Looking for Temporary Housing in Palmerston North

[dragonrides]

We expect to arrive in Palmerston North in early September, we have twin boys, 1 year old. We need to find a temporary house to rent for approximately one month, it needs to be furnished, until we get our stuff and find a more permanent place to rent. We haven't had luck finding such housing but thought we could give it a try here...Anyone can recommend an agency that might help us? Many thanks.

It will be ideal if these criteria could be met:
- 3 bedrooms
- toddler/baby friendly
- has washer/dryer
- close to Massey Uni (best if within walking distance)
- within walking distance to parks, supermarkets, etc.

The only place we can find in town is Quest, I know its a long shot but maybe someone here knows Palmerston North

[Kiwijo]

Keep looking on Trade Me, they have a good property section.
Id also suggest to have a look on Google (wikipedia should give you a list of suburbs, then you can check them out on Google streetview).
Good Luck.:O)

[dragonrides]

The Trade Me site...I also wonder what other major sites are in New Zealand where I can get new and second-hand everything...ever since having the kids, I feel so spoiled shopping online A lot of people say things are kind of expensive there though...

[dilanium]

I can't really think of anything. Most of what I know of is student housing so not what you're really looking for.

Good luck!

[JandM]

Expensive? - depends what you're looking for, and of course there's always an element of sheer luck. TradeMe is the biggest NZ personal trading site, but you can sometimes find other opportunities by Googling whatever you're looking for, with 'NZ' tacked on.

[123laura]

try @thehub, it's in the centre.

[123laura]

Sorry, posted before I finished! If you go to realestate.co.nz and look in individual agents websites they have many more listings, and you can contact them directly, unlike trademe where you often need an account. We arrive in PN on 11 October.

[Bernie]

Hi

From my experience of renting in Palmerston North - it is very unlikely that you will find a short term rental fully furnished unless of course you know a friend who knows a friend. The most i was able to negotiate was three months unfurnished place and that was after alot of negotiation!!
Your best bet maybe to look at holiday home sites ie http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/Palmerston-North.asp or just do a goggle search this should have the flexbility you are looking for with the furnished option though will prob cost more.

There are several motels closer to the uni and all are based are based on Fitzherbert Avenue - as i pass them each day there are usually vacancies - they may be worth a try for a short term option? I have never used any so can't recommend but again a goggle search for motels on this road will give you a start.

Good luck in Palmy -

[TJH]

When we first arrived in Palmy we stayed at the Mews until we had our lives sorted:

http://www.studiohomes.co.nz/palmerston-north

They are sort of like a big hotel room, furnished with a king bed, sofa, fridge, desk, wardrobes, and bookshelves, with a small kitchen. A full kitchen for the building is on the first floor.

Everything is included in the rent (except internet - there is a free phone in the kitchen/lounge) which was $200/week when we were there. I think it may be $210 now. They have a pay per usage wireless hotspot if you are only there for a short time. With your situation you could rent two of them on the second floor and they are attached at the balcony. Every two rooms shares a balcony. Or you could rent two of them on the ground floor next to each other.

There are washer and dryer facilities (free) on location and it is about a 5 minute walk to the Massey campus. Parks are close, just across the bridge next to the river and there is a grocery up on Summerset Hill about a 15 minute walk.

A lot of graduate, PhD students, and single professors live there as it is easy and close to Massey.

It is an excellent option in my opinion for getting on your feet when first arriving in Palmy.

Feel free to ask any further questions.

[dragonrides]

Hello all, I didn't expect that many helpful answers. We finally found the furnished apartment that will suit our situation best in PN. Some of the suggestions also gave us idea of searching for vacation homes and we found a nice home near Rotorua for our stopover from Auckland-Hamilton-Rotorua-Hamilton-Palmerston North, so thank you all for your time!

Now we are facing another question, we liked the house we found just by googling...there's no agent involved, the owner seems very accommodating also. However, they request a deposit of $1000+ (for a 5~6 months rental) into their personal account, I am sure they are lovely people, but we just don't feel that comfortable doing it without a contract just in case things don't go perfectly well as planned, with an agent, we can deposit the money into an escrow account, in this case, what can we do to protect ourselves, writing a contract via email? Just curious about what the common practice is in New Zealand for a situation like this...what I would like to do is to set a reasonable cancellation date for a full refund, since we do have our plans still pending, and also list a few things that we want them to do before we get there, moving the beds for the babies, etc.

Thanks in advance for any tips!