helly80

Well after a few months of waiting, we finally got our visa yesterday!! now feeling a mix of emotions......happy/excited/nervous/scared! We are moving to Melbourne and won't be ready to go until end Nov/early Dec. contacted a couple of estate agents today and the response i got was 'contact me when you're ready to inspect...' i take it this is fairly normal and we cant really do much til we get there?? we are in process of deciding where to stay when we arrive, are thinking about serviced apartments for 2 weeks to give us time to view some houses etc? any advice/tips anyone has for us would be much appreciated!!

Wombatz

Hey, congrats!
We did the same, actually lived in a cabin at a caravan park in Melbourne while looking for a rental. Rental market can be tight in certain areas but once you are there you can inspect yourselves and find that some look good on the internet but fairly rotten when you get there. And a lot are available within a couple of weeks.

Most agents want a few salary slips and if you don't have them (yet) as you are a new arrival you need to show them that you've got some savings so you can pay the rent.

Also a good idea to start looking straight away when you arrive before Xmas season begins as then everyone is away til mid Jan at least

helly80

thanks!! how long did you stay in the caravan park and was it expensive? do you mind me asking what area you are in? my partner's job will be in glen waverely but not sure we'll want to live there or another surrounding suburb. we aren't coming with a huge amount of savings since my partner's being sponsored and has job lined up. would rental agents accept letter of confirmation of salary etc? thanks for your help, i have so many questions!

Bermudashorts

No you won't be able to do anything about getting a rental until you get here. I am surprised you got responses at all to be honest! Goo d rentals tend to fly off the shelves in Australia.

You might find a property and be ready to move in within two weeks but that is not the average, I would think you should budget for about four weeks in temporary accommodation. Do you not get this in your relocation package?

helly80

no his employers pay him $2000 when he's worked there for a month but other than than we will need to pay costs up front ourselves. am looking at a few options, hadn't considered caravan park etc til i saw that post! open to all ideas and won't have huge amount of cash to splash out on big posh hotels unfortunately. initially we thought 1 week in hotel would be enough time to find a place to rent but his new boss says no way! this is all really helpful, thanks very much!

Wombatz

We stayed in the Sundowner Caravan Park in Springvale, which would be the closest one to Glen Waverley I'd say! If you google it (not sure if I can paste a link here) their cabins start from $80 a night.

Back home in Germany at the moment but looking to pong back next year most likely. But have lived all around the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne for more than six years, so fire away with any questions ;-)

Not sure if the letter of employment would help, they usually want the pay slips and on top of this references from previous rentals if available, so if you are renting now it is a good idea to get something in writing. When we first arrived it wasn't good enough for our agent with not enough pay slips, so had to show him that we had a few bucks saved in our bank account which got us over the line.

helly80

i was looking at that caravan site earlier, looks lovely! we are considering that as an option along with the self service apts (although they're quite expensive and most people are saying it can take 3-4 weeks to find a rental prop)

is glen waverley a nice area? i have also looked at mulgrave too and that looks nice? my partner will be starting work fairly quickly and as he gets paid weekly he should have a couple of payslips to prove income for rental. we'll also take a copy of reference from our present landlord. i was considering printing off a copy of my credit report to show that i am a good payer? do you think this would help at all? suppose it can't do any harm!

Helen

Wombatz

Yep, I think it all will help. Just put together as much as you can.

Glen Waverley is fairly nice, has a good shopping centre (Centro) with many shops. Also it has a train station, in some suburbs further out you don't always have them. It is not too far from the city, saying that it is fairly expensive to rent and/or buy, depending on what you are after.

asher

Glen Waverley is a very popular area it has many Asian families moving there making rentals hard to come by

motels are quite cheap options too

good luck with whatever you do and congratulations on the visa

helly80

thanks guys, this is great info to have as my head is spinning right now with everything i need to do/think of!! mainly worried we're arriving soon before xmas and if we can't find a place before xmas then we'll be stuck in a hotel that's why i'm thinking we better book hotel right through til january or maybe wait til january to arrive??

paddyo

A letter from the employer stating your annual salary is definately accepted if you have just arrived. Don't forget you need to pay a rental bond as well before you move in, thats usually 4 weeks rent plus your monthly rent. All is in advance so prepare for a hefty outlay initially.

Kiwikaye

We came back to Melbourne earlier this year, and I found our place on my own (OH and kids were still in ChCh). I had photocopies of everything ready so I could give them to the agent with the application. I didn't have payslips but had a copy of my contract for work, a copy of my passport and drivers licence for ID purposes and my bank account details. I think that was all. It was sufficient for my agent, but some will have stricter criteria. I did also have a reference from our rental agency in Christchurch as well.