When you move to Australia, one of the top things popping up in your mind will be how to rent your first home.
Many of us come to Australia without a job and no one would like to take extra burden of finding a suitable rental accommodation.
Many people face lots of issues as there are no property viewing scheduled when they are free or they are not sure where they can find a property that suits their budget and this list is unending.
This ultimate step-by-step guide will help you understand the facts related to renting a property and provide a list of actions you must take to find your rental property.
Understand What CBD and Suburbs are –
In Australia the downtown or the central business district(CBD) has the name of city; while the areas around the CBD are called as suburbs.
Every suburb has its own Council or Municipality .
Click here to view the list of suburbs in the major cities of Australia
So when it comes to rent, it is always higher in the CBD than in the suburbs.
Based on facilities like schools, public transport etc the rental cost of areas may vary.
Type Of Rental Properties
In Australia you’ll commonly find two types of rental properties “Apartment” and “House”.
An apartment is a block in a multi-storey building. Whereas a house is an independent property built on land. Houses can be an independent house, strata unit or a town house.
Apartments are usually found around the CBD or in suburbs closer to the CBD. Houses are more commonly found in suburbs outside the CBD.
Rent for apartments in or close to CBD is higher than that of houses in suburbs which are not very close to CBD.
The type of property depends solely on your personal preferences but there are few points that you should consider before making any decision.
Checklist For Property Selection
1. What type of property would you like? An apartment or a house.
2. Minimum number of rooms required.
3. Minimum number of parking spots required.
4, Do you want to stay in/close to CBD?
5. Do you want to stay in a suburb?
6. Do you have children?
a. If you have children
– For working parent/s select a property which has a day care center close by and is close to your work location.
– select a property which has schools nearby if you have children who attend school.
7. The location selected has a good public transport network.
8. Railway station is nearby and it has enough parking (Since car parking is expensive in CBD, mostof the people park their vehicles at the train station and take train to work)
9. The location has low crime rate.
10. Supermarket is nearby.
Checklist-for property selection
How to search for the properties –
1. Find Online
In Australia the rental property business is driven by online property listing portals.
Here are few popular rental property search portals –
Real Estate Australia
Domain
2. Look For Signs
Most of the times the property agents or owners put a sign-board saying “Available For Lease” or “Available To Rent” with the contact details outside the property. You can keep an eye for signs and if you find anything suitable just go ahead and contact the property agent for property viewing.
3. Real Estate Agents
There are many real estate agent who deal with the rental properties. You can get in touch with these agents and ask them to find a suitable property for you.
4. Other Sources
Sometimes these properties are featured in the advertising section of the newspaper.
What are the rights of a tenant/prospective tenant?
1. Property Viewing –
Any prospective tenants can inspect a property multiple times.
Most of the times the property agent or owner gives you a specific time slot for inspection.
2. 100 point Check –
The 100-point check for identification is a personal identification system that is widely used all over Australia to establish and verify an individual’s identity.
Tenants need to go through 100 points check before signing the final agreement.
Read this to know everything about 100 points check
3. In-going property reports –
You can ask for the in-going report to check if there are any issue with this property. This document has the state of the property.
4 . You can click photos of the property –
If you think anything needs to be repaired you can bring that to the notice of the agent or the owner. This is very important because at the end of your tenancy, the property manager will conduct another inspection and compare the state of property. Any damage or degradation to the property will be deducted from the bond you lodged to secure the tenancy.
Understand more about leasing a property
Types of lease –
Fixed Term
A fixed term lease is for a set period of time (6 months or 12 months). At the end of fixed term contract the tenant can either sign a new fixed term contract or same contract may be rolled-over.
Periodic Lease
This is commonly known as month-on-month lease. When a fixed term lease ends the tenant usually signs a periodic lease. A tenant on a periodic lease does not have to sign a new fixed-term lease, although if they don’t, they risk the security of their tenancy.
The typical lease outline has these pointers –
– The amount of rent and how it is to be paid
– The type and length of the lease
– The bond amount
– Conditions and rules
Do you still have any queries about renting in any city in Australia? Do not worry now your Friendly Moving Guide Chalo Australia is here to help you.