Overseas Buyers

Buy your home or investment property in Sydney with confidence using the local professionals. 

Australian expatriates returning to Australia from overseas postings, and those looking to buy investment properties, will find our services of particular importance and assistance. We also help immigrants to locate their new homes, and give advice on Sydney's best suburbs for a variety of budgets.

Homesearch Solutions has acted on behalf of numerous expatriate Australian buyers of Sydney property from many parts of the world, particularly from the following major financial capitals:

Singapore		Hong Kong
Shanghai		London
New York		Dubai

Our experience and organisational strengths can enable you to buy in Sydney with confidence, either as a future home or investment property.

Our services for remote buyers are similar to those for Sydneysiders (refer Services and Fees), and in particular we provide the following:

• Photographs (internal, external & aerial) and floor plans - these can be emailed to the client to assist in their decision making
• Database of street and/or suburb recent comparable sales, as well as area information and demographics 
• Where purchase is “sight-unseen” by the buyer, arrangements can be made with buyers’ family/associates to inspect.
• Arrangements can be made with local solicitors to assist in the property purchase eg. trust accounts and limited powers of attorney.
• Recommendations for and arrangement of property management can be undertaken for investment properties.

Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) Restrictions

If you are an Australian citizen, or a foreign national holding a permanent residence visa, there are no restrictions on purchasing real estate in Australia.

Visa Holders

You are entitled to purchase selected real estate in Australia if you hold a temporary residence visa that allows you to remain in Australia for a continuous period of longer than 12 months. All applications to purchase Australian real estate must be submitted to the FIRB for their approval before purchase is permitted. Homesearch Solutions can process all of the paperwork on your behalf.

Non Visa Holders

Foreign interests are normally given approval to buy in the following 2 categories:

“Off the plan” purchases and brand new premises (never previously occupied or sold) provided that no more than 50% of dwellings in any one development are sold to foreign interests

Vacant residential land – construction of a dwelling must commence within 12 months of the purchase of land.

Refer to the FIRB website for detailed information www.firb.gov.au

Please let us know if you have any further enquiries or concerns regarding your eligibility to purchase in Australia.

Procedures for Overseas Clients

	1.		Ensure that your finance is approved and in writing from your lender. Inform Homesearch Solutions if there are any conditions to the purchase (leverage requirements, maximum units in a complex, pre-purchase valuation etc)
	2.		Complete the necessary paperwork Homesearch Solutions Agreement - sign and return Client Requirement Questionnaire. This is your brief to Homesearch Solutions, and be as specific as possible. The more detail you can give us, the easier the search process becomes.
	3.		Financial Details Transfer required retainer to Homesearch Solutions account Have 10% deposit monies ready for a purchase at exchange of contracts. If offer and acceptance to buy a property is given by the vendor for a suitable property, then often we have to be able to move quickly to be able to secure it. When the time comes to pay this deposit it can either be paid into your solicitor's trust account who will then draw a cheque at exchange, or arrangements can be made with your Sydney bank for the collection of a bank cheque.
	4.		Send us copies of your passports, and if applicable copies of Australian visas (ie. client not Australian resident or citizen). This is necessary as FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) approval may need to be sought for each suitable property. Additional FIRB paperwork will be completed by Homesearch Solutions to assist in this application. All copies of these documents will also be forwarded to your solicitor.
	5.		The search begins based on specifications made in Client Requirement Questionnaire and telephone discussions.  For properties that Homesearch Solutions considers suitable, digital photographs, detailed information, aerial photos & pricing guidelines will be sent to the client.
	6.		Discussions between Homesearch Solutions and client will ascertain course of action regarding specific properties.  Homesearch Solutions will negotiate or bid at auction based on written authority from client for each particular property.
	7.		Relevant "due diligence" to be done including : building reports, strata searches, pest inspections etc for selected properties.
	8.		After the client is satisfied with the due diligence it is time to arrange exchange of contracts (assuming private treaty sale). For efficiency and competitiveness the best option for signing is to have a Limited Power of Attorney (POA) assigned to someone in Sydney who can sign the contract of sale on your behalf. Some solicitors will accept a faxed signed copy of the contract but there are some who will not, so the POA should be arranged regardless. A deposit of either 5% or 10% will have to be paid at this stage (as per Point 3 above).
	9.		Homesearch Solutions will continue to oversee all necessary matters until settlement takes place.
	10.		A suitable property manager can be arranged and appointed for investment properties