petal38 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Hello Folks, we are due to emigrate to Melbourne mid Oct and have booked our short-term accommodation for our arrival for the first 5 weeks. During this time we are hoping to secure a 1 year rental - we are going to focus on Altona as it seems a good all-rounder and we won't have the time to explore the many suburbs of the city. Can anyone offer me advice on how best to approach finding and securing a 1 year rental? We are aware open-viewings are the norm in Oz, but are there any documents for example it would be useful to have to help secure us a rental? We are home owners in the UK, so not a recent rental background! Would a letter of recommendation from our first place when we arrive in Mel be worthwhile? Any hints/tips greatly appreciated!!:wink: Are open viewings right through the week or mainly weekends? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 As many as you can get. References, bank statements, records or rent or mortgage payments, many ID docs (if you have all these done for a visa you should already have them anyway). Maybe open an account here in Aus and put soem money is, then get a rpint out or a bank statement of some sort upon arrival, all that helps. We just moved house, and they want all that stuff as a well as the kind of things you get when you arrive such as a medicare card, Oz drivers license etc They just want to verify who you are, see you can pay and hope you'll look after the place. Most of this stuff is done online or over email, so make sure you buy a printer/scanner when you get here. We used ours loads... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooBooBear Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 make sure you buy a printer/scanner when you get here. A very valuable and useful piece of advice for any new arrivals. Everything seems to be done by email these days. Particularly real estate agents and similar wanting photocopies of documents. We brought a combined printer scanner from Office Works. Pretty cheap from memory. Use it loads. Particularly useful too when applying for jobs. Save your resume as a PDF, scan and email. Hardly anyone asks for fax or mailed resumes anymore. Of course you can go to the library and use all these things for free. But so much nicer doing it in your PJ's at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Start with a cover letter explaining your new to the country hence lack of Australian paperwork and add a copy of a driving licence (aussie one is best but uk one also acceptable) a copy of passport a paid up utility or mortgage statement a copy of a healthy bank account or a copy of a job offer stating wage Do this for every applicant over 18 years old. Hope it helps Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Whilst we were in holiday home I just used a scan app on my phone called CamScanner to take pictures and send as PDFs. Less greedy on data than photos. No need to buy a scanner/ copier especially if you have one coming out later. Or make sure you have scans saved of passports etc. If you look on the rental websites you will see that many agents have application forms on line, they do differ but you can see exactly what information they require for ID etc. I Also wrote a very brief resume explaining we had just migrated etc. Also you can ask your temp accommodation to give you a reference. Make sure you speak to the agent if you like a property so they remember you. And dont get disheartened if loads of people turn up for an open, most will just be having a nosey and not serious. We thought we would have no chance as it was a lovely house and the opens were really busy with lots of people talking to the agent, but in the end we were the only ones who actually applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Ah yes. A smartphone scanner would probably suffice. But you still sometimes need to print out forms to fill in. We bought a cheapo one (all in one) and it does the job. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 It's also handy to store all these documents in an online place like Dropbox.com or google drive. Then you can always send documents even if you are out and about We have a rental pack folder. Sling all your docs in there and it's easy from there [emoji106] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzy--bee Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Your short-term rental should give you a landlords reference. We do for our short-term tenants. BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aboojets Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi, We are also moving to Melbourne in October. Who did you go with for your short term rental? We have made contact with a few agents via Domain and they have been very helpful so that may be worth a go to answer your questions? Some agents will let you agree a lease from the Uk if you have someone in Melbourne who can view the property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzy--bee Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi,We are also moving to Melbourne in October. Who did you go with for your short term rental? We have made contact with a few agents via Domain and they have been very helpful so that may be worth a go to answer your questions? Some agents will let you agree a lease from the Uk if you have someone in Melbourne who can view the property. I reckon leasing a property without seeing it first is very risky - not only are the agents photos very deceiving of the property itself, but they also do not show the factory over the back fence, or the next door neighbour with a front yard full of broken down cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petal38 Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi,We are also moving to Melbourne in October. Who did you go with for your short term rental? We have made contact with a few agents via Domain and they have been very helpful so that may be worth a go to answer your questions? Some agents will let you agree a lease from the Uk if you have someone in Melbourne who can view the property. Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply - all useful info! Aboojets, we booked a 2 bed fully furnished house with garden etc through airbnb - we made the booking about 3 or so months ago as there wasn't a lot of reasonably priced short-term out there, but it looks great. Good luck with your move! Petal :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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