aussie real estate ass pains
k, now i feel up to blurbing bitching about the real estate market here. i think that it's best that i do it in bullet points because there wont be any particular order to my blurbing bitching and i may get lost in my own blurbing if it don't.
as a disclaimer, i'm going to be making a lot of comparisons with US real estate because i have a little experience with it. i don't claim to be well informed in either area, though, so feel free to correct me if i'm wrong about something. and yes, i know it's not exactly fair to compare one country's real estate to another.
- one of the most baffling things about real estate here to me is that rentals are advertised in weekly payments. WEEKLY! in the US things are advertised in monthly payments and you generally pay your rent on a monthly basis. here? rental quotes are weekly but actual payment is every two weeks! why the hell don't they just quote fortnightly prices then?? i know this may seem like a little thing, but for someone who's use to looking at monthly figures weekly is really confusing... and it's not even like every month has the same number of weeks in it either, so it's not as easy as simple division or multiplication... also:
- RENT IS HIGH!!! atleast in Brisbane... $340/week for a 2 bedroom apartment anyone? in Japan i lived in a little box, but it was a reasonably priced little box at $155~/wk or $600/mo (we're talking AUD here btw). i can imagine paying that price for a more western-sized box in America. and yes, i know amenities, location etc figure into the cost of an apartment, but i really do think that you get more for your money in terms of living arrangements in America. in America your job'd pay you less but would get more for your $340/wk.
- compared to America and ESPECIALLY Japan, Brisbane hardly has any apartments. you may be thinking "so what?", but unless you are a family with kids would you normally be renting something else? for those people who don't need 2 or 3 bedroom places, the options you have here are very different from what they would be in America or Japan.
- for the above reason, house sharing is really common here. while a lot of young adults in America would move out of their parents' into a place of their own, here young adults move out into a shared place with friends or strangers.
- i might as well also mention my astonishment at hearing that it's also (supposedly) not uncommon for young couples to buy a house here. yes, young Americans also dream of owning their own home one day, but most don't get to that so quickly and it's not like interest rates here are low.
- in Brisbane (and all of Australia?) all individual apartment units have an owner who then contracts a real estate agency to rent out the apartment (unit) for them. this means that when you apply for an apartment your application is not only at the discretion of the agency but the owner as well. the agency recommends good applications to the owner who then makes the final decision, so while you may have an EXCELLENT application, the owner may turn you down just because they like someone else's better. in America this isn't the case. apartment buildings/complexes as a whole are owned by someone/some company and you simply apply directly for that apartment.
- the real estate market here is REALLY competitive! so competitive that when you call an agency to view a place you may be slotted to view the place with 5 other couples/people at the same time!
- the application process is ridiculous. in America, you stroll into the office of the apartment complex/real estate agent, fill out a form that's usually pretty simple and involves your credit history and leave. they process it and BAM! you're approved or disapproved. it's almost as easy as applying for a credit card! in Australia, the application is more like a resume and the process is more like applying for a job except without the interview. first you have to inspect(ie. view) the property, then you have to fill out a form that asks about your current and past employment & pay, your current and past tenancy WITH reference(s), list personal references (that are called!) and have to attach copies of several things proving your identity. what if you're new to country, are currently unemployed, have no Australian references or acceptable form of ID other than your passport?? ;(
- the majority of places up for rent here DON'T allow pets and if they do outdoor dogs seem to be the most common. in America a lot of places DO allow pets. hell, even some university dorms/apartments allow pets!
- when pets ARE allowed even THEY are subjected to the resume-like application process, ie. they need references specifically for them.
- as in Japan, in Australia you have to put down a large sum of money when you sign a contract to rent a place. in Japan that money is called "key money" and in Australia it's called a "bond".
k, the bullet points have gotten too long already, so i'll leave my bitching at that. in short, David saved my ass. if it weren't for him i would have had one hellava time finding a place to live long term here. :[
speaking of which, i have bad and good news! i still haven't found a job despite being even more desperate than ever... also, we'd applied for a 3 bedroom townhouse in a really REALLY awesome cat-friendly gated community but weren't approved despite having submitted what the real estate agent said was a nice application. the owner chose someone else. :( buuuuttt today David got a call from the agency of the second place that we'd applied to and we were approved!!! :DDD it's a nice, cat-friendly 2 bedroom apartment in a really convenient location. :] now if only i could find a job..... ;(( anyway, more on the new place to come. tomorrow we have to go into the agency's office to sign stuff and pay bond money.
i've uploaded 12 new photos to PANDAmories that consist of an early morning walk at Shorncliffe and a visit to a train model show. i haven't even uploaded photos from the Ekka (Queensland State Show) that was over a month ago now, but they'll be up shortly! ;(
tomorrow's day 3 at the RSPCA. :] wonder what i/we'll do since it's likely to be raining.