It has been long time since my last blog post, so happy to be writing again!. The following is the summary of my experience of living in Australia close to one year.
Renting an apartment
Finding a place to live took more time & energy than I initially thought. I realized quickly that the real estate rentals worked completely different than the US and India. In Australia, apartment rental amount is calculated weekly, but paid monthly. The rentals are astronomically high in cities like Sydney and Melbourne. The rentals (both renting and subsequent monthly payments, operational support) are managed by the real estate companies.
1. One needs to view multiple websites, make appointments with the real estate companies to "view" the apartments. The properties are open for "viewing" for a very short window like 15 minutes on a wednesday or the week ends. Walk-in viewing is welcome but the challenge is to reach the place within that short period of time. key website; http://www.realestate.com.au; http://gumtree.com.au
2. The subsequent paper work takes a lot of time. It is common for the folks to apply concurrently for 4-5 properties
3. Finally when the application is approved, the apartment is ready for occupation. The apartment is mostly equipped with a electric or gas stove. The tenant has to procure the rest of the appliances :(. But there is a very good value chain of small retailers who sell used appliances and can even home deliver.
Some common experiences from self and my colleagues;
Renting an apartment
Finding a place to live took more time & energy than I initially thought. I realized quickly that the real estate rentals worked completely different than the US and India. In Australia, apartment rental amount is calculated weekly, but paid monthly. The rentals are astronomically high in cities like Sydney and Melbourne. The rentals (both renting and subsequent monthly payments, operational support) are managed by the real estate companies.
1. One needs to view multiple websites, make appointments with the real estate companies to "view" the apartments. The properties are open for "viewing" for a very short window like 15 minutes on a wednesday or the week ends. Walk-in viewing is welcome but the challenge is to reach the place within that short period of time. key website; http://www.realestate.com.au; http://gumtree.com.au
2. The subsequent paper work takes a lot of time. It is common for the folks to apply concurrently for 4-5 properties
3. Finally when the application is approved, the apartment is ready for occupation. The apartment is mostly equipped with a electric or gas stove. The tenant has to procure the rest of the appliances :(. But there is a very good value chain of small retailers who sell used appliances and can even home deliver.
Some common experiences from self and my colleagues;
- Taking time off from office and head to the appointment, only to figure out you missed it by few minutes and the agent saying sorry..time up
- The attitude of the real estate agents
- Too much use of the calculator to figure out the monthly amount
- Thoughts of unknown expenses in buying the appliances...
- Unable to view apartments after 5pm on week days or sometimes even Sunday.
In a nutshell, it is a unique experience and I somehow enjoyed going through this exercise!
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