renting house in aus - any advice?

[hayleyhew]

We are moving to Sunshine Coast in Oz in May and will be looking for a house to rent. Can anyone tell us what info we will need to organise renting and how long it all takes? Think we need a couple of things of ID and 2 references? Does anyone know what sort of references?

Well, we were over in Oz about 5 years ago. We rented a beautiful apartment in Sydney. All we needed was our passports and an ozzie bank account. We paid our deposit and moved in. That's it!!

Once you move in, if there's anything you're not happy with (broken, damaged, not working or otherwise) make it known straight away or they could charge you for it when you move out. They do an inventory checklist when you move in and the same when you move out. They are VERY thorough, they even check to see if the cooker is as clean as when you first moved in!!! If it's not and you don't clean it before you leave, you don't get all your key money back!

And the sunshine coast - oh you lucky mare!!!! What bit? My Nan lives in Minyama (kind of near Noosa Heads.) Beeeeeeautiful!!

Hubby is going to study in Nambour - we are looking at staying in Maroochydore. Mixed emotions at moment struggling with thoughts of leaving family.

It's hard to leave family Hayley but I think you'll enjoy it here How long will dh be studying for?
We rented our place in November, and we had bank accounts here but no jobs or credit history here. I would bring either mortgage statements if you have your own place in the UK, or reference from your last landlord. Also very recent bank statements from the UK showing that you could pretty much cover 6mths rent if necessary. If you aren't working when you are househunting this will give the real estate some sense of security that you cover the rent for a longer period, without them being able to do a credit check on you. Bit of a rental shortage is some areas out here currently so be prepared if it takes you a bit longer than you expect to find something. The system here is different to the UK in that most rentals have open days, when all prospective tenants look around the property at the same time, and if you are interested you fill in an application form and the estate agent gets back to you within a week to let you know if you're successful.
Have you looked on here to get an idea of areas/price? realestate
Good luck

I live in maroochydore on the sunshine coast.
At the moment its very hard to find an affordable, decent place. Its all very much a competition with up to 20 couples/ familys appling for one house.
With the renting make sure on the entry condition report you write out EVERYTHING even if its smugde windows. Like mentioned before bring bank statements and letters for referees to say that you are reliable. Maroochydore and Mooloolaba are really nice places close to everything. everyone is relaxed.
Some personnal advice Primary school crt, school road and rigde road and generally around that area is know as the GHETTO and not vey nice place to live.
If you have anymore quetions or want to know a bit more about the area let me know, I will be happy to help

When you say letters for referees do you mean like solicitor and doctor referee letter? If we pay 6 months rent at beginning will this be better to get one?

sorry forgot to say - thanks loads for advice on which roads to avoid

I wouldn't pay that much up front, just in case you later decide you want to move before the lease expires, but it's good to make sure estate agents know you have the funds available.
References from your landlord in the UK, saying you're a reliable tenant who pays their rent and has looked after the property. Or if you're paying a mortgage, be able to produce your last few mortgage statements, showing you haven't missed a payment.

problem is we have missed 6 monthly payments - well we arranged with mortgage provider to do this - start paying again about now. By time we go though we will have about 15000GBP in bank as cashing in an endowment and when we sell house another 50000GBP. Bank statement at moment is not healthy - get the money mid April. Not sure what to do for best to ensure we get a house - only way I can see is paying up front?

If you're looking to buy in Maroochydore district, my gran is looking to do a house-Exchange (to sell not rent) to the UK. She want's to come home as she's 81!

I think she's looking for Essex as a swap though. She's got a massive 4 bed villa with a pool, family room, double garage etc. It's in Mooloolaba which comes under the Maroochydore district and it's beautiful. Short journey to the beach, and a short walk to the river.

sounds wonderful but we live in Nottinghamshire

So by the time you leave the UK you will have the funds you mentioned in your UK bank account? Even just the £15k from the endowment policy would be enough to show you could pay the rent if you weren't renting yet, as that is just over Aud$36,800
& if you had made arrangements to have a payment break from your mortgage, maybe bring the last statement available before the payment break started and then whatever documentation that the bank sent to approve your payment break, and that you started payments again when agreed. When you have no credit history in a new country, you can never have enough paperwork to back up what you're saying