Canberra Accomodation
 

Were arriving in Canberra at the end of November. The first challenge will be to find permanent rental accomodation for my family and I in the Inner North suburbs and move in by the end of January at the latest. The beginning of January would be our ideal scenario especially since that's roughly when our container will arrive. What are our chances of finding a rental within those timescales? And is there anything that I can do at this point in time?

Also, does anyone have spare room/rooms in/near Canberra that they would be prepared to rent out to me to plug the gap between our arrival date and moving into the rental?

Thanks :)

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

It may have been said before but Jan is a terrible time to find accommidation in Canberra - is there any chance you could get there prior to Jan? Could you for instance try Dec (may mean your paying for a place prior to needing it but that may be better than uncertainty). Failing that try not to stick too closely to the inner north, it may be your preferred area but if you can't find anything branching out to the inner south or maybe even Aranda etc may get you something. You can always move on from there in a few months time.

Sorry I can't help with accom - I had a place standing empty for months but I have just sold it.

Good luch and I hope things work out for you

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Thanks LouH, The beginning of December is do-able. It really needs to be the Inner North because we're looking at priority enrolments for our kids at Lyneham HS and Dickson College. I wish if it were possible to sort it all out before we even even arrive there. It would be a huge relief to have those boxes (accomodation and schools) ticked up-front.

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Sorry, our granny flat will then be full of son and his family having a new baby. Plus, we expect visiting son and fiance from UK:eek: (we may be needing holiday rental accommodation for the overflow!)

You will need to find holiday accommodation (and book that now, it fills up over the summer holidays) but it will probably be tricky to land a long term rental as the market really hots up from November onwards as the new public servants, students and military begin their new year deployments. www.allhomes.com.au is the place to go to look for rentals although you wont get anything until you are here with your feet on the ground.

There is a holiday rental in Ainslie (check out allhomes) if you want to get a feel for the area (Ainslie isnt zoned for LHS though - you will have to be careful as the boundary for LHS and Campbell HS sort of zigzags through the inner north - Watson and Downer are OK but Hackett and Ainslie are CHS). All will be OK for Dickson.

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Thanks Quoll, Not looking forward to the Canberra house part of the move at all. Australia seems so problematic when it comes to this kind of thing. My wife and I feel that we are capable of making a decison based on the location and a decent set of photos. If we were to offer to pay something in the region of 6 months rental up front do you think that would that it would mke it a more do-able proposition to secure a house before arrival?

I've written down somewhere a list of the common suburbs between the two schools. The principal at Dickson College indicated that they currently have no problem taking all of the LHS graduates that apply and that if our youngest had priority enrolment for LHS then we can pretty much be assured of getting the eldest into DC.

It looks like you're going to have a house full :). Enjoy it! :thumbsup:

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No agent will let you rent a property until you have physically viewed it, for view read Inspect! You then sign on the agreement that you HAVE physically inspected the property and are happy with its condition. believe me, its in your own best interests as well as theirs.
From experience I can tell you now that photos are great, but, like the Big Mac, rarely does the real thing look the same!!
I'm assuming that you are coming over on a PR Visa?

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Yup totally correct. I had a work colleague who lived here, trying to get a rental for her daughter+family and could not get a single thing even though their rent was being paid by a gov dept and they had the documentation to prove it. You definitely do not want to sign up for something that you havent seen! And they wont let you anyway!

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Thanks Paddyo, I see your point. So by the looks of it we're best doing everything possible (identifying what's on the market, communication with estate agents, etc) before we arrive to ensure that we're ready from day one to hit the ground running. I can see that it's going to be a tough call to deal with the stress aspects of this particular step :blink:.

Yes, I'm on a PR visa.

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Yes, thats what we did, but we moved to Sydney which is a huge place so even more difficult to get around, luckily we had a relocation agent to help us, paid for by my company!! If you can get one of those then you are onto a winner as they can get viewings outside of normal times (usually viewings are weekends between 12-2pm and maybe some weekdays.
You have a smaller area to cover but I would still bank on waiting about 3 weeks from arrival until finding the right place and being able to move in, if you get lucky!! There are some lovely places in Canberra and I love some parts of it so good luck!!
BIG BIG TIP: Happy wife + Happy life!!! So let HER pick the house!!! Suffer in silence my friend!!

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Yes, a relocation agent could well be the answer :thumbup:. I think the most limiting factor is that we're restricted to half a dozen suburbs to get the required priority enrolment area. I would happily go for private schooling and broaden our residential search area but the happy wife requirement precludes that. Thinking of handing this particular task to SWMBO :sneaky::) ...Now that's a Eureka moment! :thumbsup:

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Just looking at allhomes. Some properties have silly statements like:

What a tiny timeslot when one considers that up to 20 couples can queue up to see these homes :huh:

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Yup they all mill around together - not much queuing. Even open houses for sale are open for just an hour. There is even a planner on allhomes IIRC so you can plan your day to go from one viewing to another.

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

That's a long time slot. :p

We did the open houses at the weekend, most are 15 minute slots.

It has not been too bad organising some private viewings though, Mr BS has been to see about 5 privately and has one more lined up for tomorrow plus another open house tomorrow. The trouble with private inspections is that they are midweek but I am already at work and he starts on Monday. This is Sydney of course.

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

Thanks, I'll take a look :)

That's very good news that you've both managed to find work. Well done! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

It seems incredible that it can be another hoop jumper to organise a rental. Tell you what: I reckon we all deserve a good life as a just reward for the huge effort required to settle in Australia. I hope it's worth it :fingerscrossed:

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Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

I find allhomes good (I like the house map search facility) but very restrictive in its areas. www.domain.com.au is very good for house searches and also has a viewing planner, also has online application facility for some agents.
If its a popular house (location + price + sales photos) it will be busy, if its not busy, then you need to ask yourself why?? being new to the area you may not have the answer to that, hence a relocation agent!!

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

I've got the message! :D It does make perfect sense, thanks for stressing that point :thumbup:.

Now all that's needed is to find a well-recommended one :o.

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lol..sorry fella, wasn't being pushy about the Relo agent there!!! Just the lack of local knowledge will be a hindrance to you. You may find that once you get there and start working your new colleagues will be able to help you with a lot of stuff like that.

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I would suggest working out where you need to live then emailling all the agents in those particular areas! you could do it through www.domain.com.au (use the "radar" facility it is "way cool" :) ) ................www.realestate.com.au there is also http://property.com.au/ connected to them

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

allhomes is actually far better for ACT than domain especially for rentals - however if you want to go outside ACT then yes, realestate.com.au or domain will be the ones to go to. There will also be the Canberra Times on Friday and Saturday for the private rentals that never make it to the net. Just tried my suburb on domain - not one rental listed vs 9 on allhomes. I think allhomes is a very Canberra thing.

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Thanks for all the tips, everyone :thumbup:

Regards,

Paul

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

The Riot ACT (compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to be a Canberran IMHO) has a thread on this for you http://the-riotact.com/?p=24930#comments

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Hey Paulry - just a bit of advice is to always have a completed application with you when you got to a viewing - make sure you also have good references from the UK. The agents don't want to know you when you are mailing from the UK - I tried that and they basically said not here don't try it!!! I had friends who came over and they weren't working straight away and had to pay 6 months rental up front to secure a house so you may have to do that. It is a mare trying to find a house and sometimes it is already a done deal - there is normally 10plus couples looking at the houses and as Quoll has said the timing is really important. We looked in September and it was still vvv busy I think that on the 1st weekend my hubby came to view the house we were in and there were 20 couples here! I think like someone said on here I would try not to limit the suburb quite so much I know you want your boys into LHS and Dickson but you will be up against the students etc in the inner north area. I wish you all the very best in the hunt :fingerscrossed: and wow November is not long away now!!! I hope you love it here as much as we all do!:thumbsup:

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Just read the 1st quote on this about dressing smartly and we were given the same advice from quite a few people - not necessarily a tie but defo smart trousers and shirt!

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I've been trying to manage my wife's expectations about the chances of us finding a rental in the Inner North but she's adamant that is where it has to be. All we can do is try our best :fingerscrossed:. We're prepared to pay six months up front. I still need to get a set of references suitable for property rentals - thanks for the reminder :thumbup:

Looking forward to becoming a Canberran :cool: ...But so much to do :blink:

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

After the first weekend of open house viewings we made sure we got an application form in advance for all further visits. Actually two application forms as you will need one each. We always dressed smart for viewings, husband did a few by himself during the week and he wore chinos and a tweed jacket. :D

We also put together what we called our rental pack. This started with a covering letter which we titled "About US"; we mentioned that we were a professional, non smoking couple, no kids, mentioned our ages, that we were homeowners in the UK and had been for many years. We said that we took great pride in our home and that we had a letter of reference from the letting agent that was managing our home in the UK. As we have two cats, we mentioned them and offered to pay a pet bond; we didn't offer to pay rent up front as we both had jobs so we also mentioned our income in the cover letter.

I also cut and paste this letter when I send queries over the internet and I am sure it did the trick as all the agents got back to me really quickly and offered to help.

In our pack, we put our cover letter, passports, driving licences, our contracts of employment and a couple of UK bank statements showing savings. The only reference we provided was the one from the agent in UK letting out our property and that was two sentences long.

Re: Canberra Accomodation
 

I think the thing is here is that the rental market is just sooooooo highly in demand that the estate agents don't entertain you until you are here - this is a great pack to take with you but in Canberra they really will not help. My OH came to look at houses himself before we came out here and because I wasn't here they wouldn't entertain him!

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I wasn't suggesting that it is a good idea to look for a house before you are here, this was what we did when we arrived. Sydney rental market is pretty competitive too, so it is about finding a competitive edge.

My husband viewed loads of houses without me and I didn't see the one he took until after he paid the bond! :eek: But it is nice, I saw it yesterday. Phew.

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Ahhhhh sorry I misread your post:) Glad you got something it is one of the worst things trying to find a house - my OH saw some horrors - we were lucky to get the one we are in now and also managed to extend the lease for another 12 months at the same rental price yay :thumbup: Bet that was a relief to find that the one he had paid the bond on was nice!

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If you have a job lined up, use your contract offer as a reference. Totally agree with 2 sets of applications, you have to apply for every adult in the house. Be positive, dress is ok but not essential, just use your savvy. Hang around after the viewing a bit and talk to the agent, befriend them a bit, it honestly helps and that way you can get your own salient points and circumstances across. Worked for me every time and its just being affable.

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Where have you ended up??

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We got a place in Collaroy in the end. Got views over a golf course and the ocean. Lovely.

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Ah.....near Pittwater Rd and Long Reef then. We was driving up there today going to Flying Fox park at Bayview near Mona Vale.

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Yes near there. (have just checked a map :p)

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lol...sorry, it does take a while to get used to the local names I suppose!! Our, or should I say my, original choice for a suburb to live was Collaroy. It was only the bus commute that prevented us at the time but I would live there now, given the right circumstances.

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That sounds fantastic. :thumbsup: Congratulations! :thumbup:

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Hmmm... A long shot I know, but anyone want to trade the use of their house in Canberra (preferably Inner North) for the use of mine in West London?

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Jeez I better not let Mr louH see this or he'll be turfing his parents out of their home!

Have you considered that things might all fall into place for you and everything could be plane sailing?! The joy of migration - you just never know how things will work out. Know its easy to say but try not to worry, what will be will be and at the moment you can't change the outcome so you might as well enjoy your last few weeks in the UK

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Quick, tell him, TELL HIM! :sneaky::p

I know what you mean. Maybe it's time to just chill and go with the flow. Thanks :)

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Would that I could! Although we arent in the LHS catchment (Ainslie) and our kitchen is still under construction (DH is DIY-ing - is there a record for the slowest kitchen reno in the Guinness book of records do you think?). I will keep an eye out for you though - I do have a friend with an investment property in Lyneham, I will suss out what her tenant's situation is - probably nothing to get your hopes up but you never know.