reecefam

HI,

We hope to be landing on your lovely island during November and have started at looking at rental homes, via the net, north of Auckland, brown bays/milford areas or any good area within 25 minutes of Albany, with a good local School.
We saw a house on the net, in Whenuapai, available from late October, which looked brilliant...just what we wanted...so thought...go for it...got talking to the agent who advises that they have already booked ten families for a viewing this Saturday and that it will be gone by Sunday!
With this in mind, how do us ex-pats arrange for a rental home from over here in England, so when we land it is all ready sorted and ready to walk into?
I have looked at Crown relocations but they are asking for +$3500, to find a rental and sort it out, which i thought was way over the top.
Can you help and advise if there is another way of doing it or is it easier to pay a firm to do it?
Thanks.
Martin

phil01

Hi Marting

DON'T PAY THEM ANY MONEY!!!

Most rental companies will insist you look around the property before you can sign up ...and to be honest you do need to as the way they look on the net is often not the way they really look!

We only stayed in a motel for 2 nights we viewed some rentals on day 2 of being here, signed up the same day and got the keys that day so the delay was minimal but that was for Northland I should imagine getting a rental in Auckland is more difficult but I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to sort it out you may just have to stay in a motel for a week until you can get sorted.

reecefam

Thanks...i thought arranging rental would be like here and take several weeks.
I am using the "trademe" and "allrealestate" websites...are they the best two?
Martin

phil01

www.realenz.co.nz has most rentals listed.

Take all the paperwork you need for a rental in a plastic wallet...eg. passport, bank account details uk & nz, other id proof such as drivers licence, any references, you letter of offer from your nz employer and they can do it all there and then...oh and don't forget plenty of dosh, 1 weeks rent as admin fee, 3 weeks as bond, 3 weeks in advance...SWEET AS BRO'

P2L

Trade me & www.realestate.co.nz are the best places.

Be aware, rental agents over here usually want a reference from a previous landlord. We had only ever owned before we came here, so we came armed with mortgage statements & DH's company were prepared to offer a reference if needed, which it wasn't.

You will probably be asked for a month's rent in advance, another month as bond ( which is lodged for tenancy services) & your first two weeks rent!!!

We paid around $3000 in total.

HTH

lardyl

that site is the one I used most from NZ so it comes highly recommended. However, our best prospects came from the local papers - the one we got came after I waited at the Rodney Times's office in Orewa until they took delivery of their papers for sale to "Joe Kiwi", bought one (we would get one delivered free but I needed to be ahead of the game), then did the phoning and doorstepping the estate agents. You could do the same with the relevant papers on the Shore, Harobur Times, etc, etc. Gives you that few hours to snaffle up the best prospects - coming in November means that you aren't going to be as bas as we were in January but getting lets over the Summer (in Rodney at least or close to the sea) is more difficult than in the winter as lots of people have batches here or holiday up here!
I'd still advise anyone to have a few weeks or even a month living in the general area before commiting - after a couple of weeks in a motel near Auckland and two months in a furnished rental we went for a year's agreement, most people recommend not to, but the place is cheap and good in a great area so we are happy as......cuz! Good luck!

reecefam

Thanks for all the replies and advice.
I just dont fancy moving over as a family and having no where to live!!
At least it sounds like once you have found a place and you have robbed the bank, you can move in quickly!

P2L

Book yourself into a motel or holiday home for the first week or two till you find somewhere would be my best advise to you.

Also gives you a chance to suss out the area & schools etc.

happynz

That's pretty much all there is to it in a nutshell. Excellent common sense advice.

lardyl

yes and if you are pushed for time re: starting work or with schools to organise that could extend to a few months (but dont pay motel rates get a holiday home or furnished rental). Good luck

Littletoe

DEFINETLY book a holiday home first. How homes and areas are described are very different from how they are. Rentals usually require a fixed term for 6 months to one year. There is NO way to break that commitment unless there has been a breach of the tenancy act, which then requires a court session. We booked a wonderful holiday home before we left in Coatesville - I'm happy to provide you with the contact details and link to view the property. We booked the property for six weeks, just long enough to relax for one week and then search for a new property. Yes, it is a hassle but we got to view different places and make an informed choice. Some agencies have better reputations than others as well. If you came all the way over here and ended up with a place that wasn't as it looked online (they sometimes only display old pictures) and you had a landlord that was a pig, it would make your first few months dreadful.

Best of luck to you and your family,

katracy

They seem to be plenty of rental about in the papers, don't worry. staying in a holiday home first is a good idea. You need to look around, some look brill in the pictures, but some have a lot of building work around them. An extra house built in the garden!! and some didn't even have a proper kitchen!! Don't worry, chill

Wilma & co

Would agree. We had a holiday home for 2 weeks, expected it to be a doddle to find a rental but it wasn't!! We got lucky through the local paper - as lardyl said - 'phoned first thing on a Sat morning, looked at it on Sunday and signed the papers there and then!! Landlord said he'd had between 50 and 60 calls that Sat, but we were first in!! Spent the next 10 days in a motel, ferrying the kids to school and hubby to work as the motel wasn't in the same suburb as the rental!
Would also agree that you need to see the property in the 'flesh' as piccies can hide a number of things - we looked at one place that seemed great on the web but it was up a 1 in 1 (well, seemed that steep ) drive way with a busy road at the bottom. 3 year old + bike + drive = very grey haired mum!

phil01

The legal rental term is you only have to give 3 weeks notice, so my advice would be to only sign up on that basis, some landlords want tenants committed to longer terms but that will be down to you signing for a longer tenancy, don't do it. In NZ it is only 3 weeks notice!!!

reecefam

Thanks for all the great advice...it has been a real help...if anyone can send me links via pm, to good rentals firms/holiday homes, you have used or know of, that would be brilliant.
Thanks again.
Martin