1, the definition of foreigners
The Australian government's understanding of "foreigners" is that foreigners who are overseas and have stayed in Australia for more than 12 months without any valid visa (including foreigners with short-term visas, such as tourist visas), that is, non-resident foreigners.
Australia's Foreign Acquisition and Merger Act 1975 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") authorizes the treasurer or his representative to examine foreign investment proposals to determine whether the proposals violate Australia's national interests. Article 5 of the Act defines "foreigner" as a natural person who is not a permanent resident of Australia.
A company in which a natural person or foreign company who is not a permanent resident of Australia holds a controlling stake, and a company in which two or more persons jointly hold a controlling stake, and each controller is a natural person or foreign company who is not a permanent resident of Australia.
A natural person who is not a permanent resident of Australia or a trustee of a trust property in which a foreign company holds significant interests.
Or two or more people jointly hold significant interests, and each person is either a natural person who is not a permanent resident of Australia or a trustee of the trust property of a foreign company.
Foreigners can only buy brand-new houses in Australia.
Non-resident foreigners can only buy new Australian houses (such as detached houses or apartments) after obtaining FIRB approval.
Definition of brand-new residence in Australia: Brand-new residence refers to the residence purchased directly from the developer, and the residence has not been occupied for more than 12 months in the past.
The process of buying a house in Australia is as follows:
1, the selected attribute
After choosing a reliable real estate agent, buyers choose their favorite real estate according to factors such as room type, orientation and landscape outside the window, and pay a "small deposit" to the developer's trust account to apply for retaining the real estate.
The deposit of Xiaoding is generally around 5,000 Australian dollars. Because there are many apartment types in Australia, if buyers tend to buy existing homes, it is better to see them in person.
2. Cooling-off period
Buyers can get a very humanized one-week cooling-off period after paying the "small order" and seriously think about whether they really decide to buy the property. If the buyer decides to give up the purchase after thinking, the developer needs to refund the small deposit unconditionally; If the buyer decides to continue the purchase, it will enter the third step of the purchase process and sign the contract.
At the same time, the Australian government stipulates that both buyers and sellers have lawyers. At this time, the buyer needs to choose a lawyer to buy a house, and both buyers and sellers have to bear their own legal fees.
3. Overseas buyers' application for house purchase
Since the buyer is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, the buyer needs to submit a purchase application to FIRB. The full name of FIRB is Foreign Investment Review Board, which is translated from Chinese as Foreign Investment Approval Board. FIRB's review is usually accompanied by lawyers.
Step 4 sign a contract
After receiving the "small order", the developer will prepare the purchase contract and submit it to the developer's representative lawyer for review. The audited contract will be handed over to the buyer's representative lawyer, who will explain it for the buyer one by one. The buyer will sign the contract after fully understanding the terms of the contract and having no objection. If the buyer is overseas, the original contract signed by the buyer should be sent back to Australia (the buyer can keep a copy of the contract), and the developer should sign the contract and return it to the customer.
Step 5 pay a down payment
After signing the contract, the buyer needs to pay 10% of the total purchase price as the down payment within the time limit stipulated in the contract (usually two weeks), and the down payment will be transferred to the bank trust account of the developer's representative lawyer, which will be supervised by the Australian government.
The money will be safely stored in the account, earning interest, and it will not really fall into the pocket of the developer until the property is delivered successfully. The previous "small" money will be returned to the buyer or the down payment will be deducted.
6. Pay stamp duty
Stamp duty rates vary from state to state, and the specific amount is accounted for by lawyers.
According to NSW law, for overseas buyers, the property stamp duty needs to be paid within three months after the exchange of purchase contracts. If the delivery date is within three months, stamp duty should be paid before the delivery date.
Compared with local buyers, overseas buyers have different standards for the specific amount of stamp duty when buying a house in Australia. For example, in New South Wales, starting from July 1 and 20 16, the stamp duty paid by overseas buyers will increase from 3% to 7%.
For this reason, overseas buyers need to pay stamp duty up to 12.5%(7+5.5) when buying a house in Victoria. ? Regarding the specific payment standards of each state, you can ask juwai.com a separate question for details.
7. Building construction
If the buyer buys an unfinished building, the buyer does not need to pay any fees during the construction of the developer.
Step 8 apply for a loan
Three months before the delivery of the house, the buyer's lawyer will inform the buyer that the house is about to be completed. If a loan is needed, the buyer needs to contact the loan broker, prepare the loan materials and apply for a loan. If the buyer buys an existing home, it is recommended to consult a lawyer and prepare a loan in advance.
9. House inspection before delivery
After the house construction is completed, the developer will invite buyers or representatives of uncompleted residential flats to inspect the house. In the process of this house inspection, buyers need to determine whether the house construction meets the construction requirements stipulated in the contract and safeguard their rights and interests.
10, delivery
Before the house is delivered, the buyer's lawyer will inform the buyer of the specific delivery date and issue a notice of payment. On the day of delivery, the buyer gets the key to the new house and pays the full balance. The final payment will be transferred to the trust account of the developer's representative lawyer and then transferred to the developer to complete the delivery. If the buyer has a loan, then the buyer will start to repay the loan on the day he gets the key to the new house.
Extended data:
First, Australian laws and policies closely related to investment are also conducive to real estate investment.
On the one hand, there is no inheritance tax in Australia. In the United States, because of the inheritance tax, many heirs of real estate have to pay 50% of the total value, plus other taxes, sometimes even as high as 70%.
In Australia, the value of real estate can be passed on to the next generation. In terms of tax revenue, Australia's annual tax revenue is about one-third of that of the United States. In addition, Australian real estate is growing steadily, doubling in 7-8 years on average, which is more secure for investors who profit from leasing.
Second, the safety of Australia's natural environment.
20 1 1 Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident shocked the whole world, and millions of people suffered from this disaster. If investment enterprises encounter similar natural disasters, they will suffer huge losses.
In contrast, Australia has been in a stable natural state for hundreds of years and has not encountered any major natural disasters. Melbourne, in particular, is close to the sea, but it faces Philip Bay, so there is no threat of tsunami.
Third, from the perspective of the stability and development potential of economic development, Australia has the most advantages.
From the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008 to the present, the European economy suffered heavy losses and the euro fell. It is estimated that it will be difficult to recover for many years to come. Although the United States, which has a solid economic foundation, is stronger than Europe in resisting the impact of the crisis, it is still difficult to hide the downward trend. Compared with the United States and Europe, Australia is the first western developed country to recover from the crisis.
According to the statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 20 10, Australia's per capita GDP almost surpassed that of many countries including the United States, ranking first among countries with a population of more than 20 million.
Moreover, several characteristics of Australia's economic development also determine that it will maintain economic prosperity and development for a long time to come. The characteristics of resource-rich countries are the most important point.
In particular, the huge reserves of iron ore and natural gas, as well as the extensive demand in the world market, make it a hematopoietic machine of the Australian economy. It is predicted that by 2050, there will be "four economic poles" in the world, namely, the United States, Japan, China and India.
Three of them are in Asia, and they are all resource importers. They have developed an ideal economic and trade complementary relationship with Australia, which provides a reliable guarantee for Australia's sustained economic prosperity in the next half century. In addition, Australia has two wings of economic development: education export and tourism.
Fourth, the political situation in Australia is stable and the social environment is relatively stable.
Compared with Africa, where crime is frequent and rich people have to hire bodyguards to protect themselves, or Southeast Asia, where the security situation is unstable, Australia's security situation, social stability and residents' friendliness are much better. Investing in such a harmonious environment can completely rest easy.
Everyone must know the unrest and war in Libya at the beginning of 20 1 1. So at that time, China withdrew 30,000 overseas Chinese and workers from South China. From this incident, on the one hand, we can see the growth of China's national strength and the government's concern for overseas Chinese, but at the same time, we can also see that the instability of local politics has caused huge losses in China's investment. This also lets everyone know that the political stability coefficient will increasingly become the first consideration for overseas investors.
Fifth, Australia has a unique living environment.
At present, some areas with rapid economic development in the world are densely populated, but Australia is one of the few countries with comfortable and spacious living environment.
Moreover, compared with the same type of Canada, Australia's climate has great advantages. It's not too cold in winter and not so hot in summer. Melbourne is still rated as the most livable city in the world.
People's Network-What's good about Australia? People in China go there to buy a house.