BUY PROPERTY—INTERNATIONAL BUYER SERVICE: We buy investment property in Australia for international customers
With economic and political stability and consistent growth in Australia, our property market is extremely sought-after by investors from other countries.
With a great lifestyle and high standard of living, Australia is experiencing increasing migration and growth in its population. Because of this, most capital cities have a shortage of housing, and demand is consistently strong. So investing in property in Australia, particularly in its major cities, gives overseas buyers like you great potential for excellent financial returns.
And the good news is that investing in Australia is much more feasible than in other sought-after countries such as the UK or US, which have more restrictive policies for foreign property investment.
Australia’s robust consumer protection laws, as well as responsible banking regulations and favourable foreign investment legislation allow you to set up a safe financial nest egg in this country.
What you need to know
All it takes to get started is to familiarise yourself with the requirements, and prepare well.
- Plan and budget: Budget for approximately 5% of the buying price to cover expenses involved in buying your property. These expenses include stamp duty, foreign citizen stamp duty, legal fees, loan fees, insurance, rates and FIRB fees (see below for more). Make sure you seek to buy only what you can afford.
- New dwellings only: Since 2015, Australian laws have been introduced which mean non- resident, non-citizen buyers may only invest in new housing, off-the-plan, or housing under construction. Alternatively, you may buy vacant land that must be developed within a defined timeframe.
- FIRB: This legislation from 2015 also requires you to get approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). This is a quick process which normally takes less than two weeks.
Get your team together
Engaging the services of these professionals will help you have a smooth experience:
- Conveyancer or Solicitor: these professionals can carry out legal searches, check over the contract before signing, and oversee the legalities of the ownership transfer, right through to settlement.
- Specialised mortgage brokers: There is a small number of mortgage brokers in Australia who specialise in servicing foreign investors. They can help you meet the lending criteria requirements in Australia and guide you towards the lowest rates available for foreign investors.
- Accountant: you may like to engage an Australian accountant to help you minimise your tax by structuring your finances favourably. The accountant can also help you prepare your annual tax return from a report gathered by the leasing manager of your property.
- Buyers Agents: If you don’t want to carry out the research or buying process on your own, it is wise to use a buyers’ agent. Acting entirely on your behalf, their services will mean you won’t have to visit Australia in person to buy the property and will give you confidence that the process gets carried out correctly.
Why choose Providence Property as your Buyers’ Agent?
Quite simply, we do everything on your behalf. We are your 100% independent buyers’ agents with decades of experience advocating for international buyers just like you.
We can assemble the team of professionals mentioned above and manage them for you, carry out extensive research on suitable properties (or planned properties), find the right opportunities, and facilitate the entire purchasing process from start to finish.
At Providence Property, we give you the peace of mind of selecting the right property to invest in.
We do this by vetting the vendor’s credibility, past performance, previous build quality, previous completion times, and overall risk profile of buying a new off-the-plan property from a developer.
We also validate the sale price to ensure the vendor is not selling at an inflated price based on a future completion date.
How will we work together?
Here is what you can expect when you work with us:
1) Ask for a no-obligation free initial consultation with us to find out how we can facilitate the entire buying process for you. We can speak via Skype, Zoom or on the telephone.
During this call, we get to know your individual circumstances, go through the requirements, and sketch out an individual plan for moving forward. We also let you know the costs involved so you are fully informed.
2) If you agree to our plan, we sign an exclusive agreement for XX months and you pay an up-front engagement fee.
3) If you already have external professionals such as mortgage brokers or accountants in Australia, we can get in touch with them so we can coordinate their processes. We structure this so your only point of contact will be us, making the whole process easier for you.
Alternatively, we can recommend trusted professionals in these fields. Please note that fees for all external professionals is separate to our fees: our role is one of coordination only.
4) We then research all the best buying opportunities for new and future dwellings according to the brief and budget we agreed on with you. We look into all aspects of a developer’s history such as quality of the build, completion times and other important risk factors.
A price analysis is made to determine the true market value of the property to ensure the vendor is not asking for an inflated price, and ongoing costs and expected rental returns are researched. All this is provided to you in an easy-to-understand report in which we explain why we recommend a particular project.
5) We consult with you about our findings and answer any questions.
6) If you would like to go ahead with the purchase, we do everything on your behalf to complete the sale, including liaising with the solicitor to get compulsory FIRB approval, working with the sales agent, and arranging a pre-settlement inspection using an accredited company. All the way through to settlement.
As your 100% independent buyers’ agent, we are committed to making the best possible purchase with conditions that favour you.
7) The balance of the fees owing are to be paid within a week of the exchange of contracts.
What’s Next?
After settlement, and once the building has been completed, we can get you in touch with an appropriate real estate managing agent who offers reasonable fees and has a good reputation to lease the property for you.
This property manager will gather all the financial information you need once a year to file your annual tax return in Australia, making this simple for you.
Proven results
With a proven track record of outstanding results, at Providence Property, we are committed to helping you make informed decisions based on research and current market data, and an in-depth knowledge of the real estate market.
Now there is no need for you to guess, and no need for you to visit Australia to confidently purchase property here.
Where do you begin?
Contact us for your initial free consultation by filling out this contact form or call us on 1300 252 550. We look forward to working with you soon.