Renting and Financing Question

[Shaundike]

Hi All,

 

I have two questions I hope you can help with.

 

1. How difficult is it to secure a rental (house) when you have just arrived in Aus and are only starting your first job without any references etc?

 

2. If you don't have the funds to purchase a car cash, are you able to get finance and if so are their any limitations etc when doing so?

 

TIA

[RedPanda]

With regards to the rental, I think it helped us that we could give them a reference from our rental in South Africa. We didn't have any trouble securing a rental without work. Some of the other forumites have said that offering a month or two of rent in advance also helps.

From our brief discussion with car finance, it will probably be difficult to secure a car loan without work. But there must be people who have done it. So just wait for someone else to pipe up  

[Riekie]

Depends on where you're heading.  Sydney's renting market is very competitive at the moment and you'll often have 10 or more families attending open home inspections and there may be only two or three good properties meeting your requirements available for a whole postcode!  

 

In preparation:

 

Get a referral letter from your South African employer

 

Keep your payslips from your South African employer

 

If you're renting, get a referral letter and rent statement from your current agent

 

If you own your home, get statements on your mortgage showing your payment history & if you’ve sold or are selling your home, also get a copy of the sale/settlement document

 

If you’re going to close your South African Bank Account – get statements for the last 12 months on all of them before you do that (it’s an absolute nightmare getting statements on anything in South Africa after you’ve closed or cancelled it – they simply don’t give a rat’s ass…)

 

Keep copies of your council rates and other utility bills going back at least 6 months

 

It won’t hurt to get a character reference from your longstanding neighbour confirming you’re an absolute pleasure to share a fence with

 

Search on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au to get an idea of what’s available in the areas where you’re looking.  It will give you a pretty good idea of what you’ll get for your buck and if something is overpriced in comparison etc.  You’ll also get an idea of the availability in certain areas and what the vacancy rate is. 

 

Once you start actively looking for places to rent:

 

Apply online for the first property that looks half decent so you can get your application assessed and approved and your foot in the door with that agent.  (Once you’re approved as a client, you’re one step ahead of everyone else who submits their applications after viewing a property). If you possibly can, go hand deliver your application to the agency prior to the open home. Go view that half decent property, speak to the agent, introduce yourself, ask if they’ve received/reviewed your application and if there’s anything else they need from you in order to approve it. Let them know you’re VERY serious about renting and will do whatever it takes to secure a property that suits your needs (including starting your lease a week earlier or offering a longer rent period than what the landlord requires if that is what you’re willing to do). If this half decent place isn’t what you want (which probably it would not be) – let the agent know what you’re looking for that this property does not offer and that you’d appreciate if they’d let you know of any upcoming open homes which would be suitable.  Sign up for their property alerts.  Do this for all the agents in the area you’re looking in. 

 

You can also sign up for the realestate or domain web alerts but not all properties are listed there and agents often will hold a property for a few days as they may have potential renters or they know they’ll get it rented before it is advertised. 

 

Deal with the agents individually and directly.  It is important to know that the agencies, although they may belong to the same group, are franchises and each principal have their own rules and preferences and their own website with their own listings.

 

These are the documents you’ll need for your application, whether you submit it online or in person:

 

 

Copy of passport

 

Copy of Drivers Licence

 

Medicare Card

 

Bank Statements

 

Rent Statements/Mortgage Statements

 

Payslips or Contract of Employment (if you don't have payslips for your current employer yet)

 

Utility Bills

 

References (someone to physically contact) – usually a person you work with, your employer to confirm employment, previous renting agent, and a person who knows you that you’re not related to. You need to provide their name, phone number and email address. 

 

Written References (optional, but handy)

 

Have all the documents ready and submit them together.  Don’t submit an incomplete application.  The more substance your application has, the greater your chance to secure the lease.

 

Our success story:

 

 

We’ve been renting a property in a lovely area and the owner just informed us (4 weeks before Christmas!) that he is selling it.  Although there are laws to protect us in this situation, we needed to find another place to rent super quick! This is how it went down:

 

Monday morning – the agent informs us that the owner is selling the property

 

Tuesday morning – I see a property we quite fancy (one of only 3 properties meeting our requirements in our area and the only one which looks half decent).  I immediately submit an online application directly to the agent with all the bells and whistles included.

 

Tuesday afternoon – We meet the agent at the property who told us, we’ve got it if we want it.

 

Tuesday evening – I see a property JUST listed by another agent - exactly what we want and in the building literally just across the street.  Perfect! The inspection is Thursday afternoon. I immediately submit an online application directly to the agent with all the bells and whistles included. 

 

Wednesday morning – At 9:00 I’m at the agency of property 2, introduce myself and hand her a printed copy of our application.  I let her know that I’m so serious about this property that I’ll pay a deposit before we view it (by law they cannot accept a deposit before the client saw the property, but she got the message that I meant business). 

 

Thursday afternoon - I’m first in the door at the inspection and while everyone else was still oohing and aahing about it, I tell the agent I want it.  She says we’re good to go, having already assessed our application and she only needs my written confirmation that we want to proceed. I get home 3 minutes later and send her my written confirmation.

 

Friday – We get the call that the place is ours! We let the agent of property 1 know that we won’t proceed with the lease.  

 

It took us all of 3 days to secure two rental properties by front-loading our application, making sure we have all our supporting documents ready to submit at any time (carry it around on a USB if you have to!), introducing ourselves in person, getting the message across that we are serious and ready to commit and by not being pushy or a pain in the butt.  

 

You have to have all your ducks in a row!

 

[RedPanda]

@Riekie, if I could LOVE your post I would!!!
That is such a comprehensive post I wonder if you shouldn't pin it somewhere?    

[Husky]

Agreed @RedPanda

Thank you @Riekie for taking the time to share your detailed tips. We have owned our home for 15 years so am still concerned how we prove we will be good tenants. Anyone have an answer to the car financing question? 

[Waylander]

There is another thread somewhere regarding rentals - with lots of good ammo in it to add to Riekies stuff above - just do a search.

 

Regarding the Car Finance - they will need 3 payslips, generally you will need to be out of probation employment (Aussie uniqueness, most Aussie employment contracts have Probation clause [normally 3 months, mine was 6 months, some Government jobs can be 12 months] - which have reduced notice periods and basically give the Company an easy "out" if you are not suitable. Once you pass Probation in a Permanent Role you are pretty well covered by Labour Law and it is tough for the Coy to get rid).

 

 I think most finance providers will finance both private and dealer purchases - I think the benchmark is car cannot be older than 10 years (may vary between providers - but not longer than 10 years) at end of finance contract.

 

Interest rate on Car Finance is pretty high compared to Mortgage rate.   There are also brokers like Aussie Car Loans that do the same thing as Aussie Home Loans/Mortgage Choice etc - and push your application to multiple providers.

 

That being said you can get a pretty decent car for $4000 or $5000 here - just to start you off.  And, certain locations you do not even need a car.......

 

 

[bbop]

We only needed the contract stating we had work in order to get finance for a car before by other half even started working, but cheap 2nd hand cars are everywhere (private sales). Regarding rentals, we secured a property from outside Australia without viewing or providing bank statements ect, just proof of ID and a rental reference from the Compound Manager which just confirmed we did not own the property and we did not have to pay rent or have inspections ect. We had ho references they could contact. This was in Alice Springs though.