sk686

We were just granted the PR visas. We're planning to move permanently to Sydney in November, 2003, and enjoy the summer there.

We are coming from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and would like to rent an apartment online in Sydney, before we arrive there.

If anyone has experience renting apartments online in Sydney, please post your links here. We're looking for a decent apartment in a decent neighborhood. By decent, I mean safe and affordable. It does not have to be luxurious.

Thanks.

bondipom

I currently rent at Bondi Beach. We live in a small 2 bedroom unit 5 mins from the beach and pay $300 a week. I like the area but apparently it has a bit of crime and parking can be difficult. Another popular and nice Beach is Bronte which is more family orientated.

The nice areas are supposed to be on the North Shore but they are more isolated (by the geography of the harbour and the spit). My wife works in North Sydney and most of her colleagues live on the North Shore. They are more anglo and and perceived to be snobby up there.

The Eastern Suburbs are better for transport, especially Bondi Junction. Some of the areas do have a crime problem, especially Darlinghurst, Kings X, Surrey Hills and a lot of Paddington and Elizabeth Bay. Further East of these places towards the Ocean are some very nice suburbs. Be careful of Bondi Junction now because half the place is a building site for a new shopping centre. When the centre is finished the area will be very popular as it is a transport hub.

The way to rent property is to grab the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday morning and work out what area you are going to hit. All the properties are open for about 30 mins from 9:30 am to 2 pm. A lot of the properties will end up on the web site (www.smh.com.au)

You have to ask what you want out of an area and if you need public transport access. Personally I would rather see a place before renting.

I would avoid the west as why pay the same for worse. A lot of people like Newtown but it has a drugs and crime problem. An area you might have success online is Pyrmont which is within walking distance of the city. There are a lot of modern apartment blocks for city workers but I don't know how safe it is.

Personally I like being near the Ocean as it moderates the temperature in summer and cleans the air.

amaslam

Hi:

:lecture:

I'm arriving in just over 3 weeks to Sydney and I'm in the same situation. Go to the following websites for apartments:

http://www.domain.com.au and http://www.realestate.com.au

I would use a range of 250-350 per week for finding decent 1-2 bedroom apartments.

Are you just moving or you have a job ready here? If job then you want to live near it. I have my job in the North Shore and want to live near the beach so I'm looking at decent areas like:

Curl Curl, Dee Why, Harbord, Manly.

If you need a good set of maps, I would start with the bus maps for Sydney. Basically the city is broken up into North and South by the harbor. If you want mostly urban living try Chatswood or the CBD. If you want some Ethnic try Chinatown. If you want beaches you can try Bondi, Coogee, etc.

The Bus maps can be had from http://www.131500.com.au to get all the info for Sydney public ferry, rail, and buses.

Good luck