra Choosing a city: If you don't know Australia, and want some more info on the country as a whole (geography, history, economics, etc) or information on specific cities, click here or on the map to the right.
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www.whereis.com.au www.sydney.com.au www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au sydney.citysearch.com.au www.sydneyoperahouse.com www.sydneyairport.com.au www.sydneybuses.nsw.gov.au www.hotelssydney.com www.brisbane.com.au brisbane.citysearch.com.au www.melbourne.com.au www.adelaide.com.au www.cityofperth.wa.gov.au www.countrywide.com.au www.canberratourism.com.au www.nationalcapital.gov.au
The NSW government has a website specifically for people moving to NSW. It provides investment and property info: www.movingaheadnsw.com |
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| buying property and what to pay | ||||||||||
| our thoughts | what are your options | further info | ||||||||
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You can get an idea of property prices from the listed property websites. Remember that if you have your PR before buying a property in Oz, you qualify for the governments
first home buyers, "no-strings-attached" $7000 grant. Money for free. Make sure you get
this!! Stamp Duty in Oz (especially in NSW) is exorbitant - see example below which was calculated on a purchase price of $600,000 and a mortgage of $400,000: (Accurate for 2003 - for more up to date examples, see a bank website)
The above example will differ from state to state (and
territory to territory), but it is an unavoidable cost of
buying property in Australia. |
Useful Property websites: Domain McGrath Property.com.au Property Page Investing in property: PR Investment & Planning Aldy Guides: Home Price Guide Property Council of Oz Property Value Alternative? Joining 50% of the Australian population in renting. Articles:  Tips for buying
property in Oz
New taxes for NSW investors
by Barbara Drury (April 9, 2004) Sydney's Boom's Bust by Guy
Lerner (October 31, 2003) Index to all articles
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www.domain.com.au www.mcgrath.com.au www.property.com.au www.propertypage.com www.prip.com.au www.aldy.com.au www.homepriceguide.com.au www.propertyoz.com.au www.propertyvalue.com.au
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| home loans | ||||||||||
| our thoughts | what are your options | further info | ||||||||
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As in RSA, you can contact your local bank for a home loan (see the
banks section under finance). But because banks don't specialize in loans and other institutions do, there are a host of better alternatives available to you. Bring into play the mortgage broker. We have also provided some guidance for dealing with a broker and some criteria to consider when choosing a home loan. It also pays to shop around on a regular basis. It is 'standard' practice for people to move their loans every so often, refinancing apparently pays dividends. [BACK to finance section]
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The big players: - Aussie Home Loans - RAMS - Mortgage House - E choice - Wizard Home Loans - Mortgage Choice or try MostChoice For a complete list of all the options and a tool to compare these options, click here. When buying, consider the following good advice: www.yourmortgage.com.au Some related articles worth reading |
www.aussiehomeloans.com.au www.rams.com www.mortgagehouse.com.au www.echoice.com.au www.wizard.com.au www.mortgagechoice.com.au www.mostchoice.com Home loan calculators: - Info choice's Lump-sum repayment & Extra repayments calculators - St George's Calculators - HSBC's Calculators - Commonwealth's Tools including calculators - ANZ's "What if" home loan calculator |
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| additional info | ||||||||||
| our thoughts | what are your options | further info | ||||||||
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Negative Gearing What is it? Negative gearing is a strategy that provides immediate tax benefits while also offering the promise of long-term gains in the form of capital appreciation. Simply put: when your rental income from an investment property is less than the expenses (bond, levies, rates & taxes, etc), you can claim the difference back from the tax man.
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Is it for you? There's lots of hype when it comes to negative gearing. Lots and lots and lots in fact. And this all stems from the fact that quite a number of property sharks make a killing from selling negatively geared properties to unsuspecting investors. Sadly, a lot of investors are sold on the potential outcome of owning property (hopefully making truckloads of money) without understanding the immediate consequences of their investment. Read more |
Read more. Article: Negative gearing does have its
positives.
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Legislation If you don't have residency yet, the following might apply when buying property:
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Stating the obvious first, either get your permanent residency or have the money available to pay the big deposit. Another option is to buy an investment property while you are still in RSA. PR Investment & Planning have some solutions worth investigating. Alternatively, speak to a bank manager - some of them are reasonable and understand your predicament - see Banks. |
Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB): www.firb.gov.au PR Investment & Planning: www.prip.com.au Other |
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| a new market and new terminology | ||||||||||
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A New Market
Property Auctions: The majority of properties are sold at auction to the highest bidder. You register your intent to bid before the auction and simply raise your hand to indicate your commitment to a price. The owner indicates a "reserve price" to the auctioneer which must be surpassed for the house to sell. If it isn't, the house is "turned in". Prices: Rather than commit to a specific price, sellers tend to give you a range of what they expect. E.g. mid to high $800k's. This can be very frustrating because they tend to change their expectations based on the amount of interest shown.
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New Terminology
Gazumping: When your offer is accepted by the seller, you instruct your solicitors to complete the legalities of the transaction. Only when your solicitors meet with the seller's solicitors to exchange contracts, is it a done deal. If someone counters your offer during this period and the seller decides to accept the higher offer, you have been "gazumped". You now have the opportunity to match or better the other buyer's offer if you still want to buy the house. Turned in: If a house is turned in at an auction, the "reserve price" was not met or surpassed and thus the auction is deemed unconcluded. the highest bidder at the auction then has first option to negotiate a price with the seller immediately after the auction. Clearance rate: Of the total number of houses that are listed for selling, the clearance rate is the percentage of houses which are sold. |
Double brick: The older houses in Australia are either built of sandstone or brick. A brick home is referred to as "double brick" because the walls are 2 bricks thick compared to a brick veneer house which is one brick thick. Brick laying is a highly skilled and time consuming trade, making the brick option a very expensive building style. Brick veneer: Because of the high cost of manual labour in Oz, most houses are built around a wooden structure with a single outer wall of brick. A "brick veneer" finish is a look-a-like or artificial brick finish. The internal walls are made of "jib rock". |
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