thebooys

morning folks,

I have found one previous thread which mentions the above relocation people, but it dates back to 2008 so i'm after some more up to date info.

myself & the wife are coming out to Melbourne at the end of Sept on a sponsored 457. Initially my company will be providing a serviced apartment for 4 weeks allowing us to find our feet, however we will need to start looking for a rental straight away. We visited Melbourne in Feb so have some ideas of the places we liked along the Bayside area.

I have contacted the above company and was wondering if anyone on here has used them this year to find property in Melbourne, if so, what did you think of their service etc. Would we be throwing money away?

They have quoted an initial price of $2600 for the full house rental package which seems pretty high, so i'm now having doubts.

cheers for any help.

LittleKittyCat

Hi, we used them for our move to Sydney earlier on this year. Liz (the Sydney agent) was lovely and organised a house and furniture for us as well as connection of the electricity, phone etc. She viewed loads of houses and took photos which she then e-mailed with her verdict. We picked one out and e-mailed scanned references and whatnot to her and she sorted the negotiations and securing the rental with the agent out. She also hired furniture for us. Then, on the day we got here she met us at the property and ran through a load of stuff with us, we got a suburb profile thing about where the docs, dentist, nearest shops etc are, and she still keeps in touch by phone and e-mail every few weeks to see how we are and if there is any other help she can give. We were invited to a barbie that they hold for new expats, but unfortunately it was on the other side of Sydney on Mardi Gras day, so we decided not to go.

It was expensive, but it means you don't have to pay over the odds on holiday accommodation when you first arrive, so I guess it is all swings and roundabouts.

K14

Hello My husbands company used Elite to help us relocate to Perth. Consultant was quite good but we found the property ourselves in the end, I had to go into the agents here daily as it was hard to get a rental property last year. I know in Perth that's changed now and it's easier to get one. We got our consultant to read over our rental agreement for our peace of mind. I don't know if I would use one if I moved again, but it was easier for us as we already knew some people here.

Not sure if that's very helpful but good luck anyway!

thebooys

Thanks for the replies KittyCat & K14.

Tricky one this, as there are some services they provide which will be invaluable (rent agreement/negotiations, utilities etc) but there are other aspects which we won't need.

I may see how much cheaper the economy package is, as although it's only a one day service for viewing it still has the other good aspects.

thanks for comments.

Pam1

We have just relocated to Melbourne and used Elite. You can pick and choose the services you want them to do. We paid £500 and they helped us find a rental property, advise about area, connections, local knowledge, dealing with letting agents, rental contracts and photos/walkthrough of property.

Might be seen as steep to some but to us the service was needed. Our agent worked hard for us and working late at night to secure our property. We got a detailed report on 3 properties, room sizes and photos.

It is very hard to secure a property when outside the country/just arrived and travelling with 2 kids it was an extra comfort to us.

i would certainly use them again.

slipshot

If it's any consolation, many of us here did not use the services of an agent and managed perfectly fine. It;s nice to have someone looking for you if you can easily afford it, but it's hardly difficult. We did it with three young children and had no issues - there are places that set up all the utilities, for free, for you, and you still need the same paperwork for any place you rent.

Rental of furniture is easy as well - since it will take a bit of time to find a place, you have way more time to hire furniture.

Waste of money for me...