getting started with house rental
 

We are moving to Bunbury shortly, and I hear being a first time renter it is hard to get a house without prior rental history. We own our own house here in Ireland and are paying a mortgage I was told to bring pictures of our house and proof of paying our mortgage every mth as that shows how good you are to keep a house and keep up monthly payments.
Has anyone got any other tips for starting out and how to secure our first house rental.?

Re: getting started with house rental
 

It isn't really that hard getting a rental without a rental history, Australia has lots of new immigrants and we all find houses. We put together a rental pack which included; covering letter about us, three line reference from the agent now letting out our owned home in UK saying that it was very well maintained / presented home, bank statements showing savings, job offer letters, identification. Did not include anything to prove I had been paying my mortgage, or any photos of our house.

Re: getting started with house rental
 

We were offered the first rental we applied for in Adelaide. When we moved to Perth we missed out on the first one we applied for, but did get the second one. No covering letters, no photos, no nothing but pay stubs to prove we had income.

Re: getting started with house rental
 

Have you got a job lined up? If so get them to write you a letter. We were fortunate.
We had no rental history prior to our move here - we showed bank statement to show we could cover the rent and we got the temporary place we stayed to write us a reference.

But I have had other friends secure a property recently with no jobs at the time up here in Brisbane, don't know what Bunbury is like. Good luck with the move.:)

Re: getting started with house rental
 

Thanks for the replies lads/lassies,
So it dosn't seem to be as difficult to get started in rental as i've heard, which is goo :)d

Re: getting started with house rental
 

Posted this in Oct 2011... hope it helps?

Listened to an interesting interview on the radio today, with tips on the best way to secure a rental in Perth, including where people go wrong..... much of it is common sense, but might be useful to someone out there?

The spokesperson was from REIWA (Real Estate in Western Australia) www.reiwa.com.au

She was saying that the rental market is 'tight' at the moment with more people looking for properties than the number of properties available and people are making the mistake of applying for properties with 'huge gaps' in the information required on the agreement. Basically you must provide as much information as possible to even get a look in, and with the tight market anyone not making the effort to prepare will virtually be discounted at the outset.....

#1 You must prove beyond doubt who you are - There are a lot of scams and so anyone who may not appear who they are will not be considered for the property.
#2 Supporting proof of who you are, lots of it - Utility bills, bank accounts, passports copies, driving license etc etc
#3 Character references (more than one if possible) - Even better a reference from a previous rental agent to show you are a safe bet and will look after the property
#4 Pet reference - If applying with a pet, prove beyond doubt the pet is well behaved, has not caused a disturbance or damage
#5 Appearance - You have to look the part to get the property, many people turn up to present documents and haven't made an effort with their appearance. If you don't look smart, what will the property look like in 6 months!
#6 Look to create a partnership with the agent - The better you get on with the agent and can show that you will be a great tenant, the better your chances of securing the property. The agent has to try and do the best for their property owners.

When we first arrived we had never rented before and so found the entire process pretty stressful. If you are well prepared when applying for a property with documents required and proof as listed, you should stand a better chance than others who are not preparing adequately.

Re: getting started with house rental
 

We used all the tips on here and prepared a comprehensive pack of supproting info as recommended, and dressed smartly. We also targeted an urban growth area (in Sydney) with loads of new and newish apartments built or under construction, so an active market, where we felt there would be less competition. Worked a treat for us – got the first and preferred place we viewed, but could easily have had others.

Kate