Best time to find a rental in Manly?

Hi there,

I know, I´ve recently asked about various suburbs as I was looking at moving.

Anyway, long story short: I have decided to move to Manly (or Fairlight) - at the moment, I live in Kirribilli and work in the city.

I just wondered: what do you think is the best time to look for rentals in that area? I have been told that winter is usually a bit quieter which on the one hand means, that there are less rentals on the market, on the other hand though: there might be less competition with potential other tenants.

My current lease expires in November. I am a bit unsure whether I should risk it and just try to find a rental in Manly around the time my current lease expires - but given, it´s in summer, I suppose, there will be more competition for a rental in a beach suburb. Or should I just suck it up and pay the penalty fee for breaking lease (4 weeks rent) when I could secure a suitable rental within the next few weeks?

How did you organise your time in between rentals? Do you risk it that you might not find a suitable place at the time your current lease expires or do you just accept paying the break lease fee?

Can anybody give me an idea of the market in Manly (when would be a good time to look for a rental)?

Thanks for your input!

I would not have thought it would make much difference. People are looking for rentals all year round and people have rentals to let all year round. I would wait until a few weeks before your current lease expires and then look, rather than put myself in a break lease situation without any compelling reason.

Start looking now to get a feel of the place and different prices.

Any time is a good time to look. Change of season makes no difference.

Manly is a very popular place to live and competition may be quite stiff.

So be prepared and have all your paperwork and records together ready to go at a moments notice.

Not much point viewing a property on the Saturday and then spending the next five days scrabbling around for relevant paperwork. It may be snapped up by then.

We once did a rental viewing in Manly and about 60 people turned up for the same open day. That was a few years ago now so things may have settled down. Or they may be worse. So just be prepared paperwork wise should you happen to find the perfect place.

How did you organise your time in between rentals?

Stay in a backpackers hostel, motel, caravan park, or any short term cheap accommodation etc....

During our last move we had three weeks between end of one house, and move into another. We stayed in a cabin at a caravan holiday tourist park.

Thanks for your opinions!

I have been looking daily at available properties (online) in Manly/Fairlight for the last few weeks to get a feel for the rental market there. So far, I am not very convinced about the available apartments within my price range (max of $800 pw for a 2 bdr), lots of old places with decade old appliances in bad shape...Maybe the market will pick up within the next few weeks when more people start moving again in spring/summer, I don´t know.

I also had a look at the suburbs a bit further north, e.g. Queenscliff or Freshwater where you seem to get a little more value for money. I wouldn´t want to move to far up north but what are people´s opinion of Freshwater?

I thought, it might be possible to take the bus to Manly Wharf and then hop on the fast ferry into the city so the commute shouldn´t be too long. Realistic? Would you recommend Freshwater for a single, 40 yo (young at heart) female who loves the outdoors and the beach but also doesn´t want to feel to isolated in a family-oriented suburb?

I do have the option to work from home most of the time so could avoid a daily commute (maybe only 1-2x/week)...

Would appreciate any thoughts on this...

Will keep looking around Manly and Fairlight but might have to make a compromise...

I moved to Manly this week and went to see a lot of different properties over several weeks in my search. I moved in with someone else on an existing rental so wasn't looking for a new lease, but the vast majority of places I went to were run down and needed updating. The bedrooms are generally small and the apartments don't have the facilities that you'd get if you went for a more modern building. There are nicer places but you will pay good money for them. The location is what makes it though.. IMO the best place to be in Sydney.

Fairlight would get old pretty quickly walking up that hill everyday and you're out of the action a bit.