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!