Short term and long term rentals

My visa was approved on Monday (quickest visa grant ever!)!! Woohoo. But now comes the more serious planning and sorting to move life to Adelaide at the beginning of September.

I have 2 questions:

How long do people suggest I book short term accommodation for? I have seen people's rentals all with advice to book early, which I can do as I know my arrival date. But I don't know what a realistic time period for it would be. How long does it take to find a longer term rental?

Where do I find info on what documents I need to support a long term rental application? My mum is coming with me for my 1st 2 weeks to hopefully help me find somewhere (give me another opinion) but of course as things appear to go quickly I want to be prepared.

Katherine

It took us 7 weeks to find a place and get the keys. We had to extend our holiday let. Most people on here seem to manage it in 4 weeks though.

It can depend on what you are looking for, the area and the time of year. Do you know where you want to live and what type of longer term place you want?

In terms of referenced you will need ID, proof you can pay and references. If you look on realestate.com and domain.com you will find all the rental listings. Some of the agents allow you to download forms to apply, have a look at some of those and you can see exactly what they are asking for. Best also to do a short cover note explaining your circumstances being a new migrant etc. And always take time to speak to agents at opens, even if the place is not for you, as you will come across the same ones or they may have other properties. I find personal contact helps.

Hi we moved over in November last year and we managed to secure a rental on a 6 month lease from the UK. We assumed that finding a rental property would be the easy part but lots of real estate agents want you to view properties before you can find a lease.

We kept applying on real estate and eventually we managed to find a place in Richmond 2 weeks before we moved. The agent wanted proof of any income we had as I didn't have a job when we first moved. They also wanted ID and a reference from someone in the UK maybe if you have rented or maybe a letter from the bank if you pay a mortgage.

On a suburb point of view it all depends on budget and where you want to be. We had a budget and was applying for places near the city as we had a lot of licensing and appointments in the city when we first arrived. Richmond is only 10mins from the city and 15 mins from the beach so a good location. We are looking at moving a little further south as it's abit cheaper but we don't want to be more than 30 mins from the city so no further than Hallett Cove,

Hope this helps a little but if you want to secure a property from the UK I would just keep applying or if not get a holiday home and see what you find on arrival.

We arranged 3 weeks in a short term let and then found our long term one just 4 days after arriving and got the keys 10 days later.

Average I'd say is 3-4 weeks in short term. Some do longer, others less. Some opt for house sitting or different options for the early days.

Given your situation you may be looking at smaller options to start anyways and things like small units can perhaps take less time than a house to secure. Depends on area and availability in the market.

You are best to have an Aus bank account and proof of funds if you don't have a job. So a decent chunk of savings to show you can cover rent for a property for X amount of months. If able to pay a few months rent up front might also help.

If you don't have a job and don't know where you will be working I'd be wary of a long term lease of 12 months or being too far out to begin with. May be worth considering renting a room in a house share or small unit in decent area and then moving after 6 months if you end up working a long way away.