Trademe

[janellef]

Hi all!

I'll soon be moving to Auckland (from Canada) and I am having difficulty looking for a place to live. A bunch of people have recommended trademe- but I can't register due to the fact that I don't have a NZ address or phone number and without registering I cannot contact anyone posting ads... Does anyone have advice?

[JandM]

Contact the TradeMe authorities and explain that you are just about to move to NZ, and they will normally give you access.

[rogercruse]

Most of the real estate agents have daily lists of properties for rent in their area.

I suggest you book a reasonably priced hotel for your first couple of days, then when you arrive you can go in person to a few local estate agents, explain who your are (that is, a rich migrant from Canada!) and what type of rental property you're looking for (that is, large north facing garden for a peppercorn rent) and ask for a copy of their latest rental properties. Take the list to a nearby coffee shop and over a hot drink and with a decent map find each listed property that you like the sound of and find it on the map. Use your phone and the Auckland Public Transport app to check what your commute time would be using public transport. Return to the estate agent and ask to see the your short listed properties that day.

The above is what we did twice! and each time we found a suitable property.

As the rental market is quite fluid and good properties go in hours, you can almost ignore any property that has been on the estate agents list for a couple of days. so when you find the right property but the price is a little more than your budget, take a deep breath and adjust your budget and economise elsewhere. Give plenty of feed-back to the estate agent so that they immediately think of you when the next properties comes in.

Good Luck!

[bulu]

It will be very difficult to find long term rental from abroad. Landlords/agents will not even consider you unless you are already here with proof of finance and character reference.

Try these instead and then only look for long term stays.

http://www.airbnb.com
https://www.bookabach.co.nz/

[wmgilbert]

Trademe is a great option and that's where I've found all of my rental properties so far. Before you arrive, use Trademe to do some exploration and set expectations on pricing and neighborhoods. Remember that rent here is by the week (I'm from the U.S. and that was really odd for me). Are you looking for something in the Auckland CBD or outside? We live in the Auckland CBD.

AirBnB (mentioned by someone above) is a great cost-effective way to find a place to stay for a few weeks until you get situated.

Apartments are in huge demand and if you come when the students are getting ready to start classes then be prepared for apartments to go fast and to be looking at apartments in groups. Rental agents are so busy that they expect you to do all of the legwork. So I think the best option is to get here, spend a couple of days looking around, and be prepared with the deposits and such so that you can put in an application as soon as you find a place.

I have a couple of blog posts that may be of interest to you related to apartment hunting here -- https://lifeinnz365.com/2016/07/17/d...tment-hunting/ and https://lifeinnz365.com/2015/05/24/a...g-in-auckland/.

[breeze]

... so when you find the right property but the price is a little more than your budget, take a deep breath and adjust your budget and economise elsewhere.

Sigh... oh so true.
You'll get there.