Winneth

By the way, Dec and Jan are slow for rentals. Not much on the market during the Christmas holidays and then from late Jan to late Feb, it feels like a massacre with everyone out and about looking for rentals.

I know this is very late but for delivery to most Aus addresses, freshflowers.com.au and easyflowers.com.au. The previous one has better arrangements and the latter one quite basic. But you can do it online. I've been using both for several years now but have been using Fresh Flowers more because once in a while, they will throw in free chocolates and/or candles with the arrangements. And everyone loves chocolates.

Oh and $500 is reasonable for a 1-bedroom furnished. You only have to pay one month's rent in advance. Unfurnished 1 bedroom apartments range from $330 to $410. When you tip over the $420/430 mark you'll start seeing 2 bedrooms.

There are quite a few furnished places available in Melbourne and inner city area. The supply tends to go sparse as you go further out. Most of the furnished places are in Melbourne CBD, Southbank, South Yarra, Prahran, St Kilda. Between a furnished and unfurnished place, it would really depend on how long you plan on staying in Melbourne. As you already know, you'll be paying extra for the furnishings and appliances. Fridges and washing machines you can get for cheap, even second hand if you like. One of our clients needed fridge, washing machine, microwave and vacuum cleaner (which is essential that people tend to forget when they are moving), and the fridge for a midsized one was only under $500. Washing machine was around $800. In terms of options, you'll get more choices with unfurnished. In both furnished and unfurnished, you'll have to connect and pay for your own utilities. If you are staying for two years or more, I'd say go for unfurnished because you can sell the furniture and appliances later on and some money back. It sounds like you and your partner are staying for good so go unfurnished.

Probably slim, I would say. Normally when the occupation is taken off the list that means that there is a good supply of that particular skill in the area. If it's delisted from the VIC list, maybe look at other states?

You pretty much can live anywhere in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne. Footscray and Coburg (8km) and Brunswick (5km) do fit the bill. Kensington and Flemington (6km) are good options as well. All are serviced by public transport (both train and tram lines) going to the CBD. Footscray has been touted as the next suburb to boom. It seems like it has been taking a long time because it is still considerably reasonable to rent there. Coburg is being developed to allow conveniences for people who cannot afford to live in Brunswick. All these areas have a good dose of multiculturalism. And you can be in the city with any of these suburbs in less than 40mins using public transport.

Hi George, the list changes quite a bit so if you re-skill to another occupation and get all the necessary qualifications and experience for it, the list may be different from what it is now. Sorry, it doesn't sound completely hopeful.

As mentioned previously, you might want to hold off with booking short term accommodation until you get the visa. There are certain serviced apartments in the city that do around $150 per night but you have to book 28 days and over and that's only for a one bedroom. Airbnbs and Stayz come out cheaper for longer stays and you might be able to find 2 bedrooms for the same price...depending on where you are planning on looking to book. Good luck with the visa application though. Must be exciting.

Also consider Oakleigh and it's surrounding areas. Also when you are looking for house to rent in the price range you prefer, make a note of public transport that's available if that is something that you and your partner needs. I'd probably suggest to skip Ferntree Gully. Is there a reason why you're looking into the east side of Melbourne?

You got all the necessary documents that they will check: references, employment, proof of funds. They will ask for ID and your passport number will do when you fill out the application. Yes, there will be a lot of people and rental inspection times are only 10 to 15 minutes long. Usually 10 mins. 30 minute duration for inspections are for house sales or a whole new block of apartments is being rented out. You'll get a feel of the place pretty quickly as soon as you walk in. Make sure you have a list on your head as well on what you want to have so that you can see as many properties as you can. Saturdays are usually the day where you have to navigate through rentals after rentals so be prepared for that. If you look into those real estate websites and then find the place you want to rent, it will be wise to "send an email" to the agent because if you are registered, you'll be updated if the scheduled inspection is cancelled or moved to a different time slot. Also, most agencies are now using 1Form. It's an online application form created by realestate.com.au. If you use this, you can submit as many applications as you want. Instead re-writing your information over and over on paper forms. Doesn't hurt the hands so much. =)

Another option is serviced apartments. There are a lot of them around. And you can negotiate the rate for a three month stay. Add parking or free internet. There are some real estate agencies that has stock of fully furnished apartments but you will have to connect the utilities and internet yourself and also you have to shell out for the bond (which is retrieved a few weeks after you move out of the place.) And because 3-month is considered short term, the agent will view the application more favourably if you add some $ to the rent. It is to cover advertising/marketing costs. I had a client who is a professor from the University of Bristol. We did that and we got the place overlooking Albert Park Lake so she had an address before she left Bristol. She gave me four days to look for a place for her. haha. My client was doing a sabbatical. We calculated the costs of utilities, our fee, rent, internet costs and it came out slightly cheaper than going through serviced apartments. The cheapest serviced apartment I could find her for three months was still $139 a night for a one bedroom. I'm taking about Melbourne, by the way. I can't comment on other cities.

Hi MrsSmithy81, Aside from the suggestions mentioned above, offering a Pet Bond and be open to a Pet Clause in the lease agreement could make your application more appealing to the landlord. This way they can be protected if your pet damages anything in the property. There is a standard Pet Clause that usually gets added to the lease agreement and agents should have this on file. I'd dissuade you from stating that the dog is indoors or outdoors. Just because if you say your dog is an outdoor and come inspection time and there are traces of the dog indoors, you may find yourself going through the house hunting process again and this time with a bad record.

Hi Mark, It's about 75 minutes on the train to get into the city (and vice versa). Is that the amount of time you were thinking of to travel in and out of the city? cheers, Winneth

Hi Kenneth, you might want to check out what Epping, Lalor, Mill Park, Thomastown have to offer before deciding to zero in that area. You can be close to family/friends in that area without having to be in the area. I'd suggest checking the schools in that area as well. Bundoora will probably be as far north in that direction as I would suggest.

Personally, I'd check with the movers and see if the price difference between brining the wardrobe and not bringing them. I say this because, from my experience with my clients' movers, they would only load the container on to the ship when the container is full. I had a client from New Zealand who waited for 10 weeks because she did not have enough items so her stuff were sitting in a warehouse. And then wait more for the furniture to cruise to Melbourne.

Hi AJ, best person to to talk to is the real estate agent. Letting the agent know you are aware that the flat you are currently leasing is advertised that the available date is the 15th and then give them a local bank account number to deposit the surplus rent in when someone else moves in so the landlord will not be receiving double the rent.

Hi Shaun, like everyone, if you want to know the city first, hostel is a good way to start. There is a Facebook page for people who are looking for housemates or looking for a place. It's called Fairy Floss Real Estate. It's not a real estate company just a facebook page. Most people who are looking for housemates in there seem to be around the CBD and surrounds and aged up to late 20s to early 30s.

Hi SimonInVic, definitely nothing to get worried about. Any rental agent who asks for Australian rental references from people who have none is wrong. I've submitted overseas rental references on behalf of my clients and they haven't been a problem. For others, it's either the sale of their property or a rental management agreement between my client and the property manager. In your case, showing them documents/proof of sale of your property is as good as a reference. Just attach it to the application form you are sending in and note it on the section where it asks for rental references.

Hi Dnursey, Have a look at this website. It might help you find a good school. I use this for my clients with children coming to Melbourne. Most times they end up living living in the area where the schools are so they are within the catchment. So it has been useful for us making a decision on where to live. http://bettereducation.com.au/Results/Hsc.aspx?yr=2014 Follow the tabs under Find School Rating.

Hi Bridgeman, I am based in VIC so if WA follows the same process, you should ask your friends to involve http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/renting-home instead of/on top of Tenancy WA. First, call the agent who did the lease agreement in behalf of the landlord and clarify if the debt collectors are from the landlord. As your friend would have signed a lease agreement that was drafted by the agent, they should be the ones who your friends are talking to and not any other third party/not even the landlord. If the agent confirms that the landlord has sent the debt collectors, tell them that the usual and only procedure to go through this is to take the cost from the bond. Which then will require both parties (your friends and the agent/landlord) to agree. Any disagreement on the value of the bond returned should be brought to the link I provided above. In Victoria, claims like this one goes to VCAT and gets decided on the merits. It's really odd a debt collector is involved in this. I would think the debt collector will only pop up after it has gone through the usual channels and a figure has been agreed upon and your friend have refused to pay. Last May, I had exactly the same issue with a client who was moving out from an apartment to move in to one I found him. The landlord/agent did the same thing and wanted to have the electric roller door replaced because of a small dent on one panel in the interior. It went to VCAT and they were told by the magistrate to settle it out of court up with a max figure of $600. The landlord/agent initially demanded $3,500.

Try Quest Apartments, Mantra. Both have apartments nationally. If you go to Google and type in Serviced apartments in Perth, there will be a fair few that would pop up.

Should be no problem getting another tenancy. It depends on how the previous tenancy you had in Aus ended.

You should get that modem in a couple of days time. The good thing is that they just deliver it with or without anyone to receive that modem. So you don't have to lose work. And then you wait for about three weeks. If you are staying for long term, have you checked out Optus? From what I saw in adverts recently they are giving 6 months free access to Netflix. PS. If you lose the plot, you can smash that modem to release angst. Apparently, you don't have to return that thing when you're done using Belong.

Hi Peter, I've gone through several of these with my clients. So the number your landlord gave you is basically useless. Belong requires a working phone number, i.e., connected. It doesn't necessarily mean that you are using that line. They just need to have a working line. And yea, you have to be there for the technician to come through. I don't know why they have to be there though since I just assumed there is some switch they can flick. The good thing is that the waiting window is four hours as opposed to 8 (I can't believe this is actually a good thing). The last one I did for my clients, Belong gave me the 10am to 2pm window and the guy arrived at 1:50pm and didn't finish till 4:15pm. Whole day gone. Another option is to get a dongle....

Really depends on the agents. There are some who do check and really call up previous agents who handled the rental to see if the tenant did pay on time and kept the place tidy. But there are a few who do not even bother at all. I have yet to see a pattern on which one checks or not. Even agents in the same company do things slightly differently. On getting a referral, do you think you are able to write something in English on company letterhead and then get someone in your company's HR to sign it off? That would help and just attach it to your application when the time comes and that normally is as good as them making a phone call or email. And it is always handy to have this with any rental application.