Guest mandy1970 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We were lucky when we moved over in Oct 10 as we secured a 3 bed duplex (fully furnished) with the 1st email we sent as an enquiry. We took a chance and booked it for 6 months and it has been just ideal but now are planning to move to somewhere with a bit more space. We are due to move at the beg May so thought that we could start looking now to see what was available for the prices. Well, today we went to a home open just to be nosey. 11 cars pulled up with viewers. The house looked fine from the outside and it seemed like a nice street (tidy gardens, etc) What a disapointment!! The house was wrecked. Stained carpets, flakey paint, discoloured wallpaper, broken glass shower screen, chewed cupboard doors, overgrown back garden AND the house was absolutely stinking!!!! It was a 4 x 2 and they have the cheek to ask $350 pw for it!!! Im not a snob but who the hell would live in that house. Not me!! But someone did pick up the application form and seemed very keen. We have a while to go before we move (have the option to stay on here) but what would we need to pay per week just to get a clean half decent house? $$$$$$$ Or were we just unlucky with the house today? Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnetic6 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I think it all depends on the area you live. Where we are in NSW we viewed lots of houses like you've described, but they were about $450 for something like the clampets would live in :yes: and you wonder how they can market them in that state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life on easy street Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I experienced the same thing for a short term let 3 months it was a nice suburb of Melbourne there were about a dozen people to view the property. The carpet was so dirty when I walked on the carpet it stuck to my shoes! And the stink was over powering as a few of the other viewers agreed with me. Two weeks later they claimed it had been rented. But when I walked by the house it was being totally gutted windows, kitchen, bathroom, floorboards replaced etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmylife Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We viewed a 3 bed, 1 bath unit today, $380 pw, complete with dead cockroaches and spiders lying in full view on the kitchen floor, which of course we didn't notice until after we had complied with the agent's request to remove our shoes... :eek::arghh: it was a fantastic sized unit, in a beautiful area, but dirty and poorly maintained, filthy cooker and bathroom, was so disappointing really... we wondered what they would have been looking for it if it had been clean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roaminnomore Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Not just us then you thread brought a huge grin to my face. We viewed in Belmont(Geelong) earlier this evening. Same $350. pw, 4 x 2 however, minus the chewed cupboards and the stained carpet - it did stink!!! 8 families turned up and yes, there was interest. Mmmmm, me no snob either. Gotta keep looking though :hug: Ley x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockola57 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We had the same experience 15 months ago,it really does defy all logic.How do these crooks have the audacity?Obvious answer is that the world and his dog want's to live i OZ now,and as such,then if yer don't like it,then go sling yer hook!It really is that simple here,unfortunately!:yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackboots Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We pay 350.00 per week and thats classed as cheap for where we are , but its a nice clean basic 4x2 .. but boy have we seen some horrors around .. they want gutting .. one we looked at ages ago nearer the city was old .. dirty and had a scanky pool ( brown and green ) and was private lettings , then proceeded to tell us we would have the daughter living in half the house at times:elvis: we legged it ! its the devil and the deep blue sea .. private / agents ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest megapixel Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 One thing I have noticed (in Qld, not sure about elsewhere) is that attitudes towards rentals and renters can be very poor. Many rental houses are sat on a piece of land that the owner is just waiting for a capital gain on. They don't wnat to spend any money at all on the house they are renting out. Friends of mine from the UK with money in the bank to buy a house, were treated very badly by rental agents (who susbequently lost any sale from them). If you look at the comments on this Courier Mail article about the Brisbane market, you will see what I mean. Cyclone Yasi victims hit again as accommodation costs skyrocket | Courier Mail As we will probably be renting in the UK soon, I really hope it is different there (haven't lived there for 22 years!). Good luck with finding the right place, there are some good ones out there. It is also useful to know your rights as a tenant in Australia which may differ from state to state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tupe Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We found searching for rentals in Sydney very stressful. My wife looked at a 4 bed house in Burwood that was on for $700 per week. When she turned up she was greeted by a house that was literally falling over. In the kithen there was a ceiling to floor crack that you could see outside through. Unbelievable. It had rooms that could barely be considered liveable. The agent told us that if we were interested they would push the owner for a new kitchen. We were desperate, but not that desperate. That wasn't the only case of delapidated houses being rented out for big money but was certainly the worst. One thing we did find was that due to our lack of rental history in Australia we were put straight to the back of the pile when applications were received. We had agents say to our faces that we had no chance of getting houses because of our lack of history. There's no point in putting UK references down as they won't contact them. They said it's because they can't guarantee the authenticity of the referee. Fortunately we found a house that no-one else applied for. Not sure why as it's a nice house - possibly because we're paying a little over the odds for it but it's worth it to have a roof over our heads. It seems that the high demand for rental houses means owners and agents are having a great time of it. No surprise though as house prices are insanely high and the majority of people couldn't hope to own a home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 As we will probably be renting in the UK soon, I really hope it is different there (haven't lived there for 22 years!). Same as everywhere - there are some dives out there with people wanting to make a percived 'quickbuck' that are rank, and some lovely places. The last 4 years we were living in what turned out to be an illegal flat (it was business premises turned into residential without planning permission, or legal gas supply, or legal electricity supply etc etc), we are now living it what passes for 'executive' in this part of the world apparently - I certainly would not call it executive (eg, our electrics have shorted out and we think we are lucky to not have had a fire due to the old/dodgy electrics and a massive damp patch coming in one of the walls), but it is nice enough (if not been touched for the last 40 years!), and could be so so much worse - I probably have high-feluting ideas coming from London up here to the Midlands :laugh: I don't think its that cheap (£650/month) for the area, but as I say, it could be much worse and the area is nice enough imho. My friend on the other hand recently went to view a flat in London, moved in the next week, the first place she went to see when house hunting and it is lush, obviously London prices, but lovely. Same the world over imho and experience.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveandDebs Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Are there a lot of furnished rentals available out there on 6-12month leases? We're moving to Melbourne and would ideally like not to have to take all our furniture over, as it costs a fortune,until we know we're going to settle there! If you can get furnished - do you pay much more for it? Thanks Debs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Louey Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Wow What stories!!!! I guess we have been very lucky to secure a 2 bed 2 bath apartment which is furnished for $400 a month. The area we live in has lots of new apartments being built. Not sure about furnished rentals in Melbourne but here there was not many. It tends to cost between $30 to $50 more a week for funished. You tend to find with unfurnished that you have to provide white goods too. We didn't bring any furniture with us and have decided on furnished until we are sure we are settled. Hope you have more luck than the other folks that have posted on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 $400 A MONTH ? I assume you mean a week ? I remember years ago when we lived in Geelong going to view a house quite literally under a flyover. When we walked in there was a family already there and they quickly told us they were there first and were going to take it. We told them in no uncertain terms it was all theirs :biggrin: The floors were all over the place, about 6 inches higher at one end than the other, it smelled like a kennel and was overpriced even back then. Wow What stories!!!! I guess we have been very lucky to secure a 2 bed 2 bath apartment which is furnished for $400 a month. The area we live in has lots of new apartments being built. Not sure about furnished rentals in Melbourne but here there was not many. It tends to cost between $30 to $50 more a week for funished. You tend to find with unfurnished that you have to provide white goods too. We didn't bring any furniture with us and have decided on furnished until we are sure we are settled. Hope you have more luck than the other folks that have posted on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Horror stories alright but not all landlords have rubbish property. My Mum now rents and she has a lovely two bed unit and the owner put in aircon for her and has a gardener do her garden. My son moved to a country town and he put an ad in the local rag and got a lovely 2 bed fully furnished unit for $185 a week and he has been there for three years now no rent increase. We rented a house while we built years ago and we also answered a private ad from a landlord and got a clean and tidy house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest megapixel Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Just want to recommend a property investing forum at somersoft.com It has plenty of information about how rentals work in Australia. The site also has good information about the real estate industry in general inc areas and suburbs to buy (obviously your own due dilligence needed!) and has been a very useful source of information for me over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnetic6 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Nobody needs to panic about rentals. There's a lot of rubbish rentals but likewise there's good stuff too. We weren't being picky we just applied for what was available, in the end we're spending more than we anticipated as it was the only house we got accepted for, but it's great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Louey Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 $400 A MONTH ? I assume you mean a week ? I remember years ago when we lived in Geelong going to view a house quite literally under a flyover. When we walked in there was a family already there and they quickly told us they were there first and were going to take it. We told them in no uncertain terms it was all theirs :biggrin: The floors were all over the place, about 6 inches higher at one end than the other, it smelled like a kennel and was overpriced even back then. Whoops meant a week.....wishful thinking for a month :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think you were a bit unlucky. Keep looking and you will find a place you like I'm sure. Trouble is the nice places usually cost a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandy1970 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Its a shame our experience wasn't a one off. Still can't get over it!! We have just heard of a fully furnished house 4 x 2 with a pool in a quiet cul de sac, in an area we quite like for $550 per week which is avaliable just when we are looking to move. Hopefully going to look at it either tomorrow or Friday. Our thoughts are to rent FF until we decide we are settled, instead of paying out $$$$$$$$$ for furniture, etc incase our OZ dream doesn't work out. But have seen unfurnished in nice areas 4 x 2 with pool for $380 upwards. Will see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scotgirl38 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Same in Townsville only expect to pay $530 for no pool 4 bed new house, anything under And its wipe your feet on the way out of viewing please :biggrin: that is the least of your worrys, if you read my first post, you wil see what I mean. You try getting your full hard earned bond back! Shower of sharks and the more tenants you speak to its all so common, were even being pursued for blown light bulbs in a house with faulty transformers, I couldnt keep place in lightbulbs!. It s all about protecting landlords, the landlords dont want to maintain the propertys, they just want the rent! Cant wait to buy (I think:mad:) My tenants are bloody lucky back in the uk, cant do enough for them, I want to keep them! But were winging poms, I used to laugh at that saying, but to be honest, its just our housing standards are higher back in uk compared to some parts here oooooh!:biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scotgirl38 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Have to say the private ones we viewed, were immaculate, and to be honest I would never use an agent for my propertys, in fact I do not understand why Austrailia is so into entrusting their investments to these agents poping up everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Keep going and never give up, thats my advice. Me and my Fiancee are both in our mid 20's and have moved staight out of living with her parents and come over toNewcastle. Ofcourse this means we have no previous rental history, and we just continued to get rejected over and over. Ironically the main reason we have come to Australia is becasuse Mortgages are so expensive in the UK. We viewed some right shacks, which were just falling apart. Obviously these never ever got rented out, and inbetween rejecting us the estate agents consistantly chased us about them. It got to a point where we was really considering moving into one, but we started looking further away from othe city. We moved into our apartment in Nelson Bay on Wednesday and we love it. Its literally 30 seconds walk to the beach, it has all the local amenitys and Newcastle is only an hours drive away for some 'bigger' shops. The landlord has been great and offered us the apartment on the basis of an initial 3 month contract, all fully paid upfront. It took us a while to get a place, but one came. Its hard but one will come along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 One piece of advice I'd give anyone renting in Aus is to photograph absolutely everything before you move in. Every stain on carpets, floors, walls. Every cracked tile, dirty cookers, ovens, pools. Every weed in the garden if you're responsible for the gardening. All flaking paint. EVERYTHING! We've rented five houses in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne and every time the owners have tried to keep a huge part of our bond because of damage they alleged was down to us. They got us the first time because we had no proof that the place was a mess before we moved in, but since then we've photographed everything and sent copies to the agents. When the lease has come to an end and the owners start with their four figure decorating and carpet quotes we send the photos again (last time about 200 of them!) and have got our bond back in full each time. We'd never get away with treating our tenants they way we've been treated, you just have to try to stay one step ahead of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glad I Moved Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 One piece of advice I'd give anyone renting in Aus is to photograph absolutely everything before you move in. Every stain on carpets, floors, walls. Every cracked tile, dirty cookers, ovens, pools. Every weed in the garden if you're responsible for the gardening. All flaking paint. EVERYTHING!We've rented five houses in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne and every time the owners have tried to keep a huge part of our bond because of damage they alleged was down to us. They got us the first time because we had no proof that the place was a mess before we moved in, but since then we've photographed everything and sent copies to the agents. When the lease has come to an end and the owners start with their four figure decorating and carpet quotes we send the photos again (last time about 200 of them!) and have got our bond back in full each time. We'd never get away with treating our tenants they way we've been treated, you just have to try to stay one step ahead of them. I'd second that! Ironically, we've recently moved to a new house and the agent actually advised us to take as many photos as we could of broken / dirty fixtures and fittings and return them with the incoming inspection report! Go figure.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I'd second that! Ironically, we've recently moved to a new house and the agent actually advised us to take as many photos as we could of broken / dirty fixtures and fittings and return them with the incoming inspection report! Go figure.... Yes, I'm not convinced it's always the agents who are the problem. The last two houses we left, the agents told us we'd left them looking immaculate. We asked for that in writing, but they said the owners had to look. They were the ones who tried to get money out of us, not the agents, who were really apologetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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