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Renting or buying a house.
On arriving in Brisbane we had organised over the internet a short term rental of an apartment based
in Clayfield. This was an ideal location as it was 15 minutes from the airport, easy to find, 4K to the
CBD (15 minutes by car or 7 minutes by rail). The apartments were clean and contained crockery,
cutlery, bedding, washer, dryer, television, phone,etc. The owners were really helpful to us and we
stayed there for 3 weeks. It was called 'Hampton Court'.
in Clayfield. This was an ideal location as it was 15 minutes from the airport, easy to find, 4K to the
CBD (15 minutes by car or 7 minutes by rail). The apartments were clean and contained crockery,
cutlery, bedding, washer, dryer, television, phone,etc. The owners were really helpful to us and we
stayed there for 3 weeks. It was called 'Hampton Court'.
Useful website:
www.realestate.com.au
There is an excellent service I know of from a site called Brisbane Bound, they offer a meet and greet
service and have fully furnished houses to rent, they are definitely worth a look.
service and have fully furnished houses to rent, they are definitely worth a look.
We decided to rent initially, this would give us time to get to know an area and look at other areas too.
It also gave us time to get jobs and see what style of housing we liked. We are thinking of renting for
approximately a year and we will then buy a house. This works well because it is actually cheaper to
rent than to buy as you don't pay community charge or water rates when you are renting (unless your
water consumption is excessive).
It also gave us time to get jobs and see what style of housing we liked. We are thinking of renting for
approximately a year and we will then buy a house. This works well because it is actually cheaper to
rent than to buy as you don't pay community charge or water rates when you are renting (unless your
water consumption is excessive).
How do I rent for the first time? This was a question we had as we had never rented before and
the forms you download from the estate agents want references from previous landlords etc.
We provided contact details for two people we knew in Brisbane for them to ring as personal
references and also gave names of employers in the UK in case they wanted professional references
(they didn't use these).
We took in our passports so they could see our visa and also birth certificates.
We took in a copy of a bank statement to prove we could pay the rent as we were both unemployed.
We offered six months advanced rental payment but they agreed on three months rent in advance.
You are also expected to pay a bond of a months rent which is returnable providing everything is in
order when you move out.
the forms you download from the estate agents want references from previous landlords etc.
We provided contact details for two people we knew in Brisbane for them to ring as personal
references and also gave names of employers in the UK in case they wanted professional references
(they didn't use these).
We took in our passports so they could see our visa and also birth certificates.
We took in a copy of a bank statement to prove we could pay the rent as we were both unemployed.
We offered six months advanced rental payment but they agreed on three months rent in advance.
You are also expected to pay a bond of a months rent which is returnable providing everything is in
order when you move out.
Useful tip!
It may be a good idea to get a personal reference
from someone in the UK that you can give to the
agents when you're applying to rent a house.
It may be a good idea to get a personal reference
from someone in the UK that you can give to the
agents when you're applying to rent a house.
How do I apply for a house?
Naturally it is best to view a house rather than applying after you've only seen it on the internet, things
can be very different in reality.
You can either download an application form off the internet, or if you decide to apply the rental
agents will give you a form to complete, which you give back along with all the other documents they
require and then you wait.
Naturally it is best to view a house rather than applying after you've only seen it on the internet, things
can be very different in reality.
You can either download an application form off the internet, or if you decide to apply the rental
agents will give you a form to complete, which you give back along with all the other documents they
require and then you wait.
Will we get the house we apply for?
Unfortunately the answer to this is often "no".
This is a bazarre process, there is nothing you can do about it. You apply for the house, the agent
then feeds back the information to the owner along with information on other people who have also
applied, sometimes they wait until a certain date to see if others are interested too, then the owners
decide who they want. It's nothing personal, they've never met you or any of the other applicants but
they just then pick the one they like the sound of best. It;'s a strange process but it's what you have
to do!
We didn't get the first house we applied for and were gutted but we've ended up in a lovely house, it
all works out for the best in the end.
Unfortunately the answer to this is often "no".
This is a bazarre process, there is nothing you can do about it. You apply for the house, the agent
then feeds back the information to the owner along with information on other people who have also
applied, sometimes they wait until a certain date to see if others are interested too, then the owners
decide who they want. It's nothing personal, they've never met you or any of the other applicants but
they just then pick the one they like the sound of best. It;'s a strange process but it's what you have
to do!
We didn't get the first house we applied for and were gutted but we've ended up in a lovely house, it
all works out for the best in the end.
Useful info!
Rent is paid weekly, we rent a low set, brick house with 4 beds, 2 baths a laundry, family room,
lounge and double garage for $330 per week.
Ours is brand new so it's lovely that no one has lived there before, the down side is there are no
hooks on the walls etc. and the owners won't let us put any up unless they are adhesive so we have
lots of pictures that we like that we can't look at.
Ask about blinds in the bathrooms if there aren't any. We didn't and once in realised there weren't
any, we asked about having them and were told the windows were opaque. The are a minimal
opaque so i argued and was told (after 3 weeks) that if we wanted to put in blinds we had to pay for
them and could only put a certain type up. I decided not too and just have muslin up at the windows
which I have stuck to the top of the window frames (the same at the long window by the front door
which you can see on the picture in the about us section).
Renting is good though because if there's a problem it's up to someone else to sort out and pay for!
If you know you'll want Fox TV (sky equivalent) check before signing that the owners will let you put
up a dish.
I don't want these points to sound negative, but we had never rented before and we didn't know what
to look out for, these points would have helped us so I hope they help you too!
Rent is paid weekly, we rent a low set, brick house with 4 beds, 2 baths a laundry, family room,
lounge and double garage for $330 per week.
Ours is brand new so it's lovely that no one has lived there before, the down side is there are no
hooks on the walls etc. and the owners won't let us put any up unless they are adhesive so we have
lots of pictures that we like that we can't look at.
Ask about blinds in the bathrooms if there aren't any. We didn't and once in realised there weren't
any, we asked about having them and were told the windows were opaque. The are a minimal
opaque so i argued and was told (after 3 weeks) that if we wanted to put in blinds we had to pay for
them and could only put a certain type up. I decided not too and just have muslin up at the windows
which I have stuck to the top of the window frames (the same at the long window by the front door
which you can see on the picture in the about us section).
Renting is good though because if there's a problem it's up to someone else to sort out and pay for!
If you know you'll want Fox TV (sky equivalent) check before signing that the owners will let you put
up a dish.
I don't want these points to sound negative, but we had never rented before and we didn't know what
to look out for, these points would have helped us so I hope they help you too!
Copyright 2006 Karen Atkinson
Our
house!
house!