James_SC

Hi all,

My wife and I are arriving in Sydney on Jan 5th and we are already getting anxious about finding a rental property. We will be in serviced apartments for 4 weeks, then the dog comes out of quarantine and we need to be moving into a house. We are looking at the lower north shore and need somewhere which takes pets. Our budget is about $700 pw.

We keep hearing horror stories about 30-40 people going for 1 house, but I am not sure if this is more relevant to city centre apartments?

Has anyone got any recent experiences? Also is there anything we could be doing from the UK before we arrive get us better prepared?

Sorry if I sound like a worrier, but this is one area where I am very anxious!

Thanks for listening,

James

MarkMC

James

It took us a few weeks but we got one. We applied for several in the Hills (Castle Hill + surrounding) we were looking for a house that would take pets for $5-550, we were turned down because we owned 2 dogs and neither of us had a job!!! We started chatting to agents and offering 3 months rent up front and have found a place for $530 a week.

Quite a few of the viewings did have a number of people there but more like 5-8 couples, not 30-40!!!

Mark

emelems

Rentals were a bit thin on the ground here too, but we still managed to get onee without too much hassle..

Just give it 100% and don't give up at the 1st hurdle.. plus frontload all your paperwork.. get references ready (work, personal) and make sure you have proof of earnings or bank account.. you could email the local real estate agents and ask them what they need so you are all ready and willing..

Em x

Mikeyc

The stories of 30-40 people going for one place and rental auctions (yes, rental auctions) are true and in the city and suburbs BUT I have found this is mostly with apartments, not houses.

When we first moved to Sydney in 2004, we found an apartment in 1 day, when we moved here last year it took us 2 weeks to find a place. So while it is a harder and longer than it used to be, it’s still pretty short.

Just make sure you have everything so if you see a place you can find you can apply, also I don’t recommend going to the “open days” as that is when the 30-40 people go, the best thing I found is walk into a real estate agent and ask, and in most cases when you ask about a place they usually said “oh, wanna come and see it now” you see it and then get the place – days before the 30-40 people got to see it.

Good luck and hope you find the prefect place, don’t stress about it, you’ll be fine.

Mikey

dave99

Dont worry I moved have relocated to perth twice and once to adelaide and have always been able to find a good quality clean nice place. Sure we looked at a lot of crap ones and it was hard work each day getting around to places but we did it each time within 2 weeks, moving into the new places on the monday of the 3rd week.

I would pick up a Tom Tom One gps it will make things a little easyer, but be prepared for a hard couple of weeks and you will find somewhere nice

DrWho

Don't know about the North Shore currently, but further up on the Beaches it's a fallacy now that there's that much competition for rentals... My wife went to have a look at three houses about 6 weeks ago and she was the only viewer at each place and one of the owners practically begged her to take it... This was Narrabeen, Mona vale and Newport... There's also been a really nice 3 bed semi almost next to us that took 2 months and 2 price reductions before being rented out... a couple of the Saturday viewing sessions no one turned up at all...!

As far as dogs, etc go money talks... We offered an extra $2k bond and 3 months upfront and suddenly it was smiles all around...

steve`o

money definatley does talk

when we arrived and went to see a house with the the realestate people they wernt very helpful
sorry no chance ( we didnt have jobs or references )
so i offered to go to the bank and bring back a bank cheque for six months rent up front and suddenly we were just what they were looking for
weird that isnt it

friends of ours went to a viewing with eight other families, pulled the realestate lady to one side and offered exactly the same and suprise suprise they got the rental

s1mon321

Hi, someone asked a similar question a few months ago after we had just got a rental property in Lower North Shore.

We were in the same situation as you - in serviced apts for four weeks while we found a place. Most difficult thing was getting to the viewings using Public Transport from the other side of the city - always got it wrong!

PM me if you want any more details? This was my previous reply...

We have just heard today that we have secured a beautiful apartment we saw at the weekend - are so happy!!! Here's some info for you.......

When you arrive, stay in a cheap hotel with internet access - a must.

Log on to domain.com.au every day to see what is available.

Most properties on the site have the viewing day and time (almost always a 15 min) slot. You just turn up - no need to contact the agent.

Accept that a number of properties you like will have viewings at the same time, only go to see the ones you really like.

There will be some/loads of other people looking at the same property, ignore them as some will try and wind you up. Not everyone that loudly takes an application form will complete it!

If you like a property then dive off to the Real Estate Agents as soon as you've seen enough and put a reservation down on it if you can (this stops anyone else from diving in before you). It shows you're very keen and does give you the very slightest of edge.

Have copies all of the supporting docs ready - passport, driv licence, copy of job offer letter, recent bank statement, visa, a reference (saves them time phoning the UK) and the thing that really seems to work.....a statement about yourself, why you're here, what your salary is, career prospects -basically a character ref about yourself. You won't need all of these docs, but it pays to have them ready to submit!

Good Luck

Simon

Kooky.

Hi James, we were in a similar position 6 months ago and the best advice I can give you is, no point panicking until you get here!

We ended up renting a place during our looksee so we didn't have to go into a serviced apartment, but then of course we had to pay for it before we actually moved and rent furniture for a month (thankfully the company paid).

We live on the Lower North Shore and I think you can find some properties on domain but may struggle with a dog. $700 is not a lot for this area and I am almost certain you won't be able to get an apartment as the Strata Management rules rarely allow it. There's a house down the road from me available for $1400 a week but it's fully furnished (and I doubt they'd allow pets).

Sorry to be so negative. On the plus side, IME the 30-40 viewers were in the Eastern Suburbs but not the LNS.

Here is a thread with some good information on how to be prepared to put in an on-the-spot application and I strongly suggest that, if you find a landlord who will accept a dog, you apply for the property even if it does not 100% light your candle. With 3 cats, this is what we had to do (we love our house but hate the lack of space). If necessary, offer a Pet Bond and have a reference from your previous landlord (if you had one) saying he's a well-behaved dog. Sounds silly, but we did it.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=524423

James_SC

Thanks for all the responses guys, really helpful advice as always.

Feeling a bit better today, yesterday was one of the wobble (what the h*ll are we doing) moments! Not sure if this is natural? 7 weeks till take off so I need to stay calm or my wife will kill me!!!!!!

Thanks again,

James

steve`o

totally natural mate
you`ll question yourself loads of times ove rthe next couple of weeks

simon2cairns

hi james think its the oh shit were going in january feeling!!! should be packing today and yet i am ant the computer stressing!!!!! we are going on a bussiness visa and stressing if thats the right one, rent our house here and worried about silly things (i.e if a plane crashes into the house and we cannot rent it could we sell of the land to pay off the mortgage!!) i was told to just keep moving onward and dont look down!!!

Candy Groove

OK I am now panicing cos I'm not panicing about this......

we're moving to Sydney in 2 weeks and thanks to all your amazing advice (Seasider - always answering stuff before I've thought of it ) I'm sitting here putting a little pack of info to have ready for the agents.

James SC - We've also got dogs (and cats) and I've been looking on Domain and Realestate.com and realised I can't afford anything in the lower north shore so have been looking further up the train lines - wahroonga, turramurra, Pymble, Pennant hills, thornleigh, beecroft. Seems to be more choice there. We have to be that side of Sydney for the kids school.

I also am going through the wobble stage but about other stuff.... like what the hell am I doing this for putting my animals through 30 days of quarantine

DrWho

They'll be fine... you can visit them at Eastern Creek and take them for exercise in one of the runs... Our staffies were a little confused as to why we left them after each visit instead of coming home with us, but 30 days soon passes...

Kooky.

Because you love them, they're part of your family, and you're not about to give them away like you would an old sofa?

I'm not going to lie to you and say for certain that they won't be any different when they come out, but they'll cope, and they'll have a great life here with you. My cats have always been needy - two were hand-reared and one was alone on the street from very young - and they still get a bit of separation anxiety but one of them actually put on weight in quarantine! (He's a bit, erm, special and not much fazes him so long as he's fed.)

I cried buckets when I put my cats in their crates - not least because my little girlcat was howling in sheer terror. I scared the packers (packers were early, petmover man was late).

We visited Eastern Creek twice - once as soon as we arrived to let them know we hadn't abandoned them, and to take up some wet food and treats, and once in the middle of the month. We didn't go more as some people think it upsets the animals as you constantly get up their hopes and then leave them. I cried when I left them, too.

It's not a bad place - Sarah the Carer was lovely - but of course it's not luxurious (Bo, my girl, wasn't going to the loo and I suggested that a bit more catlit wouldn't go amiss) and you will come away feeling guilty, but the time will soon pass. You'll be so busy when you arrive anyway!