karen1403

Hi - we are flying over to Sydney from UK in Jan - the company I have a job with have said they will put us up on a hotel for 7 days but we have to find an aprtment after that. I will be working in the Cremone/Neutral Bay area and without knowing or ever visited Sydney before I would like to live near work if poss (I know this area is pricey)

We have had not help from estate agents and keep looking on on domain.com.au but every one we enquire about is sold!

Anyone know wheres best to get a place that has:

-Quiet location
-Close to transport
-Pet friendly (small house trained dog)
-Balcony
-1/2 bedrooms

The CBD seems cheaper than Northern Sydney - is that a good place to live?

Thank you all so much

steen1976

What would be your ideal rent budget p/w? And maximum p/w?

karen1403

we were looking at $500 a week for 2 bed apartment but we know this is a little ambitous

karen1403

ideally $350 a week - MAX $500

steen1976

OK I'll leave it to others to make suggestions as I've only limited knowledge of areas but I know folk would want your budget before replying.

Though for the lower amount you will be way out west with a lengthy commute. Even for the higher amount I don't think you will find anything 'close' to your work. So it's a case of how long are you prepared to commute.

I'm looking at Maroubra at the moment. Mainly as I lived there before so know what to expect from it but it's also five minutes from where my wife will work and 30 mins into CBD by bus. My budget is $500 pw and I have seen on domain that I could probably get a decent 1 bed modern apartment for that. It's a quiet enough location for the most part (a couple of dodgy area but I'll be well away from them), a great beach, good shopping and near to good bus routes so will suit us well at least until we get a better look around others areas when perhaps we'll be earning a little more.

Rosscarbery

Hi Karen. You are going to struggle with the pet friendly part I'm afraid, especially in an apartment. There are currently low vacancy rates around here which basically means that when apartment is open to view loads of people rock up, fill in an application if it's even vaguely interesting, then the landlord and agent chose who to rent to. Having a pet will normally put you right at the bottom of the list of suitable applicants.

Seven days is a very short time to find somewhere (viewings will normally be Saturdays and Wednesdays and it could take a couple of days to hear if your application has been successful or not) so I suggest you have a contingency plan for accommodation. January is peak holiday season so it may not be possible to just extend where you're staying without arranging it first. I would always say allow three weeks on arrival to find a permanent rental, otherwise you are going to be seriously stressed out. Good luck - Sydney is a fab place to live.

freebo

Agree with all of the above, it took us 4 weeks to find something, its amazing when you turn up at an open house (they only last 15 mins) to find 50+ other people looking at it and a queue to apply. Sorry to say I don't think you'll find a habitable apartment within 10km of the CBD for $350, $500 would be a stretch. We didn't have pets but the above has a ring of truth on that subject too.

spottydog

Agree with the other $500 a week is more likely to be a one bed apartment or a damp rough 2 bed. I also wouldn't expect to find a place within a week. Not only are inspections often on Wednesday and Saturday only for some reason most Saturday inspections seem to take place at 10.30am so you get very little chance to view more than 2 places a week (a friend has just been looking for a rental in this area and encountered these problems).

Unfortunately the dog is likely to put you bottom of the pile unless you look a bit further out where you can find a small house (many leases which allow dogs expect them to be outside).

RainDog

Neutral Bay is a great place to live, lots of cool restaurants and a very short trip into the city. It's possible (though difficult) to get a nice 1-bed place in Neutral Bay, Mosman or Cremorne for $450.

The way we got our place was by filling in all the forms prior to the viewing, having a cursory look around the place to check it was as the photos suggested, and driving straight over to the real estate agent to put down the deposit. As soon as they take a deposit from you, they can't, by law, even look at anybody else's application until they make a decision on yours.

karen1403

Thanks so much RainDog this is so helpful and definately worth a try! I know finding somewhere that will take us and the pooch maybe a sticking point but I think perssistance is the key!

Thanks Again

RainDog

I think the dog will definitely be an issue. For example, we're in a block of 10 units which are roughly half owner-occupied, half rented. The strata rules state that pets aren't allowed, full stop: even if we owned our place, we still couldn't have a pet.

I understand how dog owners get attached to their pets, but you may have to seriously consider giving up your beloved pooch. Sorry.

freebo

With a name like yours I don't know how you can suggest that

Keep the dog - live a little further out.

hotfuss

I live in Neutral Bay and am paying 510 for a lovely two bed BUT have been in it for nearly a year and fully expect the rent to shoot up once our lease is up as having looked on domain, the rents seem to have really gone up in that area since we moved here.

It looks like Cremorne or Mosman is a lot more reasonable than Neutral Bay but again I reckon you'd be looking at a one bed for the price you want to pay.

you might be able to find somewhere that will allow you to have your pet but it will most likely take you a lot longer to find somewhere. A colleague of mine rents and has a dog and has always lived around the Newtown area in apartments - just depends on how lucky you are, I guess.

Crows Nest, St Leonards are also close to Neutral Bay by the way and nice areas with a bit of life, particularly Crows Nest.

I wouldn't live in the CBD personally - not much goes on there outside of office hours.. Sydney is all about the suburbs..

RainDog

It's from the title of a Tom Waits album: rain dogs get lost after a downpour because the rain washes away scents and their sense of direction, and they can't find their way home.

I don't actually like dogs; I'm a cat person.