KAO

Hi all,

Has anyone on here bought their property in Oz whilst still in the UK, before moving over?

I know that there are some restrictions on foregin buyers who are not residents, although I know very little about it at this stage. I just wanted to see if anyone here has been in a similar situation?

We're moving shortly (within UK) and are lucky enough to be living rent-free which means we'll have money to save/invest. I'm thinking it would be great to buy a property in Oz (prob near Brisbane) and be paying it off for a while on a UK income before we head over. We could also rent it out to lessen the expenditure a little.
If we don't like the house or location when we move over at least we can sell and buy elsewhere as we'll be on the property ladder.

Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions on this?

TIA

K

Fenton

Not sure if your allowed to going by some other threads in here, but I am most probably wrong

KAO

I'm sure you would be able to under certain terms as people can purchase holiday homes to live in for a month or so and rent out for the rest of the year.
Anyone tried it this way?

Vash the Stampede

We've bought a house, though we're still in the UK. However, it was easy for us, since I'm an Aussie.

You can read about it here.

walaj

I would not want to rent a place for 6mths without seeing it, let alone buy. Aside from that, if you are not living in the property for a certain period of time after buying (you will have to look up precise details) you will not be eligible for first time buyer stamp duty relief ($7k).

lol

hi, if you're sure where you want to be go for it.... think you will be ok but they are saying the prices will increase abit more in perth and set to go up in brisbane in next 12 months, could make some money doiing that way

KAO

We're looking at the Brisbane area and probably an area within an hour's commute from the city centre which should open up the potential quite a bit.

For anyone else reading with interest I've found out the first stage is to obtain foreign investment approval if you're in a position like mine where you are not a resident. More info can be found here;

https://fiola.firb.gov.au/home.aspx

I'll need to read up a little more on the stamp duty and homebuyer's grants. We're first time buyers full stop as we have never purchased a property here in the UK.

Dorothy

That makes no difference. When you move to Australia you start as a first time homebuyer whether you have owned property in another country or not. We owned our own house in Canada and when we looked at buying here we were told that we still would get the grant. It only applies to property in Australia.
The first time buyers grant though comes with restrictions. It has to be your principle residence and you have to move in within a certain time limit in order to qualify. Don't think you will be eligible if you don't live in the country.

KAO

There's a section of an advice site which states

"(In Queensland and South Australia, if you have previously owned a home anywhere in the world, you are not entitled to first time buyer help with stamp duty.)"

http://australia.emigratenz.org/money-matters.html

I need to read into it a bit more - I've just been snatching a few minutes here and there today whilst looking after 4 kids (aged 4 and under!) and I don't think I've retained much of what I've read.

I agree you're probably right about me not being eligible for a grant as we're not residents (yet) and I can agree entirely with why this is!

Gotta go check they're not drinking from drains again...

Dorothy

The first homeowner's grant was available to us here in SA, even though we had owned a home before in another country. Check with your mortgage broker or bank when you get here.

ridds

We bought before we moved over, but we knew the area well and saw the house on a holiday trip so we knew what we were getting into. I would not buy a home sight unseen unless I was planning to treat it as an investment only property, and only then if I knew the area well.

(BTW we are in Brisbane)

northernbird

If you don't have your visa then you have to get FIRB approval and it has to be your principal place of residence ie, you can't rent it out. If you have your visa it is a different ballgame but as someone has said there are rules about claiming the first homeowners grant.

Wendy

First Home Owners Grant and the Stamp Duty help are different things. FHOG is $7000, and the stamp duty relief is extra.

KAO

how is the general housing market going in Brisbane currently? I know they're expected to go up but we're looking at the pros and cons of buying before a visa and on a visa.

We could save around $10,000 in grants and stamp duty as a resident FTbuyer, or we could buy now and not be entitled to that but have the house price increase by potentially the same amount by the time we move over. Swings and roundabouts eh.

We were looking at property on a new estate a couple of months back and the prices had gone up by £5,000 or more between when they were first proposed and when we were looking. They still hadn't even been built by that time!