Essie

Hi All!

I'm going to Australia with my boyfriend. Me on a working holiday visa and him on his permanent resident visa. We are planning on taking around 14000 AUS dollars with us and my boyfriend is going to ask his old boss if he would be able to get his job back. However, we have one question: how do we get a place to live before we actually arrive in Australia? Has anyone got experience with that, or have you got any tips or alternative solutions?

old.sparkles

Most people book holiday accommodation to cover when they first arrive to give them time to home hunt. Try AirBnB, Stayz and Homeaway.

Essie

Isn't that usually quite expensive? And how long would you say you'd need to do that for? I mean, how quickly would we be able to find a place to rent?

old.sparkles

We ended up staying for 5 weeks, but a friend found somewhere in less than 2 weeks. It depends on what type of property you're looking for, budget, location etc as to how quickly you will be able to find something. You can check out realestate.com.au to see what properties are available.

Beoz

It can be, not always, but unless you are willing to pay 6 months rent up front, for a place you've never seen, nor never met the agent or landlord, why would a landlord take you before anyone who is local.

Essie

Okidoki, thank you very much for the info!

paddyo

No Real Estate agent will allow you to take a property without viewing it first. It protects you and them. Believe me, once you get here and see the actual state of some of the properties you will be glad of that mandate!

Bermudashorts

You cannot get a place to live before you arrive ... and trust me you wouldn't want to either.

You need to budget for short term accommodation upon arrival, we booked a serviced apartment for five weeks, we probably could have been out and in e rental we found within about three or four weeks if we had pushed it but we were quite comfortable and had no furniture in the rental so we stayed the full five.

Our serviced apartment cost about $7k for the five weeks, but this was at the higher end of the market as we re a bit older than you and like our creature comforts. . I am sure you could get something without blowing half your moving fund.

Beoz

Or rent a double room in a hostel.

wilsorinio

Best bet would be to get some short term accommodation as suggested by others.

Air B n B and Gumtree are a good to place to start. You can usually just rent a furnished room in someone's apartment.

Give yourself a few weeks to look for somewhere to live once you arrive. Best to check out places midweek, as most people are at work therefore there is less competition for the decent places!

Blade Down Under

Hi

At the moment, I'm staying at a Novotel hotel and I'd recommend upon arrival you either stay in a hote or hostel to start before looking round

I've taken a look at a few rentals and believe you me, some are quite interesting. It's the same over in New Zealand as well, although at least you have some sort of working heating system here.

I know for certain that you cannot get anything whilst over in the UK. You need to view the rental first before signing up, it's a mandatory process Down Under. As some have said, look during midweek as it's much easier than attempting to arrange times after working hours or at weekends.

rohit1_sharma

Hi,

I might be asking a lot of questions here but thought that this the right forum.

Can anyone please suggest a website to find accommodation options in Sydney. Also what is the average Rental in Sydney for a 2 Bed Room apartments.

What are the affordable kid friendly neighborhoods we can shortlist?

Bermudashorts

I usually use www.domain.com.au

Mathematical average rental is irrelevant, some two beds will be very expensive and others will be cheap, you just need to decide on your budget and look.

In deciding a neighbourhood, think about the points of difference, "kid friendly" isn't one of them, there are kids living happily in every neighbourhood. Key things you need to consider in deciding your neighbourhood are: price and location e.g. travel to work and also personal preference like near the city, near the beach etc.

paddyo

....and demographics!!