Rental

It's the plan to rent a place for the first 6 months til we put down some roots with job etc. Just checking that the systems pretty similar to UK in that you generally pay in advance with one months rent as deposit.
Also are most rentals through agents or can you find out that mrs's jones daughter is renting a place on a private let down the road through word of mouth? If it's mostly agents do they need references and stuff cos we haven't rented for years.
Thanks

Hi Steve,
Renting is a little different from the UK. You have to pay a bond to an external agency who hold it, incase of any disputes come the end of the tenancy. The bond seems to be a figure plucked out of the air most times!

Then, depending on the terms set by the landlord, you pay 1 or 2 weeks rent in advance (I've not seen anyone asking for more than this, but there may be some cases where they want more) and then pay your rent weekly.

A great deal of people use agencies, but private lettings are also around. When going through an agent, you must also pay an agents fee, usually equivalent to 1 weeks rent.

We didnt have any references to get our first place in Tauranga, but it wasnt a problem at all. And we used the estate agent for a reference for our place in Hamilton!

Inspections can be as soon as 4 weeks (which is the minimum time between inspections allowed in the Tenancy Act), so far ours have been every 3 months though.

What was the bond you had to pay then if you don't mind me asking. Sounds pretty straight forward tho, it's not like it gonna be forever.

The place we had in Tauranga was $825, and this place we have now is $1000.

Bonds vary quite a bit, depending on size of house, location etc. Expect to pay from $600 for reasonable up to $1500 for very nice!

[SteveyC]

Thats alright then, not too bad at all. Thanks chap

[cal]

Just a word to the wise....


If you have dogs and are bringing them with you, do some groundwork first.

There are very few rentals out here that accept pets... it's even harder here than in the UK.

:icon_frown: