Job market super bad. Many jobless. $550 per week is common for a house in the city

I kinda agree of DIY thing. Malaysian tend to think that going thru agent got 'lobang' to get PR (Eventhough i used agent).
After gone thru the whole process, i realise it's so easy to get PR if you meet the requirement and actually my agent shaking his leg. Giving wrong info to me somemore and i screw him. I won't engage agent but due to workload, i have no choice have to take 1.
Engage agent is for someone who have difficulties in english or non-native speakers. If you understand english, then no point to engage coz DIAC websites info is quite clear (Not like our government website bring you to Holland!) haha...

Go alone 1st, after settle down then bring family. If not, will suffer

You're right! Just came back from there last week. Rental is ridiculous! How to recoup, i also asking same question.

Having said that, their meaning of 'not furnished' will still consist of basic things like kitchen cabinets, stoves with hood, carpet, basic bathroom furniture, window blinds, Air-con & dishwasher (if you're lucky) etc....

Renting here is a world apart compared to back home, you'll subject to an inspection by the agent/owner about every 3 months, you'll have to clean the whole house before they inspect or else risk getting your bond deducted or even black listed.

This post has been edited by rg470: May 9 2013, 04:07 PM

Then all you need to do is compile your document and apply. As long you meet their requirement, the fastest will be 6mths

Buy instead of rent, with the interest rates now record low, no point puting your $$ in term deposits.

You're right! Need reference somemore!
Piece of advice, always take pics before moving in or signing anything coz my friend kena once on the house whereby there's defect which it's already there before they move in! End up have to pay!

Haha, that's where your building inspection report comes into play when you first move in. You'll need to jot down every little defect in the report, and submit it to the agent. Make a copy of the report before you send if possible coz' mine never return a copy for me (by right they should). Lucky me

Yeah, my last week trip actually went down to south perth looking for new house. It's damn beautiful and kinda cheap (land+house @ AUD350k)
Dollar to dollar, i think it's reasonable. Developer even give you special price on showunit and rent from you with return 8%. It's a bargain!
All you need to do is secure a job 1st, submit in 20% downpayment (to avoid stupid insurance cover banks which pay by you). Weekly repayment is lower than AUD500 and the house is yours.
But have to bear in mind that utility cost consist of council fees (AUD1000+), water annual fees (AUD900) which exclude monthly bills.
After calculate, your salary must at least hit AUD100K to live moderately.
Yeah, sounds nice but back to square one, MUST SECURE JOB 1ST!!!

You're right mate! Mind telling which suburb you were looking? I was looking at Canning Vale, Harrisdale area but the accessibility is a problem if you need to drive to the city to work, heavy traffic. Unfortunately, the taxes here are getting higher & higher and utilities rates are increasing almost 6% every freaking year! I guess the only thing I can shout about is I get to save like $40k p.a together with my wife, but that's with no kids & mortgage.

I was looking at Canning Vale too. Went to their show village in southern river and newhaven piara waters. Even went to older places like Willeton, Bullcreek and Gosnell area. Houses is freaking beautiful and price is reasonable. Just that tax and transport is a problem.
Yeah, accessibility is a problem. My friend have to take bus like 1 hour to reach office. Driving is not advisable.
I did some research during my trip there and went to check on the bank loan. This downpayment thing is something have to think about. BAnk offers 90% loan but have to buy insurance to cover bank incase you can't pay. Actually that insurance pay for nothing! The best is save 20% for downpayment and get a house to avoid insurance.
South Perth got so many asians especially chinese and indians. Even got indian temple somemore which surprise me!
Well, i think above suburb is very nice.
Armadale is the worst, many Abo living there causing trouble.

Well, many people thinks that engaging agent will create lobang for you. Sorry, Ozzie don't buy this. Angmoh is straight forward.
If you can understand english, no point of engaging agent, waste of money. Agent only meant for people example japanese/korean/chinese (china) or someone who really can't understand english language from their home country.
I don't find my agent useful as they shaking legs all the time only until i screw them then only they work.

Buy a house near the train station & bus station, can save buying car (if you don't do road trips ). My banker advised me to play safe, take a maximum of 70% only, just in case if shit happens, you never know. I think medical & income insurance is very important, especially people like me starting a family. The only problem now is I have yet to have the amount for that 20-30% downpayment, not to mention others fees like stamp duty, settlement agent fees etc etc..... Avoid the subburbs in the east and south east, lots of goverment housing filled with Abos.

You're right. But do bear in mind near train station also got those hinky panky people loitering around. I think, park your car there, take bus or train.
Your banker is right. In order to reduce the risk on the repayment issue, it's the safest but how many can fork out 20-30% downpayment??
My situation is that i have 2 kids here and yeah i have two condo units. Even i sell off 1 of the unit only can turn out like 15% only after conversion.
1st homebuyers (FHOG) got this AUD7k given by government which i think can settle lawyer fees. I think the agent fees can settle thru top up loan.
I think you case is much simpler than mine. now i need to scratch my head how to get job 1st, relocate children, looking for house...

Don't choose a house right opposite the station lah, else you get the train to "wake" you up everyday A house within 10 minutes walking distance to any train/bus station will be just fine. You might also want to choose a house within reputable school zones, for e.g. in Perth high schools like Rossmoyne, Willetton & Applecross are one of the popular top schools here. You don't hire a lawyer here, we hire a Settlement Agent where he will do all the necessary submition of documents & fees, but they'll charge around $1500. Have a look below an example of the breakdown of the fees and charges:

v Purchase Price $939,000.00
v Our Standard Fee ($2,343.35 less 50.93% inc GST) $1,150.00 (Settlement agent fee)

Government Fees
v Stamp Duty $39,474.00 (4% of purchase price)
v Registration Fee $350.00
v Title Searches $84.00
v Water Corporation Enquiry Fees $41.35
v Approximate Local Authority Enquiry Fee $65.00
v Land Tax Enquiry Fee $35.00
v Clause 42 Enquiry Fee $25.00
v Approximate Landgate Fees $30.00
v Total GST on Disbursements $35.54

Disbursements
v Bank Cheque Fee $10.00
v Postage $25.00
v Telephone $25.00
v Photocopies and Miscellaneous $15.00

Total:980,364.89

You'll also have other optional things like building & pests inspection fees if you're not buying a brandnew property, which will costs you about $600.

Great info you got there! Wow,900K house is very much expensive. I think i'll aim for 500k below. Stamp duty shall waive for 1st home buyer below that. While other fees i think is unavoidable. I think can use 7k to settle (based on FHOG scheme)
Yeah, school reputation affecting the property price nearby. Some rundown houses selling crazy price at 700-800k, CRAZY!!!
I even went to Thornlie area saw a very lousy house. When i walked in, the house is like a garbage collection centre in KL. Agent told me that they got the new plan approved to tear down the house and rebuild in a 4 unit apartment. Price? Building cost AUD 1mil net. land price 370k.
Since i'm in construction, 1million is too expensive. the most is below 800k, agent and contractor wanna earn high profit like 40%??hmm...

Haha, that's someone else's house, I just used it for example. The house is 700sqm, old but renovated with pool, in one of the high school zones mentioned. Building costs here is very different from Malaysia, for one you can't just simply hire a few bangla and do it, lots of rules and red tapes. Wages are one of the highest. One tip, since you say you're in the construction line. If you can't find a job after sometime, self-employ as a tradie here(blue collar jobs), I know a certified plumber here earns easily $150k p.a.

Hmm...good idea. Will consider that. Yeah, getting bangla is a problem. That's why DIAC restrict skilled labour for giving opportunity to locals. This could maintain their salary without underpay.

I know welder is a high pay blue collar job. I knew a welder who work in Ozzie earning like AUD200k/pa while driving Mercedes. Damn, I don't care if working under the sun or wat, if the money is good, why not?

Ozzie construction industry is totally different from here. I went to their site on the new houses, saw very little people working and took 8mths to complete 'a' house. This is very slow progress. I know Ozzie is a laid back country and this is the culture i guess. Can't complain.
My plan is maybe buy a land and build a house of my own. But land price is totally expensive now. Southern River cost like 250k-300k @ 500sqm.
If include building cost budgeting 250k, i think you'll get lower price from buying from developer. At least you can save like 10%.
Developer try to attract buyers with gimmicks which i don't think attractive enough coz those appliances or whatsoever item you get cheaper in the market.

I know a Singaporean couple who bought land & build the house themselves without signing up a package with a builder. At the end of the day, they told me it's not worth it as it just takes up too much time, took him 2 years from start to end the of the day he got the keys & CF officially. If you really want to save, buy a land yourself, sign-up a package with a builder, try not to change the layout from the original design as you will incur extra costs for any changes. In this way you get goodies like kitchen appliances & centralised A/C which is good & useful. On top of that, you get builder's warranty which usually go up to 10-20 years, warranty is transferable so if you sell less than say 20 years you can sell for more.

A typical house takes around 10-12 months to build from the ground here.