secure a rental b4 you leave uk ?

[chrisfen46]

Hi there just woundering if anyone has ever been able to secure a rental property before they left the uk. IF so any advice would be much appriciated...

[snifter]

Most people seem to wait till they are over in Aus. Number of reasons but mainly as agents like to meet people, viewings and so on. Also there are a lot of people wanting rentals so I'd think more chance of securing something if they can meet you and see you are decent people to let to. Also if you have kids or jobs and rent in the wrong area you could have a commute or a not so good school or something.

 

I think its more common to arrange a short term furnished rental from the UK for the first couple of weeks or so but the longer terms ones tend to be let once in Aus.

 

Personally I'd wait till I was over before trying to secure a rental. Check out areas I'd like to live, commute times, schools, facilities etc. I'd hate to take something only to find it was in an area I didn't like or didn't suit us and then be stuck trying to move elsewhere.

[Guest guest3462]

We arranged our rental before we left the UK through LJ Hooker. We had been to Adelaide before though and had already bought a block of land to build our house on in the suburb we rented so we knew we wanted to live there!

It wasn't too hard really, we had to provide references from the bank to prove we paid our mortgage on time and character references then we had to agree to pay several months rent in advance to secure it. We were lucky in that we had friends here who looked round the rental for us on an open they also collected the keys early for us so we could move in as soon as we arrived (which was a weekend).

It was a blessing for us, but i can see how it could be a nightmare if indeed you havent been here before and don't like the area etc.

[Guest glitter]

Hi, I do some work with buyers in the sales department of a real estate office in Flagstaff Hill. They have a dedicated system for dealing with people arriving from the UK. They are really helpful and have loads of advice. Call into RAY WHITE at Flagstaff Hill, speak with Wendy or Chris there Check out the one of the houses they currently have for rent at http://www.fhgc.com.au/guests/restaurant/index.mhtml

good luck, they will keep you right!

[MeJulie]

The link takes you to Golf Club

[Guest Guest75]

The link takes you to Golf Club

 

Yep it does??

 

Care to check that link???????

[Guest glitter]

Hi, I do some work with buyers in the sales department of a real estate office in Flagstaff Hill. They have a dedicated system for dealing with people arriving from the UK. They are really helpful and have loads of advice. Call into RAY WHITE at Flagstaff Hill, speak with Wendy or Chris there Check out the one of the houses they currently have for rent at

http://www.raywhite.com/sa/flagstaff-hill/494584/

good luck, they will keep you right

[Guest glitter]

Ok, I am concentrating now - was multi-tasking earlier! I have re-posted with the correct link. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience

[Diane]

I spoke to a friend who is a real estate agent about this issue the other day and she said most agents are really reluctant to rent a place to someone who has not seen it "in the flesh" - they have had their fingers burned too many times with renters who take on a contract for a place they've not visited, then a few months down the line want to move elsewhere, which costs the landlord money and time.

 

Also a good rental agent will want to meet the renters face to face - as one said to me, they are effectively responsible for a $300k+ asset for the owner so to rent to someone sight unseen is rather irresponsible.

[MeJulie]

Ok, I am concentrating now - was multi-tasking earlier! I have re-posted with the correct link. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience

BTW golf club looks nice

[Sallyh]

This isn't going to be very helpful except to those with family here already... we got our house through Elders and PILs did the viewing, entered into the lease "with us" and signed it on our behalf and we paid the money before we came here. Then when we got here, they swapped the lease into our name and took PILs off. So if anyone is blessed to have family here (like a 1/2 and 1/2 English / Aussie marriage like us) I'd recommend doing it that way. They furnished the place with borrowed stuff before we got here, and we gave it all back when our shipment arrived.

 

Like I said, not very helpful for most but I have to say of all the renting we've done since we got here, both Elders offices have been very professional and accommodating (excuse the pun!).

[Guest Team 'W']

Hi

 

We looked on the internet for a holiday home for the first five wks , haggled with the price via emails ,got the pickies up on the comp to view so we knew what we was going to be staying in ,THEN looked for a long term rental while here ..

 

Its best to look when your here ,then you can see the surroundings how far from the beach, schools and shops etc :

 

Hope this helps ...

 

Elaine

[jarnasa]

Yeah this is a hard one. I tend to agree that getting a short term rental whilst you find your feet is a good option although the flip side is you have to pay a bit more for this.

[Guest WhatNow?]

I fully agree Donna,

 

I also can't imagine why anyone would enter into a 12 month rental contract without seeing not only the property but the area, even if it were easy to do, which it isn't. You need to ask yourself if you were doing this sort of thing in the UK would you take such a step? We recommend all our clients to book about 4-6 weeks in furnished accommodation to give themselves chance to look around and judge for themselves such things as the state of the property (not always easy to see in online photos) the nature of the immediate area (there are really daggy areas in Adelaide just as there are inthe UK and you can't tell this, even from Google Street View) and the distance you may have to travel to work (assuming you even know where you will be based). You must give yourselves and your family a good chance to get it right first time...or they may all decide they are going back within the first few weeks!

[Sallyh]

Definitely. We did it only because the inlaws went round, we knew the landlord, and it was only for 6mths in any event in an area we already knew very well - 5mins from PILs.

 

The thing that we noticed immediately is that the agents' particulars here are totally unrealistic most of the time. They are usually photos from at least 2 rentals ago, furniture and curtains are giveaways, and condition of the house can be a lot different. So not are you only getting it sight unseen except for a few photos, you are getting it "sight totally unrecognisable" with some properties! I know estate agents must have certain rules they follow here but tbh i think there's a lot more protection in the UK against misdescription.

 

And actually that is a thin end of a much larger wedge in terms of getting used to the different rules protecting individuals - don't rubbish the EU till you've lived outside it!!!!