@irl031816 said:
Hello po, thank you for sharing your experience. 🙂 Ask ko lang po kung anu-anong mga prinesent nyong docs as first time renters? Nagpakita din po ba kayo ng mga bank statements? If ever po, could you give a ballpark figure kung mga around how much kaya ang parang "show money" para possible na maapprove sa rent?
The documents you will be asked for will depend on the landlord/agent, and how formal the renting arrangement is. Some will ask for zero/little documents, while others will ask for tons of stuff. Depende talaga sa kausap mo.
I found my first place (room for rent in a sharehouse) via Flatmates and hindi masyado choosy yung landlord or yung agent nya, so rental bond lang and 2 weeks rent ang hiningi sakin (this was way back in 2018 in Sydney). They were very informal (no rental contract at all in my 2.5 years there and I paid in cash), and they didn't care if I had work or not. They never asked if I had a job, and the landlord was actually very nice.
When I moved interstate, I dealt with a formal student accommodation agent, so hinanapan ako ng bank statement, details of my university, details of my employer (for part-time work), scholarship offer from university, letter of guarantee (that my parents will pay for my rent if I cannot pay the rent on my own---this one seemed like overkill pero gusto talaga nila na meron nito). I also gave the contact details of the agent in Sydney as referee, pero hindi naman daw siya tinawagan to confirm my details or ask about my tenancy history.
In my experience, it's not usually about how much money you currently have in your account, but more about whether you have a stable job or source of income. IMO, the money in your account could be someone else's, or you could easily spend that money (shopping, travel, etc.) and is therefore not a guarantee that you will still have that money in 2 or 3 months' time, and that it is really earmarked to pay for a year's rent.
When I applied to the student accommodation, I was worried with the "show money" too because I didn't have much at that time. My savings was depleted because of the interstate move, plus the pandemic was still ongoing, so I only had AUD 1,500 showing in my bank statement. But I could prove that I had a stable source of income through a letter of scholarship from university and having part-time work, and my rental application got accepted naman. I'd like to think the scholarship letter helped a lot, but for those who don't have one, having a job would typically be necessary.