Jaycee1

Quick question - do you have to be in Australia get the home buyers grant?
We have not yet validated our visas but may buy a house before it ends in June.
What I am asking is do i have to have validated and be physically present in Australia to get the grant?
J x

teedubyer

Hi, i think you will be able to get the grant even though you are not in Australlia, try this link which has some good info on it, documents required, criteria etc.

teedubyer

probably would help if i give you the link

http://www.sro.vic.gov.au/sro/SROWeb...tes_fhog.htm#3

ABCDiamond

Some of the criteria to be satisfied for eligibility for the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG)

• At least one applicant must be a permanent resident, or Australian citizen, at the time of settlement or completion of construction of the home.
• At least one of the applicants must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least 6 months.

If you have NOT validated your visa, I am not sure if you would be classed as a permanent resident.

Each State and Territory in Australia has its own grant scheme, and different rules may apply...

http://www.firsthome.gov.au/

The Bloke

..... but if you're on a temporary visa, you wouldn't qualify as a permanent resident.

ABCDiamond

Definitely no chance on a Temp Visa

Pollyana

Unless its a temp spouse visa, in which case FHOG can be claimed if its a joint purchase with the Aussie spouse.

Jaycee1

Mine is a former resident visa 47SV subclass 151 and granted permanent residency. My dad is viewing and putting offers in on the houses as we have to validate before October.
We are moving to Victoria. Will check out the links.
Thanks for the advice
J x

chaval

You might wanna hold back rather than diving. I dont think rushing in to buy somewhere just cos your gonna get $14k is good reasoning....if the property prices correct themselves...which is bound to happen with unemployment set to rise to 8-10% you might lose more than $14k on the price of the property....(if they drop 10-15% on an average price range of 400-450k im sure you can do the math)

your choice i guess.

scamp1976

why would you not let the grant expire ? All houseprices will go down by 21000 AUD the exact same day anyway... it will actually SAVE you money to wait, because you will pay less tax.

ABCDiamond

They may not be buying a new house, in which case $21,000 has nothing to do with it...

And as for prices dropping... it may depend on the are they are buying in...

eg:

Established house prices in Sydney compared to Australia average, note how Sydney (in Blue) hasn't really changed for 5 years...

Prior to 2004, Sydney growth was about average for the entire country, but has been left behind.

And when you look closely, Sydney has only gone up by about 25-30% in the last 7 years, only about half the rise for the entire country average.

And then, as far as saving money on the tax is concerned, many first home buyers do not pay the tax anyway, (I assume you mean Stamp Duty) depending on which State they buy in.