Betty Boot

Hi All

Looking at rentals on in the internet and basically I am horrified at what is on offer and what they are charging Not to mention the fact a friend that lives in the area has informed me there are a huge number of applicants for each one and people often have to offer more (shouldnt be allowed). Anyhow, as we would be paying roughly the same amount in rent as we would in a mortgage I would rather buy asap. Does anyone know if you have a job offer before arriving how long it would take to get mortgage approval? I would prefer to go into a holiday let for a month or so and buy if possible to save paying silly amounts in rent. Anyone else been in a similar situation? We have lived in Perth before and are citizens (if that makes a difference?) and therefore have a good idea on the area we would want to buy in.

Thanks in advance

wongstonn

I'd imagine while processing a mortgage application a lender would want to see evidence of your income stream that will fund your repayments , so I suspect a job offer will not suffice.

Also, might be worth considering whether to buy now, depending upon where in Aus you are proposing to move to. In some regions the prices have been dropping for over a year.

Neil

Zen10

I'm not sure how long for an approval but the market here is dropping quite hard (which I didn't realize)

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...rom=public_rss

2.5% in June which is a massive 30% annualized, so I think they will be keen to get people borrowing. I'm going to wait a while for a few more rate cuts and a few more 2.5% monthly drops before buying. Maybe this time next year.

KJCherokee

The article also mentioned a 2.3% drop in a quarter, which is only 9.2% annualised - and the ABC News last night was talking about 3% to 5% over the past year. The market is unstable so you can't take a single month's result and extrapolate it to a year or more - or you'd end up with the assumption that in a few years time we'll be paying people to take our houses off our hands!

Zen10

Of course you're right, but it's certain houses aren't going up any time soon, not here anywhere. That's what happens when they reach rivet-popping peak - the only way is down. Throw in a collapsing eurozone and a slowing China and it's house-shopping time!

bingobob777

Not sure about Perth, but in Brisbane the rough rule of thumb that a house would cost 1000 times the weekly rent to buy.

Using that as a guide you need to put down roughly a 40% deposit for the rent to equal the mortgage.

Are you sure you want to commit a 40% deposit into a falling market one month after arriving? Do you have a job sorted?

Zen10

A quick think about prices and houses that are about $400 a week to rent where I am are on the market for $650,000 - $700,000 so more like 1700 times here Never thought of it that way before.

RICH

Think slower - he said 1000 times MONTHLY rent

bingobob777

I did, but I meant weekly, thanks for pointing that out!! Will change my post.

Zen10

Ah thank heavens for that. I will sleep more easily once again, Rich! That puts the ratio at 437.

Zen10

Uh oh, we're back to sleepless nights.

bingobob777

No you won't

bingobob777

this thread is a disaster mostly caused by me, apologies

RICH

Sorry if I contributed to the confusion, jumping in from USA as I did.

Anyway for what it is worth, I live in Florida. I bought a house for $65k and pay $650 a month, inc mtg, tax & insurance. ie 1/100 the value per month.

If I were to rent it out I would expect about double ($1300 pm) rent. Interesting that a $650k+ house can rent for $400/wk where Zen10 is - exchange rates notwithstanding...

Zen10

USA views always welcome! They're nice old places a few streets from the ocean. Big, high ceilings, cool in summer - $400 a week to rent, but forget buying one for less than 600k +. The only way you would get one for under this is if they've been destroyed by bad tenants or let go by very elderly owners and a lot of work is required and they are rare gems on the market. One at the end of my street sold a few months ago for $750,000.

Units - $265 per week to rent and $300,000 to buy.