# renting for first time in melbourne with immigrant partner



## grailmoth (Jun 20, 2016)

My partner is Irish and lives in Ireland. He is just beginning the process of applying for a skilled independant visa to move to Australia through SkillSelect. He currently has a job in Ireland as a software engineer and has enough money saved up to live on in Australia until he gets a job here.

I'm a (100% Australian) full-time student with a part-time job that doesn't pay very much, but I've nearly finished my studies and by the time my partner gets his visa I hope to have a full-time job so I can contribute to paying rent. I live in Melbourne which is where my partner would be moving to.

We want to move in together once my partner migrates, but neither of us have rented before and are not sure how we will meet the Australian rental requirements. 

I understand there's some kind of points system that requires you to provide Australian ID but my partner won't have any Australian ID when he arrives (unless this is somehow provided when the visa is granted?). 
Also, I assume we will both need to be in the rental contract and both provide documentation for the points system?

It's all rather overwhelming which is why I'm researching early on in the process. Any advice would be much appreciated.


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## travalla (Oct 19, 2016)

As long as one of you are Australian you shouldn't have too much trouble with the paperwork. My gf is from overseas and we did it all in my name and the real estate company had no qualms.

At the end of the day they're gonna want to have you move into one of their houses so just call them and talk to them and be honest and you'll be fine. Another good tip is to just find a house/apartment with little to no competition (as in you're the only visitor at the open/inspection day) as they'll be much more inclined to let you rent it if they're struggling to find renters.


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## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

Most real estate agents need the names of anyone (over 18) in the property to be on the lease.

There is a lot of demand for rentals in most places, and the real estate agents choose the tenants that appear to be the easiest and the best for them.

Migrants from Overseas tend to be looked at with caution, but then it depends on the country they come from (with respect to financial aspects). Ireland is unlikely to be a problem though, especially if a bank statement with sufficient funds is shown to the Real Estate agent, at first meeting.

Sometimes that bank statement can push a person to the front of the queue, depending on the balance  [Money talks]

Have a look at this: Buying, selling or renting property | australia.gov.au

Oct 2016: The proportion of vacant properties in metro Melbourne is about at 2.5 per cent, (_the lowest for 5 years_) and at 2.6 per cent in regional Victoria. REIV - Vacancy Rates


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## TheFluff (Oct 31, 2016)

If you're a student and he's only going to be just getting on his feet, I'd look at share housing if I were you.

Renting in Melbourne is ULTRA competitive, and if you have no rental history, it's gonna be hard. You're gonna be up against people who have long rental histories, with stable long term income etc.

Going into an existing sharehouse also free's you of the commitment of a 12month lease in case you don't like the area, or your jobs end up being on the other side of the river. You can use sharehouse as reference, you can even look at getting put on the lease once you're in.

ID points is hard for a non-resident with little history.

My partner has been in Australia for 3 months and we were renting from a friend who owned the house and he had a full time job in a trade and we struggled to make up the 100points of ID required for him.

If you MUST go into a rental on your own, outer burbs are your better bet, but not in boom areas. Inner suburbs you have no hope. There was appartments open in collingwood the other weekend that had THOUSANDS of people queueing up around the block to view them and people were offering between $50-$200 more a week AND saying they were willing to do 2+ year leases.


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