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Who’s negotiated severance? Any tips?
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Don’t have recommendations on areas (American that ended up in Melbourne), but can answer some of your other questions.
Rental listings: realestate.com.au & domain.com.au. Most properties are listed on both, so pick your favorite. flatmates.com.au if you are looking for roommates.
Agents do not typically give virtual tours. It’s ~1% vacancy right now, so they don’t have to when they have tons of people lining up the street to inspect the property during the 15 minutes it’s open.
Length of time for your search depends on a lot of factors: budget (cheaper properties are super competitive), location (areas close to the CBD are more in demand), pets and kids (harder to get a rental if you have them due to higher risk of property damage), when you are looking (now is the end of the spring peak, new listings pause over Christmas/New Years, restart in February but that is the start of the school year so could be competing with international university students, shuts down for Easter, and remains slow during the winter), etc. You will definitely be at a disadvantage compared to local applicants since you don’t have an Australian rental history and are, therefore, missing the landlord recommendation as well as Australian forms of ID and Australian paystubs.
I would get an Airbnb for a couple months to get yourself on the ground to find a rental. The listings are very different than touring in person, and you definitely get a feel of the local market and area if you are inspecting properties yourself. If you do want to organize something in advance, you’ll want to hire a rental advocate — just make sure they don’t have a conflict of interest with preferred agents.
Thank you!!!
American here who moved to Sydney from NYC in March with my Australian partner. We got an Airbnb for the first three weeks, and ended up securing a rental within two weeks. I would definitely plan to get an Airbnb or other lodging for the first couple weeks while you look as it would be difficult to get a get a rental without being here in person. You can also use that time to get your Australian driver's license and bank accounts set up which will be helpful in the process.
I'd also recommend being here in person to view places, because the images online can be very deceiving (same as anywhere). After going to a few inspections you'll have a good sense of where things are priced and what's a good deal. You can make sure you have all the necessary information ready - realestate.com.au has the option to create a profile within their site which we found that many real estate agents used for applications. We also found that since rent is weekly, move-in dates don't seem tied to months the way they typically are in the US - most places you view will be available to move into over the next week or two (our lease started on the 10th of the month for example).
We didn't have Australian rental history either (my partner had been in the US for 8+ years) but we were told the rest of our application was strong enough that it wasn't an issue. We actually offered to pay three months up front and they declined which we found surprising (per this thread maybe that's now illegal and that's why).
In terms of location, we landed in the Inner West (ish-we're in Erskineville which is technically City of Sydney) and absolutely love it. I'd visit the neighborhoods you're looking at once you get here and see what you like. Bondi Junction is great for the reasons you mentioned but I personally find the area itself to be pretty dominated by the shopping center and vibeless (no offense). The Eastern Suburbs in general will be more expensive and less connected by public transit, though there are buses and the tram further south.
Australian who lived in California for 10 years and just moved back to Sydney.
+1 for erkskinville. I don’t live there but it’s high on my list of places I would live. I live just on the other side of the harbor bridge, it’s great for families and kids, a bit of a snooty vibe which I dont love, but it’s ok.
Bondi is a specific taste, depends on your preferences. If you are someone who wants to live in Hawaii then it’s probably your vibe.
People don’t drive as much here. You can, but there isn’t much point. Public transport is A++ so find yourself a spot on the train or metro line and save the hassle.
Domain.com.au is one of the major real estate sites. No one will give you an online tour. The market here is nuts, everyone loves Sydney, it’s not worth their time to go that extra mile for you. Just wait until you are here and you’ll find something fast. Normally rentals want you to move in within a few weeks, so you won’t be waiting more than 2-3.
All of the above. If you have landed, suggest downloading tenant app. Not very widely known yet. They do early bird listing so you get some advantage in the right rental market. Good Luck.