TheRammo Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 On a 457 visa, we got off the plane on the 30th March and went straight into a serviced apartment, booked for a month from the UK using http://www.notonenight.com.au, and it has worked out perfectly. I agreed with the other half that while I was a work (I started on April 4), she would spend the first couple of weeks full-time house hunting before worrying about job hunting. She spent every day for the first week: 1) repeating house searches on domain.com.au slightly tweaking the search criteria to see what popped up 2) phoning estate agents 3) visiting the areas of interest looking for estate agents and houses to let 4) viewing complete dumps but not getting too disheartened as it was only week 1 5) filling my diary on Saturday with viewings. We saw a few houses together on Saturday and applied for 2 of them on Monday morning before 9:30 am. By the afternoon, I had paid the bond over and have a lovely place to move into at the start of May. Top tips: A) It's a full time job to find a house in Sydney in the current rental market - don't do it half heartedly as you'll miss things. B) Be prepared to look at different areas. The perfect house by the sea with a 2 minute walk to the office is great for when you buy, but the nice rentals are not always where you start looking. We've ended up in an area totally different from where we started looking, but the time the o/h invested in house hunting turned up some lovely areas we hadn't considered (all with nice schools and shops etc.) C) Get a good application in place before visiting houses. Know what you're going to put in the form - they're all the same so the answers don't change and some agents want them filled out immediately after viewing, so take a pre-filled draft with you (they're on the domain web site) so you can fill out the forms quickly before rushing to the next viewing. D) Also, make sure you have your evidence photocopies with you (references, payslips or work contracts, bank statements etc.) and a nice covering letter introducing yourself to the landlord saying what a lovely family you are and why choosing you as tenants would be the right thing - a bit of job and life history, the sort of thing you'd like to know about people if you had to choose who you were going to rent your house out to. And all of this will bring you success - maybe not in 1 week like it did for us, but it does work. We were given this advice by a good friend and it sounded daunting but it worked, which is why I'm passing it on. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steen1976 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Nice one, cheers for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemg Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 We definitely don't miss the joys of house hunting in Sydney, possibly one of the most stressful experiences I've ever had:arghh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest finnoodles Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks for the tips! We're a newly arrived couple currently in the middle of looking for a place in the 400-500 dollar pw region here in Sydney. It's a real pain in the proverbial! Went to see two places this evening. The first one was advertised as a one bed for 470. One bed it wasn't; a glorified studio at best. 14 people turned up and 8 of us left immediately disgusted. What a waste of everyone's time. It only went online this morning; goes to show how desperate people are for a place! The second place was dark and grotty. :sad: We have a few more places to see on Saturday but I'm really disheartened this evening after looking a week and a half now. We're so lucky to be staying with friends an hour from town but the place is cramped with another visitor on the couch and it's so far out... :wacko: Any more advice/tips most welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashionably Late Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Where on the domain site did you find the application? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Revs30 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I can't find the pre-filled draft on the site, anyone help please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest finnoodles Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I can't find the pre-filled draft on the site, anyone help please? The forms are available on the individual property pages and are particular to each agent. There should be an 'apply online' button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Revs30 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 On a 457 visa, we got off the plane on the 30th March and went straight into a serviced apartment, booked for a month from the UK using www.notonenight.com.au, and it has worked out perfectly. I am looking for a months acommodation for June in Melbourne and cant find anything for a family of four for less than 4k anywhere! ARGHHHHHHHHHH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Surf Vista Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Congrats on getting settled so quickly. I am heading over to Sydney next month and will be there for a few weeks on a bit of a reccie. Would you mind sharing the name of the serviced aopartment you stayed, where it was located and what your experience was there. Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRammo Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 We're at the Milson Executive Apartments in Milsons Point. It's well maintained and free parking too. Basically a mix of serviced apps and privately owned apartments too. The parking and pool/gym swung it for us as far as the choice of building, but the location was vital as it's near to both CBDs and my office 5kms up the pacific highway. We made the right choice here. As for trying to find short-term accommodation for 4 people for under $4k... good luck with that one! Have you considered moving over in 2 goes? Many people (including us) come out for a month or so to sort out a house and schools etc. and then go back to collect the o/h and/or kids. I couldn't imagine running around to sort out a house and have to be back at a certain time to pick up children from care or school - a lot of hard work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRammo Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 I can't find the pre-filled draft on the site, anyone help please? There are no pre-filled drafts. Only you know the answers to these questions! My tip is just to know exactly what you are going to put into each box because if you only have 5 mins to fill it in before having to dash off, you don't want to be looking up your drivers licence number and the mobile phone number of your referees every time you have to complete a form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Surf Vista Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 We're at the Milson Executive Apartments in Milsons Point. It's well maintained and free parking too. Basically a mix of serviced apps and privately owned apartments too. The parking and pool/gym swung it for us as far as the choice of building, but the location was vital as it's near to both CBDs and my office 5kms up the pacific highway. We made the right choice here. As for trying to find short-term accommodation for 4 people for under $4k... good luck with that one! Have you considered moving over in 2 goes? Many people (including us) come out for a month or so to sort out a house and schools etc. and then go back to collect the o/h and/or kids. I couldn't imagine running around to sort out a house and have to be back at a certain time to pick up children from care or school - a lot of hard work! Thanks for the info. If possible I would like to be in the CBD, but Milsons Point would be a nice alternative. I'm wondering if anyone here has stayed at the Napoleon on Kent? They seem to have the best rates at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desreb Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Nice overview TheRammo. Agree with all of this; definitely the key thing is not to go in half-heartedly. Find something you really like, and then go in all guns blazing: befriend the agent on the day, get yourself remembered, have all the docs and forms pre-completed, set yourself a contingency proposal of more deposit up front / rent above asking, watch for your competitors filling in their forms, and focus on beating them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest finnoodles Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 We've seen 21 apartments in Sydney in 3 weeks and put offers in on 6.. no joy yet. I offered 6 months rent up front during the week and STILL didn't get it. it seems the fact that I have a letter of offer but haven't started working yet is really impeding us. Also: no v457 visa yet as it's being processed. The last place today was....unbelievable: a 2 bed in Randwick. Piles of flith on the floor, an absolute stink wafting about (the agent laughed that the last place had been the same, we also saw that and it was 490 per week), floor coming up in the kitchen, damp everywhere, no view. It was miles from public transport and they wanted 485 per week. Shocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vulcan2509 Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Not sure how I ended up on this forum but I feel I may be able to offer some assistance. I have lived in Sydney all my life and know the place pretty well. I am an Aussie and have been since I was one. It looks to me that most people posting here want to live close to the city or beaches. Unfortunately if you want to rent in these areas it's going to cost a pretty penny. It's a fact the beaches in Oz are beautiful but it's not the place your going to find that cheap 4 beder for you and your family. It really comes down to how big of a house you need and what you are willing to pay. Don't restrict yourself to the coastal regions, head in land a little. Take a look at domain.com.au or realestate.com.au, look at the maps of the areas and if you have a question about the area drop me a line and I'll do my best to give you a run down on the area. Eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest finnoodles Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Update: we got offered the first place we saw on Saturday- 2 bed in Randwick for 490 per week. There were about 20-30 people viewing but we offered the 6 months rent up front plus bond deal and the landlord accepted the bait. We're delighted but I pity those who can't afford to do that when starting out. It's a tough market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRammo Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Excellent news finnoodles! We move in to our place today. In fact, I'm on a bus heading to a van-rental place, as I type this, to pick up something big enough to move all our airfreight from our serviced apartment. Good luck with your move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest finnoodles Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Thanks! Infact we'll be getting a rental van for the day- which company did you go with?? Good luck with the move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRammo Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Discount car rental in Bondi Junction. Great price for a large van. Worth giving them a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bullion Baron Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 We definitely don't miss the joys of house hunting in Sydney, possibly one of the most stressful experiences I've ever had:arghh: Aye, I feel your pain. The Sydney housing market is a mess. Rental property is scarce and overpriced! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolaj Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Blimey this has really depressed me now! Although Vulcan2509 does make a valid point, I have an idea of the property we would like to rent and an idea of weekly budget, but I am currently having heart failure at weekly rental for tiny flats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal2 Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 another helpful post for when we move and yet another job in my book - it's becoming a war and peace epic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OzWillow Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I've seen some wonderful properties in Sydney but torn about where to live. Does anyone know how good Pyrmont is? Would like flag with pool and gym (aware of cost!). Appreciate your advice Eddie as a Sydneysider.:biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemalbec Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I've seen some wonderful properties in Sydney but torn about where to live. Does anyone know how good Pyrmont is? Would like flag with pool and gym (aware of cost!). Appreciate your advice Eddie as a Sydneysider.:biggrin: Here's some basic info on Pyrmont: http://www.cityhobo.com/cities/sydney/pyrmont-sydney-inner-west Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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