Wanted short term let

[thechollys]

Hi,

 

We're a family of 4 - mum, dad, 10 year old daughter and 2 year old female cat (who is very clean and quiet). We're heading out to Canberra very soon, dad arrives on 21st March and the rest of us at the beginning of April. What we don't have yet is some short term accommodation for our first couple of months there. Does anyone know of any good websites which advertise short term lets or, even better, can anyone recommend somewhere they may have stayed?

 

We really aren't too fussed about the area. All we need is somewhere clean to use as a base to look for something longer term.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[claireg]

Hi

 

Have you tried looking on http://www.stayz.com.au for a short term rental? That's were we found ours, which we had for 4 weeks when we first arrived.

 

We stayed in Googong in NSW, about 25 min drive out of the centre of Canberra, paid $97 per night. This was the place, clean and functional, a bit dated, but for short term was fine. http://www.stayz.com.au/85716

 

They let you bring pets as long as they have their own bedding and toilet requirements.

 

The owners who are upstairs are really lovely too.

 

Good luck

 

Claire

[claireg]

One thing more, I think most people find short-term accommodation for 4-6 weeks max. Some just 2 weeks. 4 weeks should be long enough to find a long term rental. Also look on http://www.allhomes.com.au for both long term and some short term rentals.

[sunniecat]

if you've got the time to go all-out househunting early on, you shouldn't need a short-term rental for more than 4 weeks. We got a house within 10 days (keys and all) - we started seriously hunting on the Saturday, and we saw something like 13 houses in 3 days, by Wednesday we'd been offered one of the 8 we'd applied for... (it does help if you take a little application pack to go with).

 

In the short-term, have a look on airbnb.com as well, there are some decent ones on there.

[thechollys]

Thanks for the advice, it's really helpful. It's reassuring to hear that it shouldn't take us as long as we thought to secure a long term rental. However, we do have a cat which means some places won't be open to us. My next task is to put together a rental pack as hubby flies out 2 weeks today. So while I tie up loose ends and deal with shippers here he is going to visit the schools we're keen on and look at rentals. Let's hope the rain has let up before we arrive. We've never seen Canberra in the sun, perhaps a good thing considering we loved it under cloud should make it all the more beautiful when the sun shines.

[TheGrahams]

Wow, I just had a look on stayz.com and there are some nice looking cheap ones on the sunshine coast (where we are planning on heading in October). We thought we would buy a tent and camp for a month, but some of the campsites are more expensive than a beachside apartment! Thanks for that link, it means a real bed for the first month! :wink:

[claireg]

The sun is out today and it is lovely outside :-)

[thechollys]

Sun fab. Let's hope it stays that way.

[Guest Bazinga]

What should we put in our application pack? Husband will be working I won't be just yet.

[sunniecat]

you need proof of your financial situation (so we had a copy of our bank statement showing we had plenty in savings to cover the rent, since hubby isn't working yet) - if you've got jobs, then confirmation of the job offer to show you've got a regular salary would do fine for that.

we also had:

a short profile about us 'non-smokers, no pets, young couple'

each of our employment history.

references from our previous landlords in the UK

we chucked a couple of photos in of our old house too.

 

basically, they want to know that you're going to be able to pay your rent, that you will pay regularly and you're not going to trash the place. Anything you've got to show that will help.