Renting in Perth, what a nightmare!

[Guest klong]

Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have also just moved to Perth from the UK. After waiting so long to get here and after having been here before, I am so sad how things are turning out at the moment.

 

I know everyone says it takes a while to settle in and I have lived here before so knew what to expect but things have really changed here since I lived here 4 years ago.

 

My husband and I are trying to rent a home and it seems impossible. For a start viewings are mostly held during normal working hours when we're both in work so we're either having to take time off or send a family member in our place. Then we fill in the lengthy application forms and hand over every single detail of our life to the agents and we're just not having any luck and have been turned down for every house because we haven't been here long enough.

 

We both have full time jobs and are tidy, respectable people with no pets or kids but we just can't rent a house. We've gone from wanting to spend $350 per week to now viewing properties at $450 per week but still no luck. It's heartbreaking to keep finding a nice hose and then going through all the palaver of taking time off work, viewing the property, filling in the forms and then getting turned down again.

 

We have all our furniture now sitting in the removalists storage as it's been through customs and is just waiting for us to find a house so we can have it delivered. I am despearte to start our life in Oz properly but until we have a home it just won't happen.

 

We already feel like we've compromised on so much as my husband is a qualified, experienced teacher and he just can't find work in his field even though all the adverts scream how desperate they are for teachers here. He has now started working in construction because of this and we never see each other because we're both working much longer hours than we did at home. We are prepared to work hard to establish ourselves but I feel like I shoud at least be able to expect my own home in return for all the extra work.

 

We came here to start a family but it feels like Perth just doesn't support 'the family' anymore as mothers and fathers both have to work full time and long hours just to afford a rent and living expenses. We keep being told to 'go up the mines' but this is not what we came here for. I don't want to be away from my husband for weeks on end just to pay a rent.

 

Please tell me we're not alone and this will all be over soon!!! Sorry to be a moany old Pom but Paradise ain't all it's cracked up to be!!!:arghh:

[Guest soon2move]

hi there, sorry to hear of your troubles...we had the same thing. we moved over almost 7 weeks ago now and my partner is working so have secure income but i came across the same problem. All the agents are rude and arrogant, knowing that there wont be a shortage of finding someone suitable. The application forms are annoying and lengthy and then I found alot of places were wanting the first weeks rent along with the application which you lose should you get offered the property and turn it down. After discussing it with my partner, as much as we liked some of the houses we refused to pay it. I mean we dont have one weeks rent worth of money to keep attaching to every appliation, knowing we could potentially lose it whilst trying to maintain the funds in the bank for a deposit for when we finally did get a house.

 

What we did was we looked in the Western Australian and the Quokka newspapers. Housing in the WA is on a Wednesday and Saturday and i found a couple of landlords wanting to rent directly. One of them was slack and wouldnt tell me when they had the open house but the persistence of calling her paid off and now we have rented directly. It saves all of the checks and ridiculous application forms. The landlord is a real estate agent so has lots of contacts when things go wrong - we had no hot water and the toilet leaked but she fixed it really quickly. This is the route i would suggest if you secure it. The other good thing is that we are looking to buy in the next six months to a year and the landlady knows this so we wont need to pay any penalties to get out of the year contract which we would if we went through an agent.

 

Good luck with it all - I know how frustrating it can be but hopefully you should be able to stick near

your $350 pw budget as there are some good houses out there for that.

[keily]

Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have also just moved to Perth from the UK. After waiting so long to get here and after having been here before, I am so sad how things are turning out at the moment.

 

I know everyone says it takes a while to settle in and I have lived here before so knew what to expect but things have really changed here since I lived here 4 years ago.

 

My husband and I are trying to rent a home and it seems impossible. For a start viewings are mostly held during normal working hours when we're both in work so we're either having to take time off or send a family member in our place. Then we fill in the lengthy application forms and hand over every single detail of our life to the agents and we're just not having any luck and have been turned down for every house because we haven't been here long enough.

 

We both have full time jobs and are tidy, respectable people with no pets or kids but we just can't rent a house. We've gone from wanting to spend $350 per week to now viewing properties at $450 per week but still no luck. It's heartbreaking to keep finding a nice hose and then going through all the palaver of taking time off work, viewing the property, filling in the forms and then getting turned down again.

 

We have all our furniture now sitting in the removalists storage as it's been through customs and is just waiting for us to find a house so we can have it delivered. I am despearte to start our life in Oz properly but until we have a home it just won't happen.

 

We already feel like we've compromised on so much as my husband is a qualified, experienced teacher and he just can't find work in his field even though all the adverts scream how desperate they are for teachers here. He has now started working in construction because of this and we never see each other because we're both working much longer hours than we did at home. We are prepared to work hard to establish ourselves but I feel like I shoud at least be able to expect my own home in return for all the extra work.

 

We came here to start a family but it feels like Perth just doesn't support 'the family' anymore as mothers and fathers both have to work full time and long hours just to afford a rent and living expenses. We keep being told to 'go up the mines' but this is not what we came here for. I don't want to be away from my husband for weeks on end just to pay a rent.

 

Please tell me we're not alone and this will all be over soon!!! Sorry to be a moany old Pom but Paradise ain't all it's cracked up to be!!!:arghh:

 

 

whereabouts are u looking to rent .... i am sor and could put u in touch with my agent if u are interested

mrs keily

[windswept]

Wow, it sounds like you've had a hard time of it. Part of the problem is that there is a housing shortage in Perth, which pushes up the price of rental properties (and of course, the number of people applying for them!).

 

Maybe you should consider renting privately? The Department of Commerce provides information about renting and tenants' rights, which applies to private landlords as well as real estate agents. The website is www.commerce.wa.gov.au. Click on the Consumer Protection tab, then Tenancy, to go to the main page.

 

Have you tried Gumtree? There are always heaps of ads on there for different types of accommodation eg. short term, couchsurfing, and house/apartment rentals. The website is Free Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Jobs, Property & More | Gumtree Perth.

 

Good luck in finding something suitable!

[Guest goonerlady]

We looked in the West Australian newspaper and went to see a house and was accepted there and then.The landlord was a lovely old man who was looking after the property for his daughter.

 

Do you have a few suburbs you would rent in as it might be worth extending the area you are looking in.Realestate au shows rentals and some areas have more than others.

 

Good luck.I hope you find somewhere soon.

[Mongrel]

Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have also just moved to Perth from the UK. After waiting so long to get here and after having been here before, I am so sad how things are turning out at the moment.

 

I know everyone says it takes a while to settle in and I have lived here before so knew what to expect but things have really changed here since I lived here 4 years ago.

 

My husband and I are trying to rent a home and it seems impossible. For a start viewings are mostly held during normal working hours when we're both in work so we're either having to take time off or send a family member in our place. Then we fill in the lengthy application forms and hand over every single detail of our life to the agents and we're just not having any luck and have been turned down for every house because we haven't been here long enough.

 

We both have full time jobs and are tidy, respectable people with no pets or kids but we just can't rent a house. We've gone from wanting to spend $350 per week to now viewing properties at $450 per week but still no luck. It's heartbreaking to keep finding a nice hose and then going through all the palaver of taking time off work, viewing the property, filling in the forms and then getting turned down again.

 

We have all our furniture now sitting in the removalists storage as it's been through customs and is just waiting for us to find a house so we can have it delivered. I am despearte to start our life in Oz properly but until we have a home it just won't happen.

 

We already feel like we've compromised on so much as my husband is a qualified, experienced teacher and he just can't find work in his field even though all the adverts scream how desperate they are for teachers here. He has now started working in construction because of this and we never see each other because we're both working much longer hours than we did at home. We are prepared to work hard to establish ourselves but I feel like I shoud at least be able to expect my own home in return for all the extra work.

 

We came here to start a family but it feels like Perth just doesn't support 'the family' anymore as mothers and fathers both have to work full time and long hours just to afford a rent and living expenses. We keep being told to 'go up the mines' but this is not what we came here for. I don't want to be away from my husband for weeks on end just to pay a rent.

 

Please tell me we're not alone and this will all be over soon!!! Sorry to be a moany old Pom but Paradise ain't all it's cracked up to be!!!:arghh:

 

Are you for real ,did you expect money for nowt , perth does not support the family so the uk does , sorry real life you support your self , its crap innit when you have to work for a living , justthesame as the uk ,you have to work for aliving or be a dole scutter,

[Guest klong]

Thanks for all the good advice. I have got the West Australian every week and have been on lots of viewings so fingers crossed something will turn up eventually. I am going to remain hopeful that our persistance will pay off in the end. We have looked in most suburbs as far as Jindalee right through to North Beach, inland and on the coast as we'd prefer to live NOR to be near family.

 

In response to yorkshirepom, I did not say I wasn't prepared to work for a living. I always have and always will be a worker and I would never expect the government to pay for me or my family. What I meant by my comment 'doesn't support the family' was purely that the 'idea' of the family has kind of been lost here with mothers and fathers having to kill themselves to pay ludicrously high rents and mortgages so they don't have any time at home with their kids. The wage I'm getting here is the same as what I was getting in the UK but it goes so much further in the UK than it does here. Petrol seems to be the only thing that's cheaper here but you have to drive so far everywhere that even that adds up to more than in the UK.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am over the moon to be here at long last but things have really changed since I was last here 4 years ago. I suppose it has a lot to do with the UK being so much cheaper now what with the bargains offered on everything from supermarket shopping to dropping house prices. It is just a complete shock to the system to now be paying over the odds for everything. I blame Asda for being so cheap!!:laugh:

[rockola57]

It's the same here in Adelaide.The Letting Agents are often ignorant Shiitheads whose job suits their personality.Pseudo snobs,mutton dressed up as lamb.Go direct to a Landlord in the local paper,lay your cards on the table,you should be all right.:biggrin:

[Guest guest17301]

Just shows each persons experience is different! Our money goes way further here, I work 4 days a week, OH full time. We rent a modest 4x2 and found it after I think 3 applications.

[Guest guest17301]

It's the same here in Adelaide.The Letting Agents are often ignorant Shiitheads whose job suits their personality.Pseudo snobs,mutton dressed up as lamb.Go direct to a Landlord in the local paper,lay your cards on the table,you should be all right.:biggrin:

 

I have to agree to a point letting agents (or the ones I've dealt with) have been at worst incompetent at best highly condescending..you just have to grin and bear it to be honest, it's not so bad really.

[Guest bluebud]

Are you for real ,did you expect money for nowt , perth does not support the family so the uk does , sorry real life you support your self , its crap innit when you have to work for a living , justthesame as the uk ,you have to work for aliving or be a dole scutter,

Cut her some slack mate the poster is struggling and has come on the internet to let of steam :embarrassed: you are obviously OK but this couple are struggling and with a bit of luck someone might just be able to help.

I should it is strange and annoying if you cannot even get a place to rent even at silly rental prices, hope someone can help the original poster.

[Guest klong]

I haven't found the agents to be too bad apart from the fact that they act like you're really putting them out to even show you the property. What I found annoying is that with one agent, we put in our application at 13:00 and by 15:00 they had told us we didn't get it even though they never spoke to one of our references. This was on a property that they admitted nobody had yet shown any interest in even though it'd been on the rental market for a couple of weeks. She called us back and said oh somebody else came in on the day you put your application in and they got it instead of you! Talk about crappy luck! :mad:

[Mongrel]

It depends on where you are looking to rent ,we have always rented in the northern berbs Somerly ,(twice) Kallaroo and Mindarie and even with adog did not have much bother tbh, in fact we had to break lease in mindarie and it took 3 to 4 weeks to get new peeps. Have a look on realestate and enquire about ones you prefer ,think we had about 7 on the go and applied for the ones we got. Agents are arseholes esp when it comes to break lease , you find a lot come vacant in areas close to new building areas where peeps who are building look for break lease or drop on with completion and end of rental

[legoman]

dont forget things have changed now, harder to find a rental, more people after them so is a problem, 4 years ago it took me 10 days to find a property now i see it is going to be a problem, those of you who are ok now and maybe found your rentals a few months ago should ease up a little on those newbies.

[rach28]

Well i have to say i have not had a problem with rentals, we have only been here since august and every property we applied for we got offered. From what i have been told its down to if the agent likes you. They then put your case forward to the owner. Not being in the country long enougth is croc, as we have not come across that. My advice is as soon as you get to the viewing start talking to the agent as if there is 5 of you viewing and you are the only one to talk to her/he then you are the only one that has made an effort if you see what im trying to say. Are current property is a modest 4x2. when we came to view there was 2 of us. We took kids with us and made them act nice and quiet lol, I spoke to the agent loads and asked loads of questions. The other couple only asked the agent about what they need to do next as they liked the property. Needless to say we got offered the property the following day.

 

Rachael

[Guest bluebud]

Well i have to say i have not had a problem with rentals, we have only been here since august and every property we applied for we got offered. From what i have been told its down to if the agent likes you. They then put your case forward to the owner. Not being in the country long enougth is croc, as we have not come across that. My advice is as soon as you get to the viewing start talking to the agent as if there is 5 of you viewing and you are the only one to talk to her/he then you are the only one that has made an effort if you see what im trying to say. Are current property is a modest 4x2. when we came to view there was 2 of us. We took kids with us and made them act nice and quiet lol, I spoke to the agent loads and asked loads of questions. The other couple only asked the agent about what they need to do next as they liked the property. Needless to say we got offered the property the following day.

 

Rachael

That sounds so unreal " d its down to if the agent likes you" :dull: so if the agent is a a bloke in his twenties and you are stood next to a 25 year old busty female you might as well not bother, as long as you are obviously suitable and have the means to pay the rent it should be first come first served.

[Que Sera Sera]

That sounds so unreal " d its down to if the agent likes you" :dull: so if the agent is a a bloke in his twenties and you are stood next to a 25 year old busty female you might as well not bother, as long as you are obviously suitable and have the means to pay the rent it should be first come first served.

 

I really dont think that was what Rach was saying. She said if the agent likes you not if the agent fancies you. And I am more than sure that the size of your bust is not what will secure you a rental, sorry but thats quite condecending.:shocked:

[Guest guest17301]

We got a phone call from an agent (the 2nd house we looked at) after we put the application in. She obviously couldn't remember us from the viewing and was trying to place us...asked lots of questions on did you have kids blah blah blah...end result was we didnt get the rental...So IMO they do take you on first impressions and not just your ability to pay etc on paper.

The rental we're in now was a pain to secure, basically we wouldnt have got it if we hadnt have been pushy...we asked for a 6 month rental and it wasnt till we called back to ask why we hadnt been contacted they said the owner wanted a 12 month lease...so why not say that in the first place!!! Aaargghhh!! Very frustrating business all round.

[Guest bluebud]

I really dont think that was what Rach was saying. She said if the agent likes you not if the agent fancies you. And I am more than sure that the size of your bust is not what will secure you a rental, sorry but thats quite condecending.

 

 

Likes you should not come into it, so if the agent is a women in her fifties who is set in her ways and is a religious person she is going to "like" someone who she can relate to, she would not relate to me with long hair and a few tattoes I bet...that is why it should be fist come first served.

[Que Sera Sera]

Likes you should not come into it, so if the agent is a women in her fifties who is set in her ways and is a religious person she is going to "like" someone who she can relate to, she would not relate to me with long hair and a few tattoes I bet...that is why it should be fist come first served.

 

 

 

Well if your theory is right we dont stand a chance, my OH looks like a football hooligan and is covered in tattoos and I am overweight and over 40, although I do have quite big boobs!!:wink::biglaugh:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi klong

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Since you want to be NOR, it might be worth your while to try a real estate agent called John Mason, who posts on here as Bobcat. His user-profile is below:

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/members/bobcat.html

 

Bobcat's agency is in Carramar. However if that is miles away from where you want to be, Bobcat would undoubtedly know other real estate agents in the right sorts of suburbs for you.

 

Bobcat is an old PiO stalwart so if I were moving to Perth and moving to NOR, I would definitely start by asking him how to go about things.

 

Good luck, hun.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Are you for real ,did you expect money for nowt , perth does not support the family so the uk does , sorry real life you support your self , its crap innit when you have to work for a living , justthesame as the uk ,you have to work for aliving or be a dole scutter,

 

 

Mr Insignificant

 

I have reported the above post by you because I consider it to be thoroughly insulting towards another member, and particularly towards a newbie, frankly. I will leave the other mods and Site Admin to decide whether to smack you for your latest rude outburst on Poms in Oz or whether to ban you from PiO altogether and be done with it. I see no reason to pussyfoot around you, whispering to you alone in a PM, when you have elected to be as rude as you have been on the public boards of the forum.

 

I would suggest that you are seen to apologise to klong as publicly as you saw fit to insult her in the first place.

 

From klong's point of view, I would suggest that she adds you to het list of "Ignored users" so that she does not see any further insults from you unless she chooses to open your posts in order to read them. Which might even include the public apology that I firmly recommend. To do this, klong needs to click on her user CP which is towards the top left of her screen. The instructi0ns are pretty clear and easy to follow after that.

 

Get on with it, YP. Say sorry to klong, I strongly suggest.

 

Gill

[cazmayo]

A few years ago when looking for a rental in Perth, we finally found a property we liked, so I went upto private landlord and said I'll take it, he said, oh, you have to fill in this form and there is quite a few interested. I said oh no, this is the first clean new place we have found and we have been looking weeks!!! So I filled the form out, while making small talk. I worked for a big oil and gas company and we got talking. I gave him the form and said I hope to hear from you very soon with a smile. As I walked off, he called me back and said, he was a good judge of character and liked me and thought we would get on, so offered me the property there and then. Boyfriend ran off and got the deposit on the spot. We got on great, and when he called for the rent, would invite him in for a coffee and a chat. When we had to come home he asked could he do anything to help us get a permanent visa. we broke the lease as our 457 sponsor retired, and landlord gave us bacj our deposit no problem.

 

My now hubbie said to me, your unbelievable!!!! I call it charm, I never noticed landlord was looking at my cleavage!!!!

 

Your just unsettled, once you get a house, you will feel more at home. I say, try private landlords. I hear there is a housing shortage, so that is why you are struggling.

 

the harder you try, the luckier you get. best of luck.

cheers caz

[Jackboots]

good luck it is hard especially when you are set on a particular area, we struggled as we have a child and a dog and like you its a pain viewing when working , my oh got us this house were in , and i never even saw it untill we moved in , one thing i would try is badgering an agent if you have seen a property and just say we want to view would you on this occasion do a private viewing , we had 2 that did do that for us , the rest were" no " turn up for the cattle market grrr . all the best!

[landv]

Hi

 

.

 

We came here to start a family but it feels like Perth just doesn't support 'the family' anymore as mothers and fathers both have to work full time and long hours just to afford a rent and living expenses. We keep being told to 'go up the mines' but this is not what we came here for. I don't want to be away from my husband for weeks on end just to pay a rent.

 

 

 

I am sorry to hear your predicament, but I have to disagree with the above.

 

 

Personally, I think Perth is one of the best places to bring up children and very family friendly.

I have looked into family assistance because I am expecting our first baby and there is help available as much as in the UK. Of course it will never be the same amount as your full time salary would be and I have to except it also and just have to learn how to budget. It's never easy, no matter which country you are in.

I probably have to go back to work pretty soon after the baby is born purely because of financial issues, but I would have had to do that in the UK as well if we lived there! At least I will give my child the opportunity to grow up here.

I am a bit unsure of why you think that you will have to work long hours to make ends meet, both my husband and I work only 4 days a week and manage fine, our rent is actually more what you have quoted.

 

I can't really offer much advice on how to find a rental, we applied for this house and were approved straight away. We all had to fill out lengthy forms and take time off work to go and view houses (and we didn't even had any family members to help us).

 

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.