Moving to Wellington, advice required

[SunSo]

Hi All,

My first post on this really useful site. My girlfriend and I will be moving to Wellington from South Africa in the next month or so. Both of us have secured good jobs in central Wellington. As we're busy going through the admin of packing up our lives here for the move, there are items that are still in question about Wellington. I'm hoping that forum members can provide some useful advice on the topics listed below:

1. Reasonable Hotel/Self-catering apartments in Central Wellington: The plan is for me to fly through around the 3rd week of June and look for an apartment in the city for 3-6 months (hopefully take occupation 1 July). However, for when I get to Wellington, anyone have any recommendations on a decent hotel or self-catering apartment? I'd be looking between NZ$100-150 a night max.? My office will be close to The Terrace. So far I've just been looking at Booking.com for hotels but the selection isn't that great.

2. Rental Agents: Are there any recommendations on rental agents I can reach out to via email now? From what I've seen on the web, we'd prefer to live in the City, if just outside Oriental Bay seems like our preference. As neither of us are familiar with the rental process in Wellington, we thought of using an agent to guide us. Looking at TradeMe.co.nz rentals, our budget would be between the NZ$600-800 a week.

3. Utilities: With renting an apartment, how does utilities works? Would we have to register for lights and water? I understand that we would need to pay for this based on consumption, just not sure if we need to register or the owner gets the bill and forwards to us to pay. If we have to register, can anyone advise on the process and any tips to get the bet possible deal? (Not sure of pricing so won't be sure if we're getting a good deal or ripped off)

4. Sim Cards: Are there any recommendations on cellular providers in Wellington? I understand that I can buy a pre-paid Sim when I land, just looking if there are any preferred providers for a longer term solution. Main use will be calls and WhatsApp to family back in South Africa. I see deals around NZ$80 a month for 5Gb data and unlimited voice calls. From what I gather, the min providers are Spark, Vodafone and Skinny, anyone else I should look at? I'll be speaking to my service provider in South Africa to ensure my phone is able to be used in NZ.

5. Bank Account: Are there any recommendations on which Bank to open an account with. Seems there are a few options, just not sure what the benefits of one bank vs another. We're not looking to buy property for the first year or 2 so it would be primarily used for savings and transactions.

6. Motor Vehicle: As we plan to live in Central Wellington for the first few months, would be a necessity to get a car? Is parking in central Wellington an issue if we get a car? Seems the most popular modes of transport in the city is bicycles and walking. The girlfriend and I would like to do some exploring in and about town initially so there is no immediate need to drive out of Wellington to see the sights at least for the first month or 2. From what I have seen on TradeMe.co.nz a budget of NZ$17000 can get you a pretty decent car and something we can get around month 2 or 3 of getting to Wellington.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[dede]

1. If you can handle it try the backpackers. book a single room. Cheap and central. If not, plenty of AirBnB people.
2. Try Oxygen rentals...they are mostly all shysters. Check that your place is well insulated!
3. Sorry, dunno
4. Can buy SIM at the airport. Spark are ..OK
5. Easy to open but bring lots of ID
6. You can get by with buses easily. Buy a snapper card when you get there and top it up at any newsagent. But also an eminently walkable or cyclable city.

[neddrick98]

1. Reasonable Hotel/Self-catering apartments in Central Wellington:
I believe the George on Willis St. is charging $120 p/w for small studio-style accommodation.
http://www.hotelstgeorge.co.nz/ It's perfectly acceptable as a very, very central and cheap arrival place.

2. Rental Agents:
Your budget is pretty good!!! We tried chatting with agencies before we left in 2013 and they all told us just to touch base once we'd actually arrived, so in my experience i'd just go with looking on TradeMe once you're actually here. For what you're looking at in terms of money, if you want something in central Welly you'll be able to find something pretty decent - 2 or 3 bed with parking, probably. We pay $430 and live in Mt. Cook in a decent-sized 2-bed with parking, and everything we saw that was more central was around the $400 mark (but very small).

3. Utilities:
You have to sort out your own electricity/gas, but your landlord pays for water consumption (not entirely clear on that process myself, though). Usually when you move in you can just check who the previous provider was and open an account with them. Popular choices are Genesis, Mercury and Meridian.

4. Sim Cards:
You can also try 2 degrees. Make sure you check whether the 'unlimited calls' include abroad, as they don't usually, or might be limited to places like Australia and Samoa, where many immigrants are from.

5. Bank Account:
We opened with ANZ from abroad and then just showed up in branch with passports and an address (although we gave a hotel address, so they accept those too). But i've read on this forum that you can do this with other places like ASB and Westpac so best to shop around. Your decision will probably revolve around a)ease of opening from abroad and b) interest rates on savings (I think there's a web page that compares all NZ bank accounts, just Google it).

6. Motor Vehicle:
Definitely don't buy a car if you're going to be living in Welly central for a while. Apart from lack of use, you'll have nowhere guaranteed for parking, so will have to resort to carparks at first or find someone you can rent weekly off (around $50 a week and unlikely to be at your front door). Parking in CBD is fine if you're doing it every now and then, but not if you're trying to park your car outside your house! 100% walkable city, plus as previously mentioned get yourself a Snapper card and use it on the buses to get around, or buy a bike. If you live anywhere around the edges of CBD you can walk into town (e.g. from Mt. Cook, Mt. Vic, Te Aro, etc.). Your car budget is pretty high so you won't have any issues buying a decent (probably new) car, but take your time over it. We got an old Toyota 1995 for $2800 3 years ago - it's falling apart but it's good enough for weekly food shops in Kelburn and has even taken us to Auckland and back a few times, so for $17k you will be absolutely fine!

[SunSo]

Thanks for the responses

@neddrick98 - opened up an ANZ account very easily from overseas, thanks for the tips.