Pisces

Hi,

We land in Sydney in September with 2 young children. Have read all the post's re renting furnished accomodation and am feeling a bit apprehensive about finding something suitable within a short period of time.
Could anyone advise if they have used a relocation agent, if it was a great help, prices and if you could pass on the details.

Thank you

Karen

gedge

furnished rentals are a bit like hen's teeth, you probably already know that
i'm not sure how a relocation agent will help unless they have some great resources unbeknownst to the rest of us
are you looking for a furnished rental for long term, or just till your stuff get's here?
have you considered a holiday rental like www.rent-a-home.com.au
then you can have some time to look for the right place to rent and source some temporary bits, enough to get by with... i can imagine this is difficult with kids but i'm sure it's been done before
good luck with it all

joho

Look for holiday lets until your container arrives, they are always furnished and equiped too, more expensive but at least you have stuff to use. September wont be as expensive as November onwards. What area are you thinking of going.

Jo

Jacque

Rent-a-home is probably your best bet, unless you're willing to rent furniture and lease an unfurnished place. If it was likely to be more than 6mths, I'd consider this as an option as you can always resell the furniture when you decide to move to something more permanent.

Serviced apartments are the preferred option, but, unless you have a subsidy from an employer, can prove to be very expensive. When we relocated from New Zealand we stayed in the terrific York Apartments in Sydney for 10 weeks, until we found a suitable permanent rental and our container arrived. However, with my spouse being in the defence force at the time, we were heavily subsidised.

Have you checked out these sites?

www.sydneyservicedapartments.net
www.ozstayz.com.au- this one is reputable and is popular with Aussie holiday makers. You will be able to also negotiate price depending on your length of stay.

Pisces

Thanks very much. Will have a look. We are looking at Frenchs Forest, Wahooronga, Lane Cove areas, because of the good schools and child friendly neighbourhoods.
I have looked at the furnished accomodation like the Waldorf apartments and Parkridge and most of the rates are 600-800 a week. Steep, but I suppose with young children you need to be "comfortable". Hopefully we will only need about a 2 week stay. Will have a look at the rates for the York Apartments.
Karen

joho

I would say that not too bad really.

Jo

michdp

We used a relocation agent when we moved to Sydney in 2005 but actually, found our house ourselves in the end (although by pure fluke!)! It was really helpful & took some of the stress out of the move.If I was moving here again, I'd still use one for familiarisation if I could afford to.

We had spent time in Sydney on holidays but had no idea about schools or good family areas or property prices & it was really useful to spend a few days with someone giving us a 'snapshot' of different suburbs to help us target our house & school search. It does take the legwork out of looking at rental properties because she just lined them up for us one after the other. Most rental properties are shown on open days when everyone pitches up, with our agent, we had private viewings outside those times so we had an opportunity to apply on the spot. If you want details, send me a private message & I'll dig out the details for you.

We stayed in a holiday let for 3 weeks until we found a house & did an Ikea run for basics to see us through until the container arrived.

Good luck with the move. we're up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney in Collaroy.

m100

Hi dont use rentahome, I made a booking with them whilst we were still in England, gave credit card details etc, a few days later got an email saying the apartment was unavailable, they still charged us about £50 for nothing!! something to do with exchange rates when they take the money then they give it back to you at a difference rate. We tried complaining but got nowhere. We used www.waterfront-apartments.com.au they were excellent!!

Pisces

Thanks have done!
Ikea are great. First shop we went to when we landed in Dubai, glad to hear they are in Sydney.

hedgehog-girl

If you go to Frenches Forest you probably wont have a problem getting somewhere to live. Its a bit out in the sticks for most people although in reality its only a 25 min car journey to the beach and is safe and nice.

Katherined0

We stayed in the Riverview appartments in Lane Cove when we arrived. Hubby's work paid but I can recommend them. Very well equipped!

Rosscarbery

Visa willing we will arrive end of June with three kids - looking to rent in the same kind of areas as you. When we went on holiday in November we stayed in the Pacific International apartments on George St. We'll probably do the same again for around three weeks to give us breathing space to find somewhere to rent. I think it was around £90 (sterling) a night for a 2 bed serviced apartment. If I find anything better I'll let you know!

Martha

LisaD_uk

Hi there michdp Sydney is also our destination of choice could I pm you too please as we will also be interested.
Sorry to hyjack post.

LisaD_uk

BTW some really good links, I have put them in my favourites.
Thanks all.

michdp

Lisa,

That's fine to pm me.
Michele