77hil

Hi all

We leave for Sydney in 2 weeks! Holy crap!

What general tips would people give when scoping out rentals. For example, are UK landlord references useful, do I need to go along with bank statements showing big balances, do I offer to pay a few months upfront to appear more appealing? Those kind of things?

Any tips greatly appreciated. We're looking a Sydney West initially so hopefully the market will be a bit cooler that side of town.

pomtastic

Here's an up to date rental vacancy chart for postcode 2000 for the last 5 years. I'm not sure if Sydney West is postcode 2000 but you can change the postcode on this website.

As you can see there are more rentals available than a few years ago so no need to panic too much. If the rental vancancy goes below 1.5% then it is described as a tight market and you will have trouble securing something.

http://www.sqmresearch.com.au/graphs...ydney+west&t=1

hotfuss

Hiya,

Good subject to query because of everything you do when you get here it's the biggest pain in the a*s!

Firstly check out www.domain.com.au - the best site for rentals..

Secondly it's all open inspections, so keep your Saturday mornings free and be prepared to rush from place to place - you'll have an agent who has probably never seen the place before in each one and any number of people wandering through.

You have to fill out an application form to apply for a place (one for each person) and this will require employment details, salary, previous rental and heaps of ID (check out 100 points of ID on the web). Some also necessitate personal references actually signed by the referees. My advice would be that if a place looks good online to have an application form filled out and ready to go and if you like it then give it to the agent there and then. We got two places from simply being the first people to apply. Also don't be afraid to haggle for the rent!

It is hard when you just arrive so offering a few months up front will definitely help as you won't have a local history. We were lucky in that we at least had jobs and I also put a covering letter with each application explaining that we were a married couple, permanent residents, planning to stay in Sydney indefinitely blah blah.. basically trying to distinguish ourselves from backpackers! I also included printed references from our employers, bank statement and printed references from previous landlord in Ireland.

As long as you're organised you should be alright but be prepared for a bit of a hard slog.

Also, and I would DEFINITELY recommend this... Once you get in you have to complete a condition report on the place, detailing any defects. Take the week you have to complete this as you will stumble across things during the first few days. I would also take photos of anything that stands out and give a copy of them to the agent making sure that you can't get blamed once your lease is up and you're moving on.

Best of luck

JoeBloggs80

We just moved into our rented place in Surry Hills a few weeks ago after about a month of looking.

I found renting to generally be harder and more competitive than in London. Demand definitely outweighs supply and there were up to 20 or 25 other couples viewing at places we looked at. Having said that - we were looking at 1 bedroom places in popular central areas, so that is probably the hardest market to get something decent. It depends on what sort of place you want and how much you want to spend. We found generally, and unsurprisingly, the cheaper a place was, the more competitive it was.

The agents are no use at all. In London they will do the searching for you, call you up with options, etc. Here they just sit on their arse as they know they will rent all their properties pretty quickly. So don't expect any help from them, you'll have to do the legwork yourself. If you see a place you like the look of advertised, always call up the agent and ask for an inspection as soon as possible.

The actual application process is sterner too, and a real pain. You have to fill out a form for each application along with documentation. A reference from your UK landlord is definitely a good idea. If you have a job lined up here then a letter from your work would help. Plus you need personal references from 2 australians as well generally.

I've heard its a good idea to put in an offer of $10 or $20 a week more if you really like a place but we didn't have to do that in the end. Also always say you'll go on a 12 month lease as landlords always prefer that.

Check out domain website for an idea of prices. And good luck

Gems

A must is asking to see properties with aircon and insulation.

Gems

ozhappy981

Come with all the required documentation (in case there are several people viewing the property and you want to put in an application there and then).

If you haven't got all your stuff with you and there are several people, the agent/owner might give the property to the next one in line.

You will need:
- Your passport

- Driver's licence

- Bank statement showing how much money you have (especially if you have not yet got a job)

- Job offer/salary letter (but don't need this if you have sufficient bank balance)

- Names, addresses, phone numbers of referees (We had to provide two referees each. We put down various UK friends, who were never contacted. But if the application form asks for four referees, you need to be able to put down four names with address and phone number. Therefore make sure you have those details with you.)

- Sufficient cash to pay two week's rental. Many agents do not take credit/debit cards or cheque but only hard cash for the first payment. If you are the successful applicant, you often have to pay two week's rental. When we got our rental we did not know this. As it was just before Christmas, the nearest cash machines did not have enough cash in them. We had to drive to a bank to get the cash out. Come prepared!

dave99

Having had many rentals I can give you a few tips

-Use the websites domain and realestate.com.au but also go to the estate agents offices, they give out printed lists of rentals many of which go so quick they never put them on the web

-Often you cannot arrange a personal visit but they instead do home opens that you have to go along to, so be prepared to see many others looking at the property as well

-Use google streetview to look at the outside of the property to judge if the area is ok, for example make sure its not next to a busy road

-When you do find somewhere take bank statements, some agents like to be able to call refrences but I find if you just show that you have plenty of cash to cover the rent and you seem like a decent person then they will have no problem renting to you without references.

Hope these help!

renth

My number 1 tip is if you are renting directly from the owner rather than through an agency then make sure you don't rent off a wog (Greek/Italian etc). They won't respect your privacy and will ignore the law regarding tennancy unless it suits them.

77hil

Cheers for the tips. Sounds like it's gonna be a real pain in the bum. Presumably they'll be wanting you take take up the place ASAP. Any notion that you'll move in in a couple of weeks will likely get it offered to someone else?

Also interested in the price issue. One person has said haggle, while another has said offer more? Which is it?

Wol

A common scam is to agree the rental figure, and then when you get to the office to sign up they say there's been a mistake, and the rate should be $50 more than you agreed. This happened to us and we had to accept it since we were checked out of the hotel - and I see from another thread someone else had the same thing - I've heard of others too.

It wouldn't hurt to make a portfolio with all your details, references, copies of bank statements, passports etc and clip a cheque to it made out for six months' rental - money talks.

77hil

Scary thing is that I've also heard of people paying 6 months upfront and then being kicked out after 3 months as the landlord has gone bankrupt. Paying 6 months up front seems risky to me.

Also are contracts around Sydney usually 12 months? I fancied 6.

hotfuss

We're about to move into our third rental since moving here and have had 6 month leases in the previous 2 and will have a 12 month in the next one.

Both times 6 months was what we wanted and what the agent wanted and the agreement was that if it was working for both parties after six months was up then we could extend.

As regards haggling/offer more, I guess it depends on the demand but the first place we got was in Rose Bay in the Eastern Suburbs so quite a high demand area and we offered $20 less than their weekly asking price. We were the first application in and the agent came back and asked if we'd up our price so we did by $10 and got it. this was our first rental in Sydney too so we had no previous rental history at that stage.

The second place we offered $10 less and it got accepted and in the next place we are moving into we offered $30 less and have ended up paying $20 less than the asking price!

Also in one place we looked at recently we asked the agent if the rent was negotiable and he went down $40 without any haggling at all on our part so my advice would to definitely haggle!

RainDog

My situation was different to the OP as my Aussie partner sorted out a rental before I arrived. I'd say the best thing you can have in your favour is availability. If you're not working you have the freedom to jump on any property that comes up.

Because my partner works full-time and couldn't drop everything to view properties, we missed out on a gorgeous place that was leased within a few hours of being posted online, and we almost missed out on our current place because another couple put an application in first. Luckily (for us) they were rejected and my partner was next in line. So if you see somewhere you like the look of, go to see it ASAP.

mecheng

Geez, don't be too direct with such a mass generalisation. I've had plenty of pain in-the-butt landlords who weren't Italian or Greek.

caliburn

How much of a bank balance will be looked upon favorably by the agents? Any ballpark number?