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Canberra Accomodation

Canberra Accomodation

Old Jul 18th 2010, 11:15 am
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Default 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
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Old Jul 18th 2010, 11:39 am
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Default 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
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Old Jul 18th 2010, 11:53 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by louH
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
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.
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Old Jul 18th 2010, 9:43 pm
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Default 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 (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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Old Jul 18th 2010, 10:40 pm
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by quoll
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 (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.
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!
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 3:15 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paulry
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?
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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Old Jul 19th 2010, 5:45 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paddyo
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?
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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Old Jul 19th 2010, 6:07 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paddyo
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?
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 .

Yes, I'm on a PR visa.
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 6:34 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paulry
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 .

Yes, I'm on a PR visa.
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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Old Jul 19th 2010, 7:06 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paddyo
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!!
Yes, a relocation agent could well be the answer . 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 ...Now that's a Eureka moment!

Last edited by paulry; Jul 19th 2010 at 7:11 am. Reason: Eureka!
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 11:30 am
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

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

inspection time 10:30 - 11.00 saturday 17/7/2010
What a tiny timeslot when one considers that up to 20 couples can queue up to see these homes
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 9:07 pm
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paulry
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
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.
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 9:18 pm
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by paulry
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
That's a long time slot.

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.
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 9:44 pm
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

Originally Posted by quoll
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.
Thanks, I'll take a look

Originally Posted by Bermudashorts
That's a long time slot.

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

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
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 10:11 pm
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Default Re: Canberra Accomodation

http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/myallhomes/trip-plan/view
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