Has anyone tried to rent a house through Trademe prior to arriving in NZ? I've narrowed down the areas I'm interested in (with lots of thanks to folk on this forum ) and I've tried to contact people who are renting places that I'm interested in but keep getting the response that I can't register for Trademe without a NZ or OZ email address. If it's an agent it's fine as I can go to their website, but if it's an individual there seems to be no way of getting in touch with them. Are there any free NZ email providers that I could register with to get a NZ email address? I'm trying to have my new employer set up an email address for me for when I arrive but I don't think I'll get it before I actually start work.

Sorry to repeat this question in a new thread - I asked the same thing on another thread, but it was a bit of a non sequitur on that one so I didn't get any response there.

Alternatively, how did other people arrange a house rental before arriving in NZ? I'm a wee bit worried about being homeless after our first week if I haven't got something arranged beforehand