JDAD84

My husband and I touched down in Sydney 2 days ago. We're currently staying in a studio apartment which we booked before we arrived, and it's only booked until Sunday.

Today we've been out and looked at 6 properties, in various suburbs within 16km of MacQuarie park in Northern Sydney.

Well, it's been a total shock to be honest, nothing compared to the UK standards and regulations... i've never seen such dated and frankly awful kitchens/bathrooms and decor. We had a good look on various websites, gumtree.com, domain.com, rent.com.au and there seemed to be a good amount but actually going and seeing them is a different story.

We know we probably expected too much to find the right property in 4 days, especially given this weekend is a public holiday. But i'm at a loss as to what to do. Even if we had somewhere to stay for just a couple of months until we get our head around the change in living and we start to see my wage come in that would be great.... but finding something that suits us seems to be impossible.

Don't get me wrong by no means did we expect or want a high end complex apartment or 3 bed townhouse with a pool. We'd really be happy with a 1 bed basic house/apartment as long as it was up to scratch and clean (for the love of god I want it to be clean). We've been looking around 500pw.... looking online we can get the 'standard' of property I want for around 650pw which is a jump, but if we could justify it then we would go for it.

Does anyone have any suggestions, know anyone with properties for short term lease, or can help in anyway?

We've looked in most areas, Lane Cove, Chatswood, Epping, Pennant Hills, Carlingford, Ryde, Hornsby, Marsfield........ out of all of them I've taken a shine to Epping and Lane Cove but I don't want this to restrict our options.

We're both feeling very overwhelmed and as we're only 2 days in it feels like an uphill climb.

I'm due to start my new job on Tuesday and would love to have a fixed address before then.

Manda

Beoz

Yeah. Spend more money. Sounds line you looked at what you get in the UK, did the exchange rate conversion and went, $500 will be fine.

Lesson learned I guess.

For what its worth we (a couple) spend $730 for a good 2 bedder house between the city and the beach.

Spend up in my opinion.

aussietobe

yes, from my understanding you won't get much for $500 a week in those areas. Sydney accomodation is ridiculously expensive.

aussietobe

I should add that freinds of min found an $800 p/w apartment in Sydney 9can't remember what suburb) and they offered $775 a week with three months paid up front so that might be a possibility for you.

JDAD84

So, we didn't convert what we were paying GBP for AUD we looked at the % of our wage. At the moment as my husband doesn't have a job we will be relying solely on my wage and I guess we are trying to be cautious with how much we spend on a rental as it is such a large part of our wage.

You mentioned you pay $730.... can i ask how this compares to your incoming salary?

tartankoala

Welcome to Sydney! I remember going through this as well. Going along to rentals that we thought were within our price range and being shocked at the utter shitness of their conditions. We had to increase our budget until we found something we liked.

I assume you are looking "within 16kms of Macquarie Park" because your new job is there? If so have you tried Meadowbank or Ermington. There is a train station in Meadowbank that goes to Epping then you'd get the train down to Macquarie Park. I used to do that when I lived in Ermington.

Here is a link to a 2 bed unit in the complex next door to where I used to stay. Units are only about 4 years old so are still in good nick. It's a short car ride to the train station at Meadowbank where you can leave your car. Or I believe there are buses that go along Victoria Road to Macquarie Park.

Quick advice would be to either widen your search zone, increase your budget or both. Good luck.

Kate D

Another option is Rhodes - apartment city, but all modern and in decent condition, with loads having been built in the last couple of years. Has a train station that goes to MacQuarie Park via Epping change, and a couple of direct buses. You might not get a short term lease, but maybe 6 months. Probably also much less competition by virtue of volume available. That was our approach and it worked:-) Just checked on domain and there are even a few one bed apartments for around $500.

Kate

JDAD84

Thanks a lot for the response. the 'shitness' as you put it was a shocker for us.

The link there looks pretty awesome and comes in at 13km away from work.

Will definitely call the agent in the morning, that is like night and day compared to the terracotta tiled messes we've trudged through today.

Thanks for the perspective, we really needed it. will let you know how it goes

tartankoala

I know where you are coming from. Units where mirrored wardrobes were cracked, sockets hanging off the walls, dead cockroaches lying about everywhere because the agent had just "bombed" it. And these were places where they were asking $700-$800 p/w.

It's definitely worthwhile trying to schmooze with the agents as well. Get onto their contact list and if you get matey with them then they may call you when something new comes up.

tartankoala

Good thing about Rhodes is that its a very short walk to Ikea!!

Beoz

Of my take home pay? I don't know, my salary varies each month with bonuses but its some where around the early 20%. Wife also earns and she covers the trips and other expenses.

What I do know is that our rent here, is far less as a percentage of income than what we did in London and we get a 2 bedder instead of a one bed. That part makes me happy.

The $500-$600 mark gets you the medium shite in central Sydney.

Beoz

By the way, the stress won't last forever. You will find a place, a routine, and all that. In 6 months you won't know what the fuss was all about.

Bermudashorts

Well it was optimistic to hope to find somewhere to rent and move in within a week. I would always recommend people allow at least a month, a lot will find something in 2 or 3 weeks and I think everyone will find something in a month. So firstly I would deal with your immediate short term problem and find some suitable holiday / temporary accommodation to take the pressure off.

Your budget is at the cheap end for Sydney, so it might take a bit longer than average to find something, $500 or even $650 probably ok in Brisbane but definitely not a good budget in Sydney and you are likely to see quite a few dumps before you find something acceptable. We saw dumps at $800 per week, its very expensive city for accommodation. I assume your husband will look for work so maybe you will need to pay a higher % of income until then.

Kate D

I think this is where competition for places, or lack of it, can make a difference! We moved into our 3 bed apartment in Rhodes 9 days after hubby arrived - he viewed the weekend he arrived and submitted the applications based on me agreeing on photos (and his mother's 2nd opinion!). I arrived a couple of days later, and the building manager let me view anyway. The "delay" was purely in the agency getting to the supporting paperwork as it was all processed centrally, and that took five working days - the apartment was empty and we could certainly have moved faster. Actually we could have had any of the three apartments on our shortlist that we viewed - the agents were calling us back. I commute from Rhodes to Macquarie Park.

Rhodes isn't a super exciting suburb but it has some advantages and a large choice of modern apartments, many with water views. Also a shopping centre, a train, some limited (but growing) selection of restaurants. It has cycle and walking paths by the water and is close to the expansive Olympic Park. If you don't mind the prospect of moving in the future again, it is easier to get a rental apartment somewhere like here, or maybe Meadowbank (smaller, quieter, with the ferry stop too) which then gets you that future Aus rental reference for when you move on:-) So, high density apartment areas can be a useful stepping stone to get you started in Sydney. Potentially cheaper to move again in six months or so than to hang out in more expensive short term temp accommodation whilst searching for a better place where you are competing against people with established Sydney rental records and local references.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I also speak as someone regularly looking at domain for rental houses in some of the similar areas to the original poster as I'd prefer to be back in a house over an apartment, and I am struggling to see much worth viewing under $800. So we've ended up in Rhodes for much longer than we planned, but that's OK:-)

Kate

JDAD84

Thread update - We both just had to say a big thank you to you Kate because......

Yesterday after you recommended meadowbank/rhodes we viewed 2 apartments, the second one being in rhodes and we fell in love with it.

We managed to view, apply, get approval, pay, sign for and have keys for the apartment all done sameday by 5pm. The real estate agent was extremely helpful.

It's a one bed apartment, $450 pw, has a river view from the back, it's a brand new building (so less competition), awesome fixtures and fittings (manda loves the gas hob, kitchen benches etc) and is 5 mins walk from rhodes train station, 10 mins walk to the shopping centre.

Aside from the whole thing taking less than a day the agent also set our tenancy next tuesday, several days after handing us the keys so effectively fri-tues is rent free.

We went from stressing out and being underwelmed to being suitably impressed and calm within the space of a day.

Today we went out and bought some furnishings, visiting "2nds world" where we got a steal of a deal on a front loading washer (Beko - $469), fridge freezer (Whirlpool - 405l $645) and epic TV (Samsung f8000 $1999) - which were all delivered for $45 ($20 off australia day weekend promotion).

Ikea are delivering our bed tomorrow and when money transfers we'll be getting a sofa from them too.

Really can't thank you enough Kate.

Jay & Manda