RachelH

I keep reading about how hard it is to get a rental property in the capital cities which is obviously worrying me as we are a family of 5 and will want to rent somewhere in Brisbane for 6 months before committing to buy.

What kind of experiences have people had....and any tips on avoiding the nightmare that it could potentially be?

Thanks in advance!

RAchel

datamile

Us too.. get 5 week holiday rental, and then hopeing something will turn up.

DrWho

Can't speak for Brisbane, but we didn't find it particularly hard in Sydney... The agents tend to do open days where anyone's that interested turns up for a look at a specified time... You get your application form from the agent at the time and fill it in if you should be interested... We looked at plenty of places before we found the one we wanted... Had 2 dogs as well and we offered extra on the deposit plus 3 months rent up front and we were instantly accepted... Everyone here is very keen on some form of Aussie ID, a driving licence being the prime one... Easy to get, just show your UK one and they'll issue to you in about 15 minutes... Well worth doing as soon as you get here...

Good luck...

TrickyTree

Brisbane seems absolutely manic at the moment regarding rentals. We have 2 rental properties and one was vacant at the beginning of the year we had one open house where 10 couples arrived and by the close of the day we had 5 appliactions.

It seems you will be going against numerous people for the same property and it now seems the norm to offer something extra to seal the deal whether that be x weeks up front or something else.

You may also not get a 6 month rental as both of ours are 12 month contracts and the one we are on is 12 months also.

mbike

Make sure you bring evidence of your prior rental history in the UK, or proof of being a homeowner. Real Estate agents look for "history" and you will always lose out to an equally-placed Aussie if you have a blank canvas

Also, avoid looking in Jan/Feb when larger properties tend to get snapped up by student sharers returning from the long break.

Thats our experience, anyway

Mark

alkristensen

so does that mean go looking around nov dec then when all the students have gone home!?

al

RachelH

TrickyTree - I take it that having rental properties is a good investment then!! Do the rents reflect what you have to pay out in terms of mortgage?

smiths

Hi,

Rentals are a bit sparse in Brisbane at the moment - QLD and WA economies really strong at the moment and lot of people arriving in Brisbane both from overseas and other areas of Oz.

We found a three bed townhouse in a complex on:
www.seqrents.com.au
Although had to move real quick - checked website first thing in morning, called site manager to arrange an appointment that morning, went round and filled in application straight away, fortunate enough to get it. Properties do come up but you've got to move quick !!!

Someone else we know managed to secure a rental by offering a premium of $20 per week over the asking price - it worked for them.

Also, if you've got plenty of funds in the bank you could offer to pay more in advance.

The rental forms are not migrant friendly. We were lucky and had a sympathetic site manager but where sympathy is absent you may have to tip the balance back in your favour by employing a strategy like one of the ones above.

Alex Hall

Maybe I was lucky but arrived in August 2006 and found the right property I was after in NSW (2 b/r unit with garage, walk to Manly ferry etc..) within 3 days of arriving and had moved in on the 4th. At the property open house only 2 other people came to look, one said she wasn't interested (needed something bigger) the other took away a contract so I assume was interested.

I paid 3 months in advance (offered 6).

It will depend where about in the city you want to live, some areas are likely to have less available housing, so difficult to give a definitive answer. There are plenty of units etc showing in the paper for rent, however if you are after something with more that 2/3 bedrooms it perhaps becomes a bit more limiting

hth

Alex

TrickyTree

Both of ours need a small amount per month to make the mortgage payment (less than $100 which is next to nothing over the course of a month) so are virtually paying off themselves. We found you have to look harder to find the properties that have the .1% rule (ie cost 300k and return $300 per week) but both of ours are greater than .1% so they are out there.

alkristensen

whats the 1% rule please

al

TrickyTree

The general rule of thumb is you should look for a property that recoups .1% of the sale price per week in rent.

For example if you pay $300,000 for the property you should see a rental return of $300 per week or greater.

(forgot my . in the post above)!

alkristensen

i see.

sorry, i thought it was maybe a tax dodge of sorts or a barrier where you had to pay more tax or saomething else.

So its just an ideal rather than a rule to follow or watch out for, if you know what i mean. We were at crossed purposes, but now im clarified

thanks for that

al