I just want to give you a bit of background information before launching into today’s sponsored post which comes courtesy of ausrental.
When we moved to Australia, it was daunting as we didn’t know Brisbane. We paid £2000 for a temporary rental for one month through the Stayz website (like AirBnB). Today, that converts to $3500AUD for four weeks accommodation. We found a house on a 12-month lease costing $440 a week and moved in. If we’d moved into that house straight away instead of the temporary rental, it would have saved us $1740 (which works out to almost £1000 saved!)
So when Codie from ausrental contacted me to see if he might be able to introduce his company’s relocation services to my readers who are moving to Melbourne, I was keen to hear all about it. If you are moving to Melbourne soon, read on to learn how ausrental can help save you money and reduce the stress involved in moving across the world.
This post is sponsored by ausrental
Moving to Melbourne?
If you are moving to Melbourne, ausrental offer a full relocation package that helps you find a long term rental before you move, saving you money, hassle and headaches. If you don’t know where to live in Melbourne, ausrental will help you work out the best places to live in Melbourne for your lifestyle and commute. Living in Melbourne can be expensive, so ausrental will help find you a place within your budget by searching all of the houses to rent in Melbourne for you, inspecting properties and sending you a full, detailed report including photos and videos and helping you prepare your Melbourne rental application so that it stands out from the other applicants.
I interviewed ausrental Founder, Codie Smith to find out more…
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Codie
I grew up in Melbourne and have lived here for the majority of my life. I joined the military at 17 and served for just over six years in a fast-paced environment that taught me the qualities of good communication and flexibility. I then came back to Melbourne where I started my career in real estate. I was fortunate enough to land a job at a fantastic agency in St Kilda, where I learnt so much and knew that I had found the industry for me. In my spare time I enjoy playing AFL in one of Melbourne’s many local leagues, attending local music gigs and having a hit of golf.
Tell us a bit about ausrental and the services you offer
ausrental came about when I was working for the agency in St Kilda. I had a lot of people from interstate and overseas applying for properties with great applications but unfortunately they were unable to secure a property as they didn’t know anyone here who was able to view the properties on their behalf. I saw a gap in the market to help Melbourne’s future citizens with an avenue to comply with Victoria’s stringent real estate laws and decided to set up ausrental.
What does a typical day at ausrental look like?
The typical ausrental day is filled with maintaining dialogue with Melbourne’s proactive agents, checking in with clients and researching market activity. One of the values at ausrental is communication and we effectively engage in this throughout the day. By keeping contact with agents we are regularly being offered houses before they hit the market which gives our clients a great head start. We spend our mornings looking through prospective homes that we can match with our clients needs. We then arrange inspections with agents to get a private viewing where ausrental can observe and analyse on behalf of our client. Thanks to this private viewership it is possible for us to obtain uninterrupted photo and video footage to present to clients. We are constantly updating our clients if they have applications pending on properties, organising key collection and anything else to make life easier for the move to the world’s most liveable city.
All properties that are leased must be inspected by the future tenant or by someone else on their behalf. Can you explain how you get around this to help migrants secure a rental before they arrive in Australia?
Great question. When our clients sign up to our relocation package they’re sent a power of attorney form that will allow the ausrental team to work on the clients behalf. We present this when necessary allowing us to do everything required for the completion of the relocation process.
Can you recommend any good websites for people to use to research moving to Melbourne?
The Live in Melbourne site has lots of information about migrating to the city although there are lots of great resources online that all current and future Melburnians should make themselves familiar with. Time Out Melbourne, Visit Victoria and What’s On Melbourne are all great places to get ideas about things to do and events taking place although I believe nothing beats exploring the city for yourself and finding your new favourite coffee shop.
What is the lifestyle like in Melbourne?
Melbourne has been voted the most liveable city – not just in Australia, but the world – seven years in a row. No matter who you are or what your interests are, Melbourne has it. The food is first class and the cafes are renowned for their coffee.
Melbourne is the home of sport and entertainment boasting some of the biggest events in the country. This is supported by a thriving music scene and nightlife like no other. The famous Chapel Street entertainment precinct offers everything from cafes and restaurants to bars and clubs open til the late hours. With the beach located 6kms south of the city, it’s no wonder 160,000 people moved to Victoria in 2017.
What would you say to somebody worried about the high cost of living in Melbourne?
Cost of living in Melbourne may be higher than most parts of Australia, however, employing an expert can help keep costs down by finding you an appropriate suburb. ausrental is confident that on your behalf we can find you a rental that will save on avoidable costs such as excess spending on transports by meeting your needs including key areas such as work place and schools.
How do schools work in Melbourne – do you need to live within a catchment area?
Doing school research ahead of the move is important because when you take on a long term rental that is where you will be based.
State schools in Melbourne have a catchment zone and they are obliged to take all children living within that catchment zone. You may still be able to get a place at a state school outside of your catchment zone, but you would need to contact the school to discuss this as schools may have reached their capacity.
Private schools accept students living anywhere, but places can fill up early so you will need to contact schools to check if places are available in the year you need. The Live in Melbourne site has a page about schools here.
Be aware that school starting ages in Melbourne are different to other countries and you may find your children are in a different year here to what they were before you moved. To start primary school, your child needs to turn five by 30th April of the year they start. The school year begins in late January/early February so it is a good idea to contact schools to check what year your children may need to enrol in to.
This website shows the different catchment zones.
What advice would you give to someone trying to decide where to move in Melbourne if they’ve never visited the city before?
There are really two options. One is to come out and stay for a while in a temporary rental and explore for yourself. The other is to use experts like us to help you find the best place to live in Melbourne right away. We supply a questionnaire to paint a picture of which suburbs align to your needs.
What advice would you give to somebody moving to Melbourne who doesn’t yet have a job and isn’t sure where they are going to be based?
It’s important to be as organised as possible with your application. If you’re yet to gain employment we recommend you have bank statements and other supporting documents to help ‘sell’ your application to the land lord.
In terms of where to move, choose somewhere with great transport links so you are well placed to get around the city if you are flexible with prospective job locations.
Do you recommend people take on a six month lease or a 12 months lease for their first home in Australia?
A 12 month lease is the most common, however, pending the time of year and competitiveness of the property 6 months can also be an option. We always recommend 12 months though to have a competitive edge against other potential applicants.
What are the benefits of taking on a rental before arriving in the country?
When moving country a place to live is the number one concern – “where am I going to live?” and “how will I find somewhere?” are common and stressful questions so why not let a professional deal with it for you? Our relocation package is $749AUD and for that you can move straight into your home and have that peace of mind for you and your family.
As an alternative, Air BnB costs can add up and the chances of securing a suburb that you will enjoy will decrease. ausrental has the connections and inside information to make your transition and time in Melbourne as pleasant as possible.
What is your best advice for my readers who are planning a move to Melbourne?
Be organised, and just get out here – Melbourne is an incredible place to live!
Planning on moving to Australia but unsure how to rent a property?
Australia has an incredibly competitive market when it comes to renting. Moving house is rated in the top 5 most stressful situations people come across in their adult life – so why not let an expert do the work for you?
ausrental is a relocation company. They assist in helping people locate and secure the right rental properties whilst saving time and money in a stress free fashion.
They find out exactly what you’re after and do everything they can to locate something that suits your needs within your budget, they have great relationships already established with real estate agents and are constantly updated with new properties coming online before they hit the general public, giving you a great head start in a competitive market.
Generally all properties must be viewed by the applicant or someone on their behalf. ausrental take care of everything from start to finish including the viewing of rental properties where they’ll take photos, videos, give a detailed report outlining the pros and cons of the property right through to picking up the keys from the agent and meeting you at your new property.
ausrental’s promise to their clients is guaranteeing a property or a full money back refund, so what do you have to lose?
Contact Codie at ausrental or through Facebook
This post was sponsored by ausrental.
