Renting in NZ

[duane1x]

Can someone describe how rentals work in NZ? I see properties are quoted by the week - what is the typical contract length, if there is one e.g. 6 mos? 1 yr?

Is it common to find furnished rentals?

[Jodie]

Weekly rent figures are the norm here and you normally pay fortnightly. Furnished rentals are hard to come by, and tend to be more expensive too because of that.

Depending on if you go through an agent or through the local paper and deal with the landlord direct, you can get 1 year contracts, 6 month or rolling contracts. All depends on the landlord/agent.

If you go direct through the landlord (through the paper or trade me for example) you won't have to pay any admin fees either so much better! :)

[Glenda]

As you have noticed, rentals are usually advertised at a figure per week. ?

We rented via a newspaper advertisement, our landlord being in the real estate business elsewhere. ? We signed a 'Residential Tenancy Agreement' produced by the Ministry of Housing Tenancy Services department. ?Our rent is paid monthly direct from our bank account. ?There are 'fixed term' tenancies or 'periodic tenancies'. ?We have the latter where we have to give 21 days' notice of termination of tenancy, and the landlord gives 42 days' notice. ?The Agreement sets out all terms and conditions plus a page where all existing damages and defects are noted. ?

A 'bond' is usually required and we paid 4 weeks rent. ?The bond was paid to the landlord who lodged it with the Tenancy Services, who sent us a receipt.

Furnished rentals are more difficult to find. ?Short term furnished rentals are more easily found during the cooler months of the year, being out of the holiday season, but are invariably on a fixed 3 or 6 month term. ?

Hope that helps. ? ?

:)

[MotherBear]

You can find out about rent levels in the different areas, which, judging by the date at the top of the entries, look fairly recently updated.

Another link about renting , but can?t guarantee that figures are up-to-date.

[duane1x]

Thank you all for the info and links.

Can someone explain the difference between a flat and an apartment? Flat seems to be less expensive across the board.

Also are there positives to going with an agent or service? I'm thinking knowledge of the local areas, knowledge about schools - things you won't get by DIY with the news ads.

[MotherBear]

Can someone explain the difference between a flat and an apartment? Flat seems to be less expensive across the board.

Basically, a flat and an apartment are the same thing i.e. a set of rooms on the same floor of a residential building. ?Sometimes we Brits use the term 'flat' for a smaller type of apartment, but not always. ?There shouldn't really be any difference in price other than for what facilities are on offer at each property. ?

Whether you would use an agent to help you find a rental could depend on whether you have to deal with them because they've got the place you really want to rent on their books. ?I guess they would be able to fill you in on details about relevant areas if they're the friendly helpful sort, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were rental-hunting yourself, if the landlord/lady would also be able to give you some relevant information if you went to see their place. Alternatively you could do your own research using maps and websites relating to the areas you're interested in.

Here's a few 'tools' to help you:

Click on the green links to find out more about the area you?d like to settle in. ?

Neighbourhood demographics . (This link won't work for me in my neck of the woods for some reason, but I gather it does work in other places. ::) )

AAmaps is quite good when it?s working (wasn?t just now when I checked). ?You can click on things like Local Amenities in the Layers? box and get a drop down menu of shopping areas and schools etc. ?Unfortunately the map area isn?t very big but you can drag it around. ?There?s a help section to enable you to get the best out of the site.

Wises Maps also shows various facilities in the area, like schools and shops but is more labour intensive as you have to move the maps by degrees using buttons until you find what you?re looking for.

Zoomin is a good site for finding street names and house numbers if you want to see where a property is located. ?Another dragable map. ?Looks like they?ve revamped this site and the map area is now smaller, unfortunately :(.

[MotherBear]

Here's another link about renting.