Renting a temporary house

[LC100]

Hello

Has anyone orgainised rental accommodation from the UK so that its possible to go straight there from the airport? Or is the usual thing to do to organise a stay in a hotel for couple of weeks then look when in Auckland. We will be looking for a house to buy as soon as we can.

Lisa

[MotherBear]

Hi Lisa,

? It can be a bit of a gamble to organise rentals or even to buy a house before actually viewing it. ?From what I can gather, many of these places aren't always as good as they look on the property agents' Internet sites. ?You could end up with something you wouldn't keep a dog in and you may find you're locked into an agreement for several months that you can't easily get out of. ?Not the best way to start a new life.

If you're hoping to buy fairly quickly once you're in NZ I think, if it was me, I'd be looking to stay in a motel/hotel/campsite etc. for the first few weeks until I'd looked over my chosen area and viewed some properties to buy. ?This would also apply when looking for rentals as there can be some right horrors out there as well as the nicer places. ?It's not just the property either, you may find you don't like the area a property's in so it's best to check that out thoroughly as well. ?

The only way I'd take on something long distance would be if I had a reliable contact in the area who could take a look at various properties for me and give me the low-down.

[Glenda]

Definitely would wait until you can look at a rental properties personally.

We actually emailed an agent a couple of weeks before the move to ask if they had any rentals available and told there was one that would suit us. We didn't do anything about it then, but it was still available when we arrived. Yuk. Spiders everywhere, grotty kitchen units with cracked tiles and broken doors, smelly carpets.

We stayed a week in a motel until we found our rental property. Maybe we were fortunate to get somewhere as quick as we did, but from what I've read, many immigrants have been able to find somewhere to live within three weeks.

:)

[pianist1]

Yeah, I strongly agree with MB and Glenda about waiting till you get to NZ to find your rental. We had to stay in a motel for a week, but it gave us enough time to check out the rentals before deciding on the right one. It is hard to depend on someone's else's (especially a rental agent's) choice....it may not be near a bus stop or grocery store or located in a nad part of town..... We are trying to buy a home ASAP, but it has taken almost 3 months of going to open homes every weekend before we found something we liked that was in our budget. Even if the sale of this house goes through smoothly, we still won't get to move in until the end of January....5 months from the time we landed here. So you see, despite best intentions, you could end up living in the rental for a while - better find something that you can put up with! We are sharing one car, so I have to take the bus to work and walk to the grocery store if I run out of bread etc.
We also forsaw (?) that we may need some of our personal stuff that wasn't in the suitcases, so we mailed a few boxes ahead of ourselves (like bedsheets and towels, pillows) that we have used in out rental. You may also want to think of clothing that will take you through more than one season....all we have are winter clothes and it is summer now!
Best of luck.
Julie

[LC100]

Thanks everyone - really helpful. Has anyone got any recommendations of reasonable motels in central Auckland?

Lisa

[MotherBear]

?Has anyone got any recommendations of reasonable motels in central Auckland?

Sorry, Lisa. ?Was hoping someone would come up with some personal experiences of motels in the Auckland area. The following is what I came up with, so I don't know if you can fnd something in the area you need as I'm not familiar with Auckland and its environs.

Motels around NZ.

Howick Motor Lodge .

Jason?s .

AA Travel

Grange Lodge Motel has had good reviews.

Wotif

Failing these, some of the travel guides like Lonely Planet etc. might give names and opinions on Auckland motels.

Let's hope bumping this back up will jog a few memories. Some of the motels can be a bit damp and dreary, which is why it would be good to have some personal feedback.?:D

[Glenda]

Hmmm ... we have stayed in only one motel in Auckland, near the airport. It was the Airport Gold Star Motel.

The good thing about the motel was the size of the rooms - we managed to get a spacious unit suitable for 7 people at a reasonable price - $170 per night, in June this year. The motel is a little dated, but not damp. The minuses for us was the carparking which consisted of too narrow spaces too close to the units for easy turning (it took a lot of shuffling and swearing to park) and noise of people turning up in the night (you get that with airport motels).

Will not be staying at another Auckland motel until January, on the North Shore.

:)

(By the way Mother Bear, are my comments considered advertising? Or maybe - is it risky to name and comment on places?) :o

[MotherBear]

(By the way Mother Bear, are my comments considered advertising? ?Or maybe - is it risky to name and comment on places?) ?:o

I think most of us have 'advertised' goods, services etc. in one way on another on here, but it's not the same as advertising your house for sale or your own company's website. ?It's more like putting people in touch with these things. You would have nothing to gain by giving good solid advice about such things as motels, so I doubt very much that Taffy's (or anyone else's) mighty hand will come down on you. ? ;D

[duane1x]

I have two followup questions after reading this thead:

What is the usual rental agreement - by the month? Or is it for a specific length of time like 6 months? Of course shorter would be better if it is transitional housing, or in the event the location doesn't work out, but here most landlords won't rent by the month.

How did you mail boxes ahead - where did you mail them to?

[MotherBear]

I think you can rent places on a monthly basis but landlords often ask for 3 weeks' notice. ?Have a look through here , maybe there's some useful info regarding renting.

Here's a site to check out potential landlords . ? :D

This post restante site from NZ Post might have been OK but they appear to only accept parcels up to 2 kg. ?Will be OK to use for your mail until you get a proper address though. ?These folks do a similar thing for backpackers but I don't know what size parcels they'd take.

Maggiemoo was asking this question here but we didn't seem to get a firm suggestion. ?Perhaps she'll have an answer as to how she managed when she looks in next. ??