Moving to Australia - Rent or Buy a home?
Find out about First Home Owners Grant Schemes.

Renting a home

Although you're not planning to land yourself with the responsibilities of actual property ownership, renting is still an activity that demands rigorous attention to detail.

So, what should you know about renting to make it a happy experience? Whether long term or short term?

The information you require can be broken into:

The rental property you can afford

Three central costs are associated with renting, being:

1. Start-up costs:
   1. Your start-up costs are likely to include:  Bond payments, rental in advance, utility expenses (connecting to gas, telephone, electricity etc), your furniture, decorations,  kitchen utensils & linen. 
2. Periodic rental payments
3. Your day-to-day living costs

The type of accommodation you would like to rent

The type of accommodation you would like to rent , There is a wide range of renatl accomodation available, included are:

1. Private Rental
2. Boarding

Private rental is housig owened by eithre businesses or individuls and leased to tenants. As such, it is the most comon form of acccommodation for perople who do not own proprerty and are not eligble for assisted public hoisuing. Boarding is the act of renting a room, as distinct from renting or sharing a house or flat. Examples of this form of accommodation include self-contained residences in boarding/rooming houses and lodging in private houses often with a family. Rooming/boarding houses are covered by residential tenancy laws in most states of Australia. Lodgers, however, are not protected by any residential tenancy or discrimination laws.

The location you would like to rent in

You will undoubtedly have a preferred location to live according to your budget and lifestyle. Study the average rental values of the suburbs you prefer. Lifestyle is an important consideration. Take stock of the things that are important to you.

We do do suggest however that if you are well used to the more rural or regional surrondings that you consider that type of area to live in Australia also as there are excelent work opportunites in some more regional areas. Moving from a small North Island town to a big cirties like Sydney or Melbourne can be a culture shock - Do your homework and be prepared to look at different options.

Buying your New First Home in Australia & How to get your First Home Owners Grant.

 It is an important decision and not one to be taken lightly - choosing the area you want to live. Take your time and carefully consider what is it you are after from your desired location.

Deciding which area to look in for your first home is not necessarily as simple and obvious as it seems. You possibly have a firm idea of the location you wish to buy a property.

Some general considerations are constant when thinking about the location to look in for your first home – and generally involve a ranking in importance to narrow down location searches.

What is important to you?

1. How important is the lack of a commute to work?
2. Conversely, what are you prepared to trade off in commuting time for finding the ideal home?

Related to this consideration is assessing your proximity to public transport. In these times of increasing petrol prices and chaotic travelling costs, does the area you are looking at have reliable train lines, bus or tram routes or any other kind of public transport? The increasing demand for public transport is witnessing increasing premiums on real estate prices as well.

Convenience to other amenities such as:

1. retail outlets
2. medical and other service facilities

is a given for most young families; however, the trade-off for lifestyle and the wider open spaces may be more important for you.

Those of you with young families – or who are in the family planning stage – will find the availability of educational facilities of paramount importance. A word of advice – think long term. This means thinking across the whole educational spectrum:

Proximity to recreational facilities is also an important consideration when deciding where to buy. There will always be times you would rather be in an open tree-lined park rather than the centre of trendy, inner city living.

You could do worse than think what your favourite activities are away from work. Is living near the beach a greater priority for you, or would you be happier living nearer a decent library or possibly arts or cultural centre? It could be that a location handy to your gym or maybe tennis courts, swimming pools or sports stadiums are what is most important to you.

Where you would like to purchase a property?

First Home Owners Grant Scheme

The First Home Owner’s Grant (FHOG) scheme is a government-funded scheme that provides a non-means tested payment of $7,000 to eligible first home buyers looking for a place of residence.

1. Everyone with an interest in buying a home is considered an applicant
2. Customers remain eligible for the grant up to 12 months following settlement
3. The Scheme is not available for the purpose of Investment Home Loans

First Home Owner's Boost (FHOB)

For an opportunity to get ahead and be closer to purchasing your dream home, take advantage of the government’s financial assistance before 30th September 2009. First home buyers who qualify for the Federal Government’s $7,000 FHOG may also be eligible for the Federal Government's Boost scheme This would give you an additional $7,000 when you buy an established home, or an additional $14,000 if you build or purchase a newly constructed home.

To find out more about all these topics get  your E Book
"Move to Aus Now" - The Guide for Kiwis by Kiwis.

Check Out these great sites for more information and thousands
of homes to rent or buy throughout Australia.

Visit -  www.realestate.com.au   or  Visit -  www.domain.com.au