lisamct

Just wondering if anyone's been brave enough to rent property here without actually viewing it in person first?
I'm in the process of trying to find somewhere to rent in Auckland but its proving 'way' more difficult than I imagined. I'm still living and working in Rotorua and will be until literally the day before I start work in Auckland (cant afford to have unpaid time not working) although I do have my last week of work as leave so I have to time to physically move.
I've enquired about around 15 properties but all have had set viewing days which I havent been able to make. For example, two I really like have viewings Fri and Sat lunchtime but I'm on nights Thurs/Fri/Sat and cant change at short notice.

I'm now wondering about the possibility of renting without actually viewing in person, just going by website pics and Google street view. I know its a reasonably risky option but I'm worried about running out of alternatives.
So, has anyone done it thats way? Would I even be able to rent without turning up at the viewing day?

I have 5 weeks till I need to move and I'm a total control freak so starting to get a bit twitchy
Strangely I wasnt like this when I move from the UK with no where to live but for some reason this inter-country move seems way more stressful.

Luckybird

Hi Lisa, hope you are all good , and that the move to Auckland will be all it you want it to be

Probably a stupid reply but could someone from your new place check out a rental for you? , not sure how well you know anyone at your new place but may be worth a try (also if it's not to your liking then you can blame someone else!!

Good luck either way

billingham

Risky - you will be locked in for at least 6 months.

I booked a cheap motel for a couple of weeks - wasn't much more than renting but gave me breathing space and time to find somewhere.

bananalana

I have done it.

I moved form Hawkes Bay down to Paraparaumu without viewing the property. Found it on Gumtree. We exchanged emails and photos of the house and out family and off we went.

I kid you not, thus far the unseen house was the nicest house we have rented in our 13 years together LOL

We are just about to do it again too. We move in 2 weeks from Sydney to Brisbane and we havent seen that house either except in photos (it's got a big pool though so we dont care about the house lmao)

Kija

Good advice IMO

maisiep

We did it when we moved over. Before leaving London we rented a house in Christchurch from Trade Me. It was a private ad and we dealt directly with the landlord who was great and really helpful. We paid the bond before leaving the UK, arrived and picked up keys from under front door mat of house.

The place wasn't amazing, but it was fine. Clean, furnished with the essentials, etc. We'd negotiated a short term (3 month) rent with the understanding that we may stay longer depending on how our longer term house hunting panned out.

I was a bit worried about doing it from overseas, and what if it turned out to be total scam, etc. But it was fine.

I think just get lots of photos, be clear about what's in the house and what isn't (heating, furnishings, etc), try to negotiate a short term rent if you're dealing with the landlord directly, speak to the landlord as well rather than just doing it all over email.

Good luck!

daisycutter

don't do it ... we did the first time we came to NZ ... big mistake ...

Debbie2NZ

Your best bet might be to stop at a motel initially. I know the price of things in Auckland is That takes the pressure off having nowhere to go. We were in Auckland back in February and trying to find a rental was like pulling teeth ! Landlords/Letting Agents didn't want to deal with us I felt. Don't know why. We bailed out to Christchurch which was our original plan anyway. When dealing with Christchurch letting agents, the first one was offering me the key to view the property during the first phone call ! This is much better I thought. We rented the 3rd property we saw. One piece of advice we were given for Christchurch at least was when viewing properties, dress smartly as if you were going to a job interview. Others may disagree with this.

lisamct

Thanks for the replies. I had considered the hotel option but I have a 2 bedroom house full of furniture in Rotorua that needs to move with me so thats a bit of an issue. I know I could put it into storage for a few weeks but don't really have the funds to do that. Also it'll be right in the middle of the RWC so cheap motels will be pretty impossible to find.

Luckybird- I had thought about asking at my new job. I don't really know them at all, only met the manager once at interview. I'm also not planning to live anywhere near where I'm going to be working and i know that most of the people who work there already live very local to the unit so doubt they'd be much help with rentals in the city.

Well on with my search. What I'd really like is a list of what rentals have set viewings on what days. That way I could match up the days I can get up to Auckland with what's available...make my life so much easier!

Debbie2NZ

Good luck. It seems moving house in NZ is the same headache/heartache or pain in the bum that moving house in Britain is ! My husband and I are about to do this as we move out of our rental to our new house which is about 1km away ! Good luck with your move as it seems push is about to very shortly come to shove.

luvwelly

..is a very bad idea. There is a lot of competition for good rentals and you need to be on the spot to secure them. I would suggest you keep your stuff in storage until you have found a place to rent and in the meantime use a holiday rental or motel.

Would it be cheaper to keep your stuff in the Rotorua rental until you have somewhere in Auckland secured?

dorrick

Have you tried Gumtree or Just Rentals - they could line up some viewings for you

Expat Kiwi

Good idea to put it in storage in Auckland, it may not be as expensive as you think Lisa. In the meantime perhaps someone at the hospital has a room they can rent out whilst you look for something. What you spend on storage costs you could save on rent.

It must be near impossible to find something so close to the cup, afterwards things should free up considerably

chocolate cake

I'd agree, I don't think arranging a rental without viewing in Auckland is wise. There are some pretty horrible rentals on the market, and you'd be stuck there for 6 months min.

rick78

i definitely wouldnt rent without seeing it... loads of houses we looked at online looked great, but when seeing them in real life there were terrible

i would definitely rent a cheap hotel and put your stuff in storage or something... it may seem more expensive short term, but it would be better

either that or come to auckland for a long weekend and sort it out before you get here?