Rented accomodation

[BigRed]

My family and I are moving to Auckland in September. We'll be staying with friends for a week or two but will want to move into a rented house pretty sharpish.

I've heard that most rented accomodation in NZ is unfurnished, so my question is how much stuff we should get shipped over. Should we be including things like the cooker and washing machine? For that matter, would the cooker and washing machine be compatible with the gas and water plumbing there?

[rogercruse]

Having been here for over six months and about to move to my 2nd rented property, I can say that not all unfurnished properties are the same. Some properties will include cooker, fridge & washing machine and some won't.

And the standard of rented varies even within the same area, for example we viewed five properties last Friday, all with the same number of features (bed rooms, gargage, deck, etc) and all in the same area, prices were similar and some had appliances and some didn't.

You probably need to worry more about location and what's right for you than anything else.

We left our appliances as we've rented out our UK property but packed everything else.

[Janey]

you will struggle in September with the World cup though! w ehired a bach for several weeks but again these will be fully booked you may struggle to find any accom until end of October but may be proved wrong!

[Duncan74]

Agree with both posts above.

Firstly, I'd not bother with the cooker, as you can't really survivie without one in either the UK or NZ house for 6 weeks without it, so you'd need to rent one anyway. Can't be sure with AKL, but the proportion of places without a coooker areound here is very low. There are places to rent white goods from (ie cookers, fridges) if you didn't want to pick one up from Trade Me.

Washing mashine - I'd bring, but be aware that most places will be designed for top loaders, and so a front loader may not look right. Very minor issue. In our case it meant that the hole for the tumble dryer hose is above the top of the stacked tumble dryer so aesthetically it's a bit poor, but it's a rental and in a utility room so nothing to worry about. Getting the right poweder/liquid for a front loader isn't as easy as a top loader, but it's not a huge problem - we struggle more as we need non-bio (persil sensitive) front loader, and the combination of non bio and front loader is the pain.

Fridges we brought, but still needed to buy a new one as the space in the kitchen was wider but fractionally shorter than out fridge freezer. So we've one in the laundry room too for additional space and a single undr counter fridge in a box in the garage.

Dish washer - also in the garage as the rental had a dish drawer fitted.

Accommodation. I can't find a room for love nor money in Akl for late October - money no object. AKL rentals are rarer than hens teeth at the moment, and so at that time you are going to have a nightmare with temporary accomodation and with a longer term place. I've no idea of tips or tricks, other than to be prepared and have a plan B. Do you have a job lined up? If so, get them to sort something. If not, then consider a plan B, either delay the move, bring it forward.

[gorstsmit]

Interesting points re September and Auckland rentals. That's when we planned to come out as well given that OH will be looking for jobs starting at the beginning of Term4 ideally.

I've been watching the AKL rental market and know it's already tough, but I guess needing a short term place when you land just adds to the the difficulty.

Hmm, maybe better looking for Term 3 posts instead and looking at coming out August instead? Either that or a post during Term 4 in say November.

All assuming either of us manage to get a job offer of course!!

[gorstsmit]

An hoorah - just noticed - post #100, I'm a Member. Graduated from my Junior position.

[auskiwi]

We had a similar issue with accommodation - we plan to rent a furnished cottage until our container arrives, which may or may not be before the RWC starts in NZ. All accommodation places wanted to bump up the rates enormously during the world cup, so we plan to go stay with my mum in Titirangi during that time if our stuff hasn't arrived yet. It's a long commute to my work place from my mum's, but our increased gas prices are nothing compared to what the increase in accommodation rates would be!

Does anyone know when the RWC actual ends?

Amy.

[gypsy]

There is short term accommodation available on this website http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties

Just enter location & dates & number of people

I have booked one for 2 weeks in September & looking at various places still lots of vacancies for September & October