jery_wang

Hi,

Has anyone rented a house through the internet like realestate.com.au? Any problem or any possible dispute that we should try to avoid. How should we inspect the house? I have a friend who offer me help to inspect the house.

As we will be moving to Melbourne soon we are looking for a house to rent. We plan to rent the place through the internet before we arrive.

Kind Regards,
Jerry

Teliko21

No problems at all, a fax machine is a necessity though to fax back lease etc They will also require a bond when signing lease so will need to be able to pay this on demand.

jery_wang

But if I haven't arrived, can my friend sign on my behalf. If not, how long will the y wait for me to arrive in Melbourne and sign the contract.

Of course the money wise won't be a problem since I can TT to my friend first to pay for the bond.

Is there any legality I need to consider when asking a friend to do the inspection and sign the contract?

Thanks
Jerry

Teliko21

I don't think your friend can sign for you.

We signed a faxed copy of the lease and went straight into their office on arrival to sign a hard copy but I think we had to pay the bond from overseas to allow us to be able to do this. I guess it will all depend on the agent.

Billabong

We secured a rental over the Internet in Brisbane when we came over 20 months ago.

Some friends lived in the neighbourhood and looked at the house for us but we dealt with the rental company interms of signing stuff and payment etc

No problems at all.

kerrie/wayne

hi ya .....what agent allowed you to do this cause every time i have emailed a agent they never get back to me.. ideally i would like to set somewhere up for when we get there ....thankyou

also what references do you need ....we have never rented

kez

jery_wang

Would you mind sharing with us how you handle the signing part? Using snail mail? That must be time consuming.

Did your friend also follow some of the advice listed on the Victoria Tenants Union? Something likechecking/signing 'Condition' of the house? Because I read from this newsgroup that someone (tenant) was unfairly charged for damaged things that the tenant did not do when the tenant leave the property.

How did you do the inspection/signing of the 'Condition' of the property?

Thanks.

jery_wang

According to this site:
http://www.tuv.org.au/advice/resources.aspx

the agent/landlord needs something like bank account to assess the tenant. Unfortunately, we don't have one since we haven't arrived yet. And we can only open bank account in Melbourne when we are there.

Yes, we intend to close the rent deal before we arrive to avoid any temporary place. It's troublesome to move around. But maybe that's the best.

annqldau

We rented brand new house via the internet. Sent them copies of references bills etc. then showed originals once there. BPay transaction wouldn't work from UK so just payed once we got here.

All went smoothly no disputes.

jery_wang

How about the inspection to make sure that the condition of the property is agreed between tenant and landlord before you sign the deal. Do they require you to sign (through fax) or someone else can do it?

I read that we need to sign on the agreement of the property condition. This is for the landlord to make claim when property is damaged. But I view it as also for tenant protection. Since the landlord cannot make claim any other damaged that is not agreed upon. But I maybe wrong, that is my own understanding after reading: Tenant's Handbook at
http://www.tuv.org.au/advice/resources.aspx

jery_wang

How nice your agent was.
Did you pay from the day you stay in the house or when close the deal via the internet?