indy6160

Hi Everyone, We finally made it to Melbourne a week ago and started our hunt for rental property. Recently we made a couple of rental applications online using the famous '1Form' on realestate.com.au website. The application has a section where you can upload all your ID documentation for 100 points. We included all our passport, bank statements, medicare documents and a cover letter summarizing our application and our personal situation and also offering 3 months of rent in advance. One letting agent was quite thorough and seems to have gone through all our documentation for id. The second letting agent called us and said he didn't receive any of the attached documentation. However this agent didn't seemed concerned about receiving any of the ID docs, but was quite keen on knowing what was included in the content of the cover letter. Our first application got rejected, but the second one got accepted. To our knowledge the second letting agent hasn't done our reference checks and didn't come across as being too concerned about having our ID documents but more concerned about the content of the cover letter (I assume people offer rent in advance in their cover letters!!!) The agency website displays a couple of awards from WOMO and is a member of REIV. So my question is....should this be a cause for concern? Is there a regulatory body that we can check the legitimacy of the letting agency? OR am I being paranoid? ) Thanks everyone Indy

Thanks for the info and advice !!! I will resist the urge to drive in australia until I get my proper licence.

Hi all, Me and my husband are flying out to Melbourne tomorrow, we want to change our UK driving licence asap because its so important for the 100 points of ID and we want to find a place to rent quickly. The questions I have are, Does anyone know how long it takes to get an appointment to change the licence? Do they change the licence immediately or do you have to submit a request and then wait for days? What other documents do we need to take with us? I just passed my driving test a couple of days ago and only have the pass certificate, the actual licence will take a couple of weeks to come in the post. Any idea if they will issue a licence based on the certificate? Thanks in advance Indy

Hi everyone, Thanks for all your responses. For some reason I was not notified by POI, when people responded to my question, so only picked this up now. What do you mean by 100 points on the ID? I think I might take Lou's advice and scan a lot of my documents. I do have a job offer with the full employment contract, so I guess that will help. We are leaving late February, so better get cracking with all the scanning I guess ? indy

Hi All, Me and my husband are relocating to Melbourne in Feb/March time and I was wandering what sort of documents (utility bills, proof of id, other docs) would be required when renting property or hiring a car? We have years and years worth of utility bills, bank statements but ofcourse we are planning on shipping most of it and therefore won't see it for a good 3 - 4 months. What docs would it be useful to carry around with us? Cheers Indy

We are moving in March 2015 :-) Can't wait !! It's been such a long wait and still a couple of months to go! We do have a few friends in Melbourne, but hoping that we will make many more You can't go wrong living in the friendliest city in the world Good Luck!

Hi Freckleface, Could I please clarify something you had mentioned above about what to include and not in the CV? My husband was studying full time for a Masters degree in between his first job and his second job which took about two years to complete. Would he need to specifically mention this period as full time study on the CV so as to explain the break in employment? His CV is structured in a way where employment and education are two different sections so all the relevant info is already in there, but we were wondering if it was worthwhile to explain the break in the employment section itself? Hope that made sense...and thanks in advance for your help! Indy.

Thanks freckleface !!? ??

Hi Frackleface, My husband works in the IT industry and he recently accepted a new job in the UK. Shortly after accepting the job we received our Australian PR visa. We want to make the big move to Aussie in Feb 2013, but by this time he would only have completed around 3-4 months at his new workplace. Would this look bad on his CV to prospective employers in Australia? He has already resigned from his old job, so he can't go back to that either. Thanks for your help. Indy

Hi Hannah, Hope your keeping well. We are hoping to move to Aussie next yr. I hope to live close to the beach if its affordable. What would normal rental prices be for a decent 1 or 2 bed apartment? Thanks Uma

Hello everyone, So we just got our 175 visa yesterday!!! yey!!! So happy So now comes all the decision making. We are a married couple in our early thirties (no kids) and would like to live in a city that is fully of life and buzzing. I also don't deal well with cold weather (one of the big reasons we are moving). So what would be the better city to live in? Sydney or Melbourne? We'd like to be close to the beach as well....as in less than a hours drive would be good. Because I hear property prices close to the beach are sky high!! We have friends in both Sydney and Melbourne, so we are struggling to decide. Also we havent found jobs yet.....so all options are open. Any advice would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks! indy