roobush

Hello

Can anyone please recommend any good estate agents for rental properties in Melbourne?

I've heard that English estate agents are far more helpful and friendly than aussie ones- although whether this is true or not I don't know!

We're a family of three who are moving to Melbourne in Jan 2011 and I've heard some real horror stories of how hard it is to find a decent rental and I'm feeling a bit stressed out just thinking about it at the moment as we don't want to be stuck in a holiday rental indefinitely.

thanks in advance
roobush

itigo

As you know, we are in Geelong and having just had a very painless inspection, I can recommend ours. Just ask if you want me to PM you the details. Can't help with Melbourne as a whole though, sorry.

Buzzy--Bee

One way to get a good rental if you have no employment is to offer 3 months rent in advance. I recommended this recently to another family who could not get accepted for a rental and having offered 3 months rent they were accepted for two on the same day.

BB

BadgeIsBack

I offered 6 months - and we left after 6 ...worked out well.. and even the agent admitted that we had left the place cleaner than when we moved in...and it was then not dirty by any means!

elice_in_oz

Estate agents usually operate in suburbs and the immediate surrounding areas so it's really hard to recommend any unless you know where you will be looking to rent. Melbourne is huge. There are 20 suburbs in our municipality and I'd say at least as many estate agents if not more.

Can you narrow down where you want to live and someone in that area might be able to recommend an agent?

Also, bear in mind that there are very few agents who do only rentals. Most do both sales and rentals and it's easy to guess which gets precedence... Larger agents will usually have at least one person dedicated to rentals though.

Good luck!

Petals

When you know where you will be working have a look at the Transport site if you intend to use public transport. This will give you the all the transport routes and an idea of the suburbs along them.

http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/

Then you can have a look at http://www.realestate.com.au and check out rentals in the suburbs you are interested in. Domain.com.au is another site for real estate.

As has been said Melbourne is a vast place, I live over a hundred kilometres from the airport. So you need to pick an area and then find out.

So is it beach, hills, flat, how long a commute do you want, etc etc narrow down the options.

MartinLuther

I've heard that English estate agents are more intelligent, more cultured and better dressed than aussie ones.

Buzzy--Bee

and cheaper probably....with more choice....

BB

furkew

We have had many new arrivals in our unit, and none have had much trouble finding rentals within 2 and 3 weeks.

It always depends on where you are heading, but we have had families move to Frankston, Lilydale, Emerald, 2 in Mentone to name just a few, and all secured quite easily.

Ask for a reference from the people you are renting your accomodation on arrival, that always helps.

You might have heard some horror stories, but if everything goes smoothly, whats the point in posting on here

roobush

Hello everyone,

thanks for your replies, most helpful..

The only problem is that we don't know where we will have jobs as we don't have any lined up...

Could take a while to find work, it's hard to judge where we will live until we find work, and we would want to work out where to live based on jobs I guess, less commute etc...

chicken before the egg scenario!

cheers, roobush

elice_in_oz

What sort of jobs will you be looking for? If it's anything in the corporate world, chances are you will be working in the CBD (Central Business District) and will be able to commute from pretty much anywhere.

harrip

If you don't have a job and don't know where you will be located it is hard to recommend an estate agent.

Personally, I would not search for a rental just by an estate agent but go to domain.com.au or something similar to find the property I'm after and then approach the relevant agent(s) in the area. Otherwise, your just limiting yourself to whats on the books of one agent.

Fozwife

Hey, not sure if you are still looking but Fletchers & Barry Plant would be good ones to try....they seem to be all over....are you still looking?

PMV

I'd second that. www.domain.com.au and www.realestate.com.au list pretty much all properties for rent. You can sign up for alerts, which will help give you an idea of the cost and availablity etc.

There are soooo many potential renters over there, that in my experience, you will have to be proactive (the agents are not going to go find matching properties for you, you are going to have to do that yourself).

So you will have to find properties that meet your requirements, turn up early for viewings, come prepared with all your paperwork. And as stated above, offering 2 months rent up front will often give you the edge over other potential applicants.

Doesn't matter who the agent is .. it just matters that you find the home you want, and that you do all you can to show that you are the ideal tenants.

Don't stress too much about it now, as there is very little you can do till you get there anyway. And if everyone else manages to do it, you can too! It will all work out.

All you can do now is some research about cost/areas you can afford/would like to live in and determine your minimum criteria. And when you get there, then visit those areas and see if they are what you thought they were.

BTW I had no problems with Aussie agents