Heathertoes

With a bit of luck we too should be shouting Yipee and Got It in the not so distant future. But we would appreciate anyone's advice/experience with regards to buying property whilst on a SIR Visa.

We are under the impression that we HAVE to buy a new property that has NEVER been occupied OR build a brand new home ourselves. Or are we totally wrong and we have to rent for the duration?

If we have to get a new house does anyone know whether we would be entitled to the Gov's 1st time buyer's grant? I think its about $7K which would be helpful.

Thanks for your anticipated help guys!

Heather

Perthforme

They way i understand it is unless you have PR visa then yes you can only buy a new place and you will have to get permission from the foreign investmemt board.
Dont think you will get the A$ 7k grant though

Heathertoes

Many thanks for that - that's what I love about this forum...you might be in the dark....but not for long!!

Pity about the $7K though - I suppose you can't have it all!

Perthforme

Could be wrong about the A$7k maybe some one else can confirm?

JAJ

For the first home grant, try http://www.firsthome.gov.au
You'll probably find it's limited to citizens and PRs. SIR visa holders are not PRs.

Why not rent initially and look to buy when your PR has been sorted out down the line? Many migrants rent at the beginning in any case.

Jeremy

Heathertoes

Thanks Jeremy for the link. We were planning on renting to start with, but certainly wouldn't want to do that for the long haul, even so its still massively cheaper than anything over here.

Heather