Just wondering what is needed to rent in syndey?? I mean what paper work do you need to rent accommodation, eg I.D. but what else is needed??

Drivers licence, passport if new to the country, references(if you don't have reference then letter from employer), have all these photo copied and ready to give a copy to the rental agent when you fill out an application as it saves time and gets you in quick. HTH

We've got ours ready to go out with today, just in case.

Copies of passports, driving licences, health cards (if any), references or offer letter from employer, reference from current/previous landlord, bank statements. We've also got our ID cards from our current country.

We have 3 cats so our relo agent recommended we get our landlord to say they haven't caused any problems.

Depending on where you want to rent in Sydney, you may have a problem finding something with cats. Most strata schemes won't allow them so just ask upfront and offer to pay an extra "pet bond" if it makes a difference. You may also need to sign a special condition that means you're up for fumigation costs of the interior of the dwelling with inside pets.
Best of luck finding a rental and keep us posted of your progress. It's getting to be a tough world here in Sydney for tenants at the moment!

Probably why they're all moving up here. You can get a 4 bedroom modern house here 10 mins from the beach for the same price as an old 2 bedroom Sydney unit that 50 people are competing for.

We have less traffic, better beaches, better looking & much friendlier people, cheaper living etc..

I don''t see why anyone would move to Sydney unless they're looking for IT or senior management roles within multinational or international corps.

It may take you a tad longer to secure a decent position on the GC, but the lifestyle is worth the wait.

Exactly that - senior IT role with a multinational. The Gold Coast can wait for retirement.

Hi again, Jacque - we put an application in today on a lovely little whaler's cottage at McMahons Point. It's been accepted, too. We're off back to Singapore in the morning but will probably instruct our relocation agent to go ahead and progress it for us.

So all going well we'll arrive on 1/2 May and go straight there rather than to a serviced apartment; we're in an ok one at the moment but I'm not sure I fancy a month of it, so we're going to be sleeping on a lilo instead I think. Thankfully my husband will be coming back for business in a fortnight so I'll be packing him up with a few essentials.

Hello there. We moved here 6 weeks ago. We supplied:

Passport
UK drivers licence
Copy of last mortgage statement (if you are renting in UK, reference from landlord or management company a must)
Bank statement
Provided 2 referees
Husbands letter of employment
We also drew up a cover letter, telling them about us. We have 2 cats, so also used the letter to state what good pets they were

Hints:
Sydney rental is manic. You get what they call inspection days where they open up a property for 15 mins to 30 mins. If it is popular (which they know it will be if they are doing inspections) expect about 30 people flying around the property with you. The estate agent flings out application forms, and people then race off to fill them in and get them back. Crazy!

Where possible, avoid these as the chances of getting the place are so slim. If you can find a place where an EA is prepared to show you privately, so much better.

If you see a place you like, do not waste time. Fill the app there and then. If you have driven past the place prior to the viewing and think the location etc is good, and it looks ok from the outside, even go to the EA office, and pick up the application beforehand. You can then go to the viewing with the application completed and copies of all your docs, and hand in your app there and then.

Good luck!

I took documents as above, but would add that they may also want a copy of your visa.

I agree with Helen-17 that the open house/application process is manic. What we did when looking for our current place was put a complete application together and downloaded a copy of the estate agent's application form from their website (you could pop into their office in advance and pick one up), so all we had to do when we'd seen the property was go to the office and hand the completed application form and documents over.

I saw something on the news a couple of years ago about real estate agents who were holding tenancy auctions, the situation was so bad. They were just like auctions to purchase a property but people were bidding on how much rent they would pay. It was completely crazy.

Good advice above and I agree it is crazy. It's also crazy that agents all seem to set the times for the open sessions to around 11am on a Saturday. I appreciate that, if it's tenanted, you can't go view any time you like, but all the ones we've viewed have been vacant.

Just to give prospective tenants an idea, we've been in Sydney for 9 days to look for a property. We started out planning simply to get to know the areas but, having cats, we decided that we might sign up if we liked a place.

We're lucky to have a relocation agent and they seem more able to arrange viewings at odd times, but we still only managed to see 3 all week and then yesterday it went mad.

We had to make a choice, which to cut from our schedule, but when we got to the first one, at 10.55am, there was a sign on the door saying it was cancelled as it was already rented. 50 bucks in a taxi, that one cost us, as we wanted to go put in an application on a property first and time was tight.

Then off to the other end of Paddington to see one with the same timeslot, which I wouldn't have rented as an 18-year old student. Maybe 4 other couples looking round. Filthy, neglected property - even had rotten skirthing boards which they'd made no attempt to even hide! We daren't risk standing on the balcony; seriously needs a total renovation and IIRC 700 a week. It could be a fabulous place but the arrogant owner just bought it and put it straight on the rental market. I don't know how he had the nerve to stand outside and ask if we were interested - my friend thought I was very restrained when I said, "needs a bit of work, eh".

Then an hour's respite for a cuppa before heading back to the other end of the suburb to see a property outside our budget, but we liked the look from the outside -and yes, this week we walked round every suburb that interested us, and viewed numerous properties from the outside; I have the blisters to prove it. The agent was late, barely acknowledged us, and chucked us out before the end of the 15 minutes even though we were the only people viewing. We decided he obviously hadn't got laid the night before. (Loved the house, considered making an offer but it's at least an hour's commute so not ideal.)

Then a hike back up to the other end of Oxford Street to see another one with the same snotty agent. Tons of other people hanging around outside and a rush for the door when the Queen Bitch arrived. Then a rush for the door when we all saw how rough it was; we didn't even go upstairs. Again, pure arrogance. Dirty, post piled up outside the door, a fridge in the garden...it would have taken a couple of hours to clean it up a bit although the kitchen would still have been a nightmare.

We then rushed over to Rozelle to see another one. What a difference not being in a prime/trendy area makes! It was lovely, it was clean, the agent had put drinks on the counter...shame it is just off a major road and not for us but I bet there will be a lot of applications for it.

None of the above is a cheap property. They're all 600-800 a week. The sad thing is, somebody will take them in the state they are in, because the market is so tight.

Thanks for the detailed description of your experience Seasider. We will be moving to Sydney in a couple of weeks and your experience is sort of worrying. Anyway, wish you all the best with the property search.

Congratulations Seasider!! Hope it all works out. It did look like a cute property.

See you soon

Love

Rudi
xxx

Thanks darlin', was so good to see you (and the other Sydneyporeans ) last week.

Just have to work out how to cram all our furniture into roughly half the square footage we currently have, and we're sorted. Wanna buy any antique Chinese or Tibetan cabinets?

Understandable supply and demand interest rates at near 10% at source
causes a rental drought

Hi
just wondered if this was close to sydney, i dont have any knowledge in terms of where anywhere is in sydney, our sponsor (fingers crossed still awaiting confirmation) place of business is kings park NSW, is this classed still as sydney???, what if anyyone knows is this area like, we have 4 children so would like obviously a nice area i think you call them suburb? what is a suburb , i know it sounds stupid but here in the uk we arent up on all this oz lingo yet, . our children range from twins of 4yrs old and a 7 yr old and 10yr old, so need to be near schools etc . any advice on areas and suburbs etc would really help here

kind regards
michell

Hi Michell

Kings Park is a small suburb near Quakers Hill and Acacia Gardens in Sydney's west. It's approx 38km from Sydney's CBD and closer to the CBD heart of the western suburbs- Parramatta.
Housing is mainly made up of freestanding brick homes approx 10-20yrs old, depending on street age. Average house price is $400K. For $400 a week you'd easily be able to rent a decent 4bed 2bth home with DLUG. I would classify it as a first home owners/working class suburb.
For newer homes check out new estates nearby such as Acacia Gardens and Kellyville Ridge, which might be more to your liking. Stanhope Gardens also has just had a lovely shopping centre constructed, across the road from a terrific indoor leisure swimming centre, which kids just love (wave pool very popular!). Best of luck with it all.