Paul & June

I think the first 3 weeks in Australia is going to be the most stressful period in our lives.

In those weeks we need to find long term rental, find a good school for my children and a car with two kids in tow. Then after all that, find a job. We must be mad.

Can anyone give any advice that could help us through it? I think the area we are most concerned with, has always been the rental part as it has always seemed to be a frustrating process/topic on BritishExpats.

What do we need to look out for? We have never rented, I hear heating is important in Perth, air-con in summer and a pool is bonus.

Any pitfalls and what to look out for while renting?

Thanks Paul

Potato_potato

Getting a rental without a job will be your first challenge.

You could get around this by offering 3 months in advance.

GinaUK

Car:
If you can, buy the car before you arrive. That's what we did. We test-drove in the UK and had the car delivered to us on the first day. We bought through www.carbroker.com.au You can buy used cars from them as well.

Air-con / heating:
Go for a rental with fully ducted reverse cycle air-con. That means it keeps you cool in summer and warm in winter.

If you can, avoid houses with evaporative air-con. When it's hot and humid (i.e. when you need air-con the most) they don't work. You also need to keep windows open a bit for them to work which can be a security issue.

Rental:
Decide on the school first. Then rent nearby.
If you're renting through an agency you should be o.k. Turn up with all your documentation ready. If you're coming to the northern suburbs, there are currently LOTS of rentals, which means you can pick and choose.

The main thing is not to get too stressed ! You'll get it all sorted - everyone does.

Gina

GinaUK

Not a problem in Perth. Neither I nor my husband had a job when we came last November. We provided bank statements to show we had money to pay the rent. We did offer to pay three months rent up front but it was not required.

There are currently so many rentals available in the northern suburbs that I think agents (owners) are just glad to find a tenant.

Gina

Potato_potato

I think offering the cash up front is a good idea (if they have it). It just puts the sugar on the coating when making an application.

Paul & June

We are looking around Duncraig area (good schools) which is North are you talking further up North in Tapping or any where North of the city ?

GinaUK

Duncraig is far enough north .

You can check out rentals on www.realestate.com.au Click on the "Rent" tab at the top. Then choose WA, then type in Duncraig. Tick or untick the box for surrounding suburbs. Choose 4 bedrooms from the drop-down menu and away you go.

However, when you get here don't just rely on the adverts on the internet. Visit the local estate agents. We got our rental before it was even advertised. (Brand-new with ducted reverse cycle air-con.)

Gina

nat 1

Hiya, we've been renting for nearly 3 years now and been in quite a few rentals. There is one thing to remember when you get a rental, the estate agents usually give you a "conditions report" which is a list/pics of the house and it lists each room in the house and gardens and what state they are in. When you get this report make sure you go around the house with a fine toothcomb and write down any marks, cracks(in tiles or pathways) weeds in garden, oven dirty, the list is endless, this report then goes back to the estate agents for record and a copy is given to you andwhen you decide to move out of the rental they will no doubt try and get money out of you, but you have that report to fall back on.
There is wear and tear on the houses but not a definate boundary is set. Good luck in your house hunting and have a pleasant life over here.

Paul & June

Morning everybody,

I hope you are right Gina about the amount of rental available. I have always been led to belive that we will be up against 20 maybe 30 other viewers, specially around the Duncraig area.
Maybe things have changed for the better over there.
We plan to rent and see if the property market drops further.

Nat, that is a very good advise, thanks for that one too.
Sorry to be nosey but why have you rented for such a long time, are you too waiting for the property to drop ?

Anymore advise out there ?

Paul

benlast

And when you get the results, use Google Maps or Google Earth to find the address of each on (so you can see whether it's close to major roads, shopping centres, etc) and then zoom down and look at the Street View, so you can see what the street looks like and get a better feel of the location.

Cheers
b

Jandysi

Hi there,

firstly - good luck with it all!!!

Right then with rentals - i find it the most crap system ever of finding a rental, but depending on your budget - there's not always loads of applicants.

Also, you may find a house with fussy landlords, who are choosy with the tenants.

We got a rental without a job, because we could show we had money in the bank. We asked about offering several months in advance for a house we really really wanted but we were told it would not be allowed. That agents are not allowed to accept this. That house was sold instead of let which is why were accepted for another house - fussy landlords who didn;t want boguns.

When you get in a rental - DO take the property condition report seriously and mark down EVERYTHING!!! It's your get out clause when you move out. We moved into this current rental and it said there were bins (nope) said that light bulbs were in (nope) said that the gas cooker worked well and that hot water system worked (nope - the gas wasn't even commisioned (tested by plumber)), said that there were no weeds (ahem)........

write all over it!!!

good luck

Wandathecat

Agree with all the other comments.

There are always loads of rentals and yes some competition but I think the days of 20 -30 people are gone. Everything is slowing down remember.

Take lots of paperwork, credit report, copies of bills paid by direct debit, bank statements, job letter from the uk to say you were employed. Offering a few months in advance is exactly what we are going to do, shows your commited and cashflow is good.

If you had a mortgage in the Uk always good to take that statement too.

Cx

teza

Must agreed with property report thing, have just rented yet again and when filling property report it said "stove clean" (not, all surrounds filled with utter crease and rubbish), cracked walls, crayon markings etc, do write them all down, all grounting in this place was not cleaned properly, and water marks in the shower screen etc. May seem small to you, but must be noted down if not done so by the EA.

Second I've looked for (not for metropolitan but now that moved back to busso) was that is Hot Water system electrical or gas, and if gas, surely not bottled gas, as is very possible in some country areas and will cost absolute fortune to run!.

As I have kids, I look for fully fenced property, prefer to have shed (not all houses have them and they certainly add storage space to you), garage instead of carport (not only safer but cheaper on home contents insurance as well), reverse cycle aircon (for cooling and healing), and defo agree look for schools first, then a house.

I agree that market it slower, but for me, I broke a lease 3 weeks ago and had 35-40+ people through it by the end of it, and 7 applications went in during the second day, so would say first come first served. My Property manager was amazed that people waited another day to bring in the applications as this meant that all of them were in the running, if one good one got in the day b4 when they saw the house, it would've been theirs, to use her words.

Good Luck!

Paul & June

All great advise, thanks.
Reading back now tells me that may be I should not panic so much.

But our priority in our first 3 weeks (in holiday let) is find a school.
We are thinking of settling in Duncraig, Perth.
If we can't get a child in a catholic school this year then he can go to one of the good schools in Duncraig which seem to have a good reputation.
Try and get him into a catholic school next year.

We know catholic school do not have the catchment area issue.

Paul & June

Does anyone have anymore advise on rental.
Before, during and after ?