Living in christchurch

[boduke]

My boyfriend and I are moving for a year to christchurch as I have a job at Christchurch Hospital, can anyone advise of the areas to look at when renting a place, ideally I like to be able to cycle (20 mins or so) or wud need gud transport links, also is it easy enough to find a furnished place as we are not planning on shiiping loads of stuff with us.

Many thanks

Nicola

[Moorf]

Hi Nicole

We live in Christchurch as do many of our friends.

What sort of property do you want? What sort of price range would you prefer? Apartment? House? Sea? Hills? Near to town and pubs/nightlife or out of town a little? Chch Hospital is very central.

The bus system here is great and runs all hours so you shouldn't have much probs getting about in town.

If you give us some feedback we can all chip in our views!!

Cheers
Moorf

[boduke]

wud prefer a little out of town, to be by the sea would be great, but not really that bothered. price wise, $200-300/week if this is realistic, don't mind housing type somewhere with a small outside space would be good.
Any further advice welcome starting to get quite nervous now, and still got loads to sort out in England as not actually selling up and moving for good- not yet anyway!!

[Moorf]

To be by the sea you'd need to be looking at areas such as South Shore, New Brighton, North New Brighton, North Shore, Sumner, Redcliffs, Mt Pleasant. In terms of weekly rent you'll pay low $200's for Brighton / Shore areas and high $200's but more likely mid $300's for unfurnished in the other areas.

If you're looking at biking around then Sumner to Chch Hospital I would estimate about 45mins - perhaps there's a biker on here who could give a better guide. It's v. flat and there are good cycle lanes - when Woz commuted from Sumner in the car he'd often be alongside the same set of cyclists at each set of traffic lights! From Brighton areas into town I'd say about the same really - so not exactly a 20 min ride. Bear in mind also that most of the houses in the Redcliffs and Mt Pleasant areas are on hills. Quite steep hills! But lovely areas.

Brighton / Shore areas aren't as posh, but good vibe and better rental / purchase prices. I recently looked at rental prices in that for another member and the average for a detached place with garden was about $240 - $260 although I can't comment on what sort of quality they were as they were merely listed in the paper.

It's worth checking out LOTS of rentals when you get here, in various areas - there are crap rentals in lovely areas, and lovely rentals in crap areas... and until you've seen an average Kiwi rental (in my experience) you haven't a clue what you're in for!! They can be dire! And you need to consider heating options too (in fact, that should be one of the top things to look for, as many rentals don't have open fires or woodburners due to insurance probs) - if you're here for a year you'll be here for a winter, and you'll need adequate heating if you want to be comfortable!

[boduke]

is it best to try and rent through an estate agent or private or no difference really I no that the estate agent will charge a fee, is it worth paying this? Are furnished places easy to come by? we really don't want to ship loads of furniture with us but have considered ship smaller items so we don't have to spend extra money while were there, unless anyone thinks it's cheaper just not to bother with the hassle of shipping- was thinking along the lines of duvet/ linen basic kitchen stuff etc

[Moorf]

To be honest, we went via both estate agents and private and ended up getting a place via an ad in the paper (The Press). You'd "expect" to get a better standard of cleanliness etc if going via an agency but I know friends who have had awful experiences with agency rentals - so, it's a case of looking at both. Just make sure you have a Tenancy Bond in place if a deposit is required....

"The law requires that if a landlord or agent collects any money for a bond, it must be lodged with the Tenancy Services Centre within 23 working days of the payment being made, together with a Bond Lodgment form signed by the landlord and the tenant. A letter acknowledging the payment will be sent to both landlord and tenant.

The bond is held by the Tenancy Services Centre until the end of the tenancy, when either the tenant or the landlord may apply for its refund. "

Source: http://www.dbh.govt.nz/housing/tenancy/bonds.html

Yes, you can find furnished. Not sure I'd bother shipping out items such as crockery or stuff that's heavy/bulky - the Warehouse is a cheap store where you could probably buy a dinner set for the cost of shipping one out from the UK!! Same with cheap saucepans, you can get them all at the Warehouse. Linen would be good to bring if you can.

Hope that helps...
Moorf