Renting property in australia

riddik

Hey all,

Can anyone familiar with australian laws clarify what documents or other requirements would be needed to rent a house or apartment? Victoria in particular [we're heading to melbourne]. An aussie mate of mine has said her dad's mate [ still resident in oz] will be our guarantor for renting so I'm just trying to find out whether or not a guarantor is necessary as such, and again, what other things we'll need?

Slightly off topic... just like about 75% of everyone else who posts in this forum, im planning on moving to Australia. Would the mod think its a good idea to set up one comprehensive sticky to stop all the small questions just like these? Surely there's a few people in the know that could submit some information to cut down on all these individual posts?

Faith

Eh yeah, that's probably a decent idea, but I know fock all about moving to Australia and I really haven't time right now to compose a thread by trawling through all the old threads. I'll see what I can do about it.

riddik

ah yeah it was just an idea, anyone know bout the original property question?

thanks

daveg

Faith wrote:

Eh yeah, that's probably a decent idea, but I know fock all about moving to Australia and I really haven't time right now to compose a thread by trawling through all the old threads. I'll see what I can do about it.

I posted some relevant info about the Skilled migration visa here if you want to extract for a sticky http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055066890

man1

Have a look here you should get an answer. Good luck.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54&order=desc

Jagera

Like a lot fo formal applications in the country (bank, video store, etc), estate agents use the 100 points system. so your passport is worth 75, drivers licence is 20, that kind of thing. However from a rental point of view, items showing good credit & rental worthiness give higher points. e.g. a letter from your employer showing how much you earn & how long you've been there, previous rental docs (payment receipts, references)

Don't think a gaurantor is necessary.

pucan

A gaurantor may be neccessary as you will have no rental or credit history in the country.
Other than that you may need an aussie credit card as some agencies charge the rent through your card every month.
Passport as getting an aussie drivers license may take a whil.

Thats all i needed.
ANd a months bond obviously.

billramsay

I haven't rented myself for a couple of years, but this extract from an Agent site pretty much sums up my experience:

"A Tenancy Application be completed in full and supported by 100-points identification;
Copies of documents providing evidence of proof of income, proof of employment and proof of address;
All applicants be checked against databases of defaulting tenants and rental references be obtained from previous property managers to ascertain their suitability as tenants; and
All tenants income be evaluated to determine if they are able to afford the rental payments. "

The rental market close to Melbourne city is pretty strong, especially apartments. Potential tenants often offer more than the asking price to secure a property. That said, there are plenty of overseas students and backpackers renting - depending on your circumstances it might be easier to go into an existing share.

By the way, rentals in Australia are almost always unfurnished, which might be different from other places.

Good luck.