Buying property is still possible here in Queensland, like the other states in Australia. The good news is that for the first time in 9 years, in 2005 Australia has recorded it’s lowest annual increase in property prices. Land prices have even decrease in some places to be 50% of the price they were two years ago.

Yes, real estate agents are finally taking their holidays for the first time in months. There’s sufficient calm to take a stock check of what is available and at what cost. Given that Australia is a relatively sparsely populated country there is a great possibility to self build, buy a brand new home &land package or buy an existing home and renovate or do minor alternations. See www.realestate.com.au

Renting When You First Arrive

It is of course often worth renting in a new country when you first arrive. Renting in a suburb where you hope to buy your home is ideal, you get settled, children start at the local school and you get to know the route to work, shops and activities. The hard part is getting to know the right suburb to choose a rental. Suburb Maps and details for Brisbane: www.ourbrisbane.com  

Starting the Property Purchasing Process 

Several months researching suburbs, home ownership options and market prices can leave you wandering what to offer to a real estate agent when finding your dream home and frustrated to the point when you just want to get on with it and buy. Currently the market is flat so it’s a good buyers market and you can afford to take your time. However, if you’re a newbie you’re still vulnerable to get frustrated and could still end up paying more than necessary. 

The two main typical problems new immigrants face are lack of credit history here in Australia or being swamped by very slick sales people who are operating very much on behalf of the seller.

For the first problem you’ll need to talk to a mortgage broker or buyers agent (www.aussiemigrant.com). Many Australian mortgage brokers or banks still get confused about what to do with new immigrants who are working on short contracts, arrive with a lump sum of capital and still can’t necessarily put all the right ticks in all the right boxes. Immigration specialists, such as the one aimed, can help here by doing the leg work and since specializing in helping migrants will give individual advice.

For the second problem the general rule is, if you feel pressured and are getting confused then take on help. Don’t rush in to buying because you’re being hounded by a real estate agent. As Aussie Migrant Director of Financial Planning says “Listen to advice from local experts who know how the property market and economy work here. Sit down with a Buyers agents, such as ourselves, and draw up a short list of suitable properties and then have help with the purchase negotiation. You only want to pay the value price of the property not what the estate agents want you to pay.”

My husband and I were surprised by how much we could propose below the given market price of an advertised house. The actual price we finally ended up paying was well below the asking price. Like us, new immigrants do tend to stand out as those not in the know. House market prices can seem to be random and the competition between real estate agents is fierce. 

Location City or Outer Suburbs

As anywhere it takes a while to familiarize oneself with the feel of a city and the character of potential suburbs in which to live. In deciding whether we ideally wanted to be by the water, city or have a home with acreage lead to a few months contemplating and weighing up the pros and cons. 

If work takes you to the city center then look at the infrastructure of the train lines, bus routes and highways into the CBD, as well as possible future schools for children and then the edited list of ‘must haves’ nearby.

Visiting one or two friends with acreage put a halt to our countryside ranch idea. Lovely and quiet, an amazing amount of land and personal space or privacy but too much lawn mowing for us! That plus being timid of snakes and spiders we decided it wasn’t going to be our lifestyle dream but still a great option none the less.

A 40 minute journey out of the CBD to the coast offers several established or up and coming suburbs. One or two coastal suburbs, Manly (south) and Shorncliff (north) have a name for being fashionable and well maintained with house prices starting at around 600 000$AU with anything overlooking the water starting from 1$ Million AU.

With a large number of retired residents in the north eastern suburbs we elected for a property in an area which is on the change and yet to peak. New families are slowly moving in and the area is still affordable and likely to increase in value as time goes on. Close to shops, train line, bus route, schools, medical centers and with a good established community spirit.