Bo-Jangles

The new housing developments at Hobsonville, Millwater, Silverdale and the likes are the most 'affordable' homes and part of the intensification / expansion plan to push out the urban boundary. You don't need to be a millionaire to own one, but of course do need to be able to service the mortgage.

If the top end of your budget is $500k then you are absolutely wasting your time and energy looking anywhere in or around Auckland, other than perhaps apartments in Auckland Central areas or at Albany.

Sparkleydiva

I lived in Silverdale for 7 years until we returned back to the UK in May last year. Prices are expensive. It is seen as commutable to the CBD and so rental prices are also high. We had a 4 bedroom property on Totara Views which we paid $680/week rent for by the end of our stay - started at $550. When they were re-leasing it last year there were queues of families looking to rent it and we had 4 or 5 families at a time through the house as we were packing to leave and they had even put up the rent to $710/week! So I would say that negotiation in Auckland, even as far north as Silverdale/Orewa etc is highly unlikely as is seen as a desirable area to live in. They are now suggesting that even Warkworth is commutable but personally wouldn't dream of it. Good luck.

Alos, and most unprofessionally the rental agent made comments of a personal nature about the families looking to rent the house and they were certainly looking for a certain type of family - which was certainly discriminatory and we weren't impressed with at all. If they had any thoughts they should not have been passing comment to ourselves as tennants.

patpending

Could I ask any one to advise in rental and dogs? We are moving to tauranga in June 2017 and will need to rent for a while. As we look on right move 'no pets' seems to be on all rental properties? Is there any negotiation on having a dog? Would landlords be open to a higher bond? If not, what does everyone do who has pets? Thanks in advance...

SkylarkR

We also have a dog and have found that on trade me the options are significantly reduced when checking the no pets option (just as in the UK) but there are some options. If you aren't moving until June you'll have plenty of time to keep looking as things seem to have much shorter lead times in NZ (in my limited experience). If you haven't already started using Trade Me it'd be a good idea to switch as you might find more options as it's a more prevalent site

SkylarkR

Just ran a trade me search - no idea on your budget or requirements so this was based on all bedrooms no price filters but it shows 15 pet ok houses in Tuaranga

Stuck in Auckland

Pet or P?

Just be careful

SkylarkR

I thought I had pets ok on as my default is this for myself - if not sorry, but still suspect you'll see more on trade me..??

SkylarkR

Yes, definitely pets ok toggled on

escapedtonz

Just makes a hard job harder. There are a few rentals here in Tauranga that do accept pets but not many. You may have to look further out maybe Papamoa or even Rotorua.

patpending

Thankyou! I will have a look at trade me. We are beginning to think we will have to leave her here and ship her out later once we have bought something.😕 Trade me here I come!

Spacecake799

You would have to wait to ship your dog anyway. You would need time to find a rental etc and then you may be able to negociate.
We rented 3 times, two of those properties we were allowed our dog. When we looked at the first property we asked the rental agent and she said no way. We met the home owners and asked the rental lady to ask them if they would allow us a puppy. They were more than happy to allow it and so we bought one.
Its always worth discussing where possible.

MrsFychan

Rental properties in Wellington is lacking by at least 3500 properties, one bed units in the CBD are being listed in the $500-$600 range.

One property at its first viewing had over 70 people turn up to view.

So the more conditions/requirements you asked for the less likely you are to gain a property.

Bo-Jangles

Its madness isn't it, it appears that everywhere is bursting at the seams:


Perfect storm as Wellington's rental squeeze spreads to suburbs | Stuff.co.nz

Except Christchurch:

Christchurch's housing paradox –​ the downside of a building boom | Stuff.co.nz

Stuck in Auckland

Sorry being cheeky. But the point was watch out for properties contaminated with P/Ice/drugs. Something that has become a big deal.

I recently had 5 properties tested (luckily none were) at my own cost, now have every new tenant charged for a incoming and outgoing test. And ability to test on a routine check

clairesw

We're currently in our third rental since moving here with our two dogs.
It's definitely worth asking if there's any negotiation even if a property says no pets. Some landlords are concerned that the property isn't fenced, so we made a point of saying they are small, house dogs. Our current place was advertised as no pets, but we asked anyway, the landlords asked to come see us in the place we were in to check we hadn't trashed it and were fine. We also asked our landlord in the UK for a reference.
Now we're facing the challenge again as we consider a move out of Auckland...I feel your pain!
Good luck.