stevemich

Am I right in thinking that the usual starting period for a rental contract is 12 months?
We were hoping to stay in a more expensive rental (hopefully in a good area!) for 6 months-ish upon arrival so we could suss out decent areas and move after that time. Is this likely, or are we going to have to sign up for 12 months as a minimum?
Help would be appreciated!

Steve

nanci

Hi Steve,

You don't need to worry 6 month rental periods are just as common as 12 month rental periods. You should have no problem securing a 6 month rental, just let the agent know when you enquire about properties.

Hope this helps,

Nanci

stevemich

That makes me feel better - thanks for your help!
Steve

nanci

No worries, Steve, good luck with your move.

Nanci

MorningMaro

Another thing to note is that, as signing initially for 6 months is pretty standard here, if you agree to 9 months, then you're free to either leave after that or continue living there month by month, the rent itself is sometimes negotiable.

We didn't realise that until we started talking to our real estate agent when we found our apartment in Manly and he suggested signing up for 9 months rather than the standard 6 would get us some money off the rent so we've saved $100 a month - not much but pretty good over a 9 month period. Obviously it depends on where in Syndey you're planning to live and if you'd want to commit to 9 months but its not just restricted to unpopular or disadvantaged areas - Manly is a really popular area to live, there were only a few places around when we were looking and the landlord was still willing to negotiate the rent so always worth a try.

Good luck!

stevemich

Thanks for that - I (maybe stupidly) presumed the quoted rent was not negotiable... If signing up for 9 months can offer this possibility then we will definately look into it.
I am going to be working in North Sydney, so am looking in the nearby areas such as Lane Cove, Northbridge, Cremorne, Cammeray, Willoughby etc. This will mean I can get to work in around 30mins via public transport.
I presume it is as crap trying to drive round those areas at peak times as it is here in the UK!!
Any advice would be good, and thanks for your help so far!

Steve

kevmitch

Steve. North Sydney is well served by direct Buses from as far North as Newport on the peninsula, but as you point out, traffic is awful at peak times. From places such as Mosman/Neutral Bay its almost as quick to walk some days. The railway is definitely quicker - and if you're keeping within a 30 min band, you can look quite a way North (easily up as far as Gordon). A number of the stations further out have free parking on site or very close on street. - and you'll find the cost of public transport is very cheap in comparison to the UK.

I commute by bus from Mona Vale to North Sydney - and door to door it takes me about an hour each way - to give you an idea.

Good luck with the move