Truths and Lies (Houses)

We spent hours looking at houses on the Internet. The two main websites are domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. We choose houses in our budget to rent and had a look at them in Google Earth. There are a few things to understand that is important to your budget and to make your choices easier.

Houses are advertised with a weekly rent. It also stipulates a bond amount. The bond is the monthly rate. If the house is $300 per week, the bond may be $1250. This is for the month and if you pay monthly that will be the rate you are paying. This bond is also the deposit you have to pay to get the house, with the first months rent. For this example $2500. Please keep this in consideration when you work out your budget.

If you want to rent there is a few obstacles that may be very pricey. You can not rent a house without seeing it. Yes, you can not rent a house over the Internet, The estate agents would not allow that. If you have somebody in Melbourne that can do it on your behalve, its fine. Secondly the house viewings are at specified times and very short. Thirty minutes at a time. You can not view houses at any other time that is occupied. Empty houses viewed accompanied by the estate agent. Do not think that you will arrive in Melbourne, rent a house the next day and move in the next day. Everything takes time.

When you view a house, you do it with all other interested people. You can obtain lists of all the houses that will be on show on a specific day and the drive around looking at them from the street. Decide on those that you want to see and then visit them when they are open for inspection. BUY A GPS OR IF YOU HAVE ONE GET AN UPDATED AUSTRALIAN MAP OR RENT ONE AT THE AIRPORT. It is difficult to find, view and drive to all the properties, because as soon as one closes the other one opens for 30 minutes. When you decide on a property, you apply at the estate agent. You need to supply your passport, visa, proof of income, bank account and references. I will discuss references and bank accounts later. It is not first come, first serve. All applications goes to the owner to decide. Most of the viewing are on Saturdays so expect a delay. If you are successful the paperwork is done and you have to pay the deposit and first months rent. As soon as everything is signed and the estate agent has inspected the property you can move in.

This may take up to week. In the mean time you have to stay somewhere. That is where your budget comes in. We will look at accommodation later. Research for accommodation and find out about discounts for weekly or fortnightly stays. Negotiate rates. We have found a lot of Motels and furnished complexes that are cheap and clean and give you a bed to sleep on. I will provide a list in further articles.

Result: When you plan to rent, allow ample time and money in your budget to stay while you are waiting to move into your house. That is also applicable to your car, rent smart to allow time to have a car while you are looking for your new house and car.