timkaren

We are planning to move to Melbourne at the end of October. I just would like to seek some advice from folks out here.

We have booked a cheap hotel for one week. Is it possible that we find an long term apartment during that week? We can't afford to stay in that hotel for more than one week. So we must find an apartment during that first week.

Do the landlords usually rent apartments to those who just migrate to the city and don't have a job yet? Is there any special requirements, rather than bond and monthly rental fee? Thanks.

Deutschmaster

I found an apartment after a week of being in Melbourne. I think it depends more on luck because there can be loads of people all seeing the same apartment as you. Just keep trying and you may want to think about hiring a car so you can drive from letting agency to property and see more in a day.

I had a job here to start with so showed the agent the contract. A friend of mine who came here with no job found it hard to find somewhere when he was looking for a unit so ended up offering more money up front. He offered six months rent and the agent wanted 12. They negotiated on 9 months.

timkaren

Thanks, Deutschmaster. So it is difficult for those who don't have a job yet to get a monthly-rent apartment? I am looking for a place close to Royal Womens' with a budget of not more than $300/week. We usually don't picky on getting a place.

BTW, do they also need a local person to make a reference for us?

Thanks again!

Deutschmaster

The thing with 'how difficult' depends on who else has applied to live in the flat.

The way it works it that you go and see somewhere, and if you like it you have to fill out an application form. The agent does point scoring on whether you have things like: ID, rental receipts, references from a previous place etc, then collects together several applications and sends them to a landlord who then chooses.

If somebody applies who gets a higher score then the landlord may choose them over you.

My suspicion why I didn't do so well when going through that process is that I didn't have rental receipts and sorts so my application wasn't scoring so many points. A problem with the points system is that you won't get to see the landlord so it doesn't matter how charming you can be to them.

It became apparent that I had to find a flat another way. I tried my best to meet landlords and property managers in person and found a flat through that way.

$300 a week is quite a good budget for a one or two bedroom flat/unit depending on the area. Is Royal Womens' the hospital just north of the CBD on Swanston? If I were working there I'd have a look in the Northern Suburbs. Brunswick/Collingwood seem like fun.

I gave my employer as a reference. One agent did actually check.

timkaren

Thanks a lot for such useful info about the pointing system.

There is one thing I am not clear. Some ppl in the forum said they have to pay the monthly fee for 6 months or 9 months in advance, because they didn't have a job when they first arrived. So is it like for example, if bond is $1200 and the rental fee is $300/week, is the total amount that we have to pay at one shot just before we rent the place is approximately $1200 + ($300 x 4 weeks x 6 months) = $8400? If this is so, it's out of my budget for sure.

It seems like it's not that easy to even get an apartment. I have to stay at a house of a friend of mine till I can find a place with reasonable bond and advance monthly fee.

Deutschmaster

I don't know if they meant that they 'had to' pay 6 months up front or if they just offered it to smooth things over.

I think I read somewhere that an agent isn't supposed to demand that much up front - but it's Ok if they are offered.

If you are staying with a friend then that's good. Get a job first then show the contract to a letting agent. That'll help.