Guide to searching for room rentals in Australia, tricks and tips
Looking for a rental in a different country can be overwhelming if you don't know the place, if your English is limited, you don't know the customs and if you haven't shared with other people before.
In this post I will tell you how to organize yourself to find your perfect place, what should you keep in mind? And what questions should you ask yourself?
Accommodation in Australia is quite different from Chile and other South American countries, we usually rent by the month, however, in Australia the rent is paid by the week.
When I started my life as an international student, I had to look for a fixed place to live, I would no longer be moving around the country, so my first step was to get to the city where I was going to live.
Since I didn't know the place, I rented five days on Airbnb to be able to locate myself and be able to visit the possible rooms to rent.
So the following questions came to my mind: Where do I want to live? Distance from school, distance to public transportation, Who do I want to live with? How much is my budget? What should the room have?
Where do you wanna live?
Location is a very important part when you live abroad. If you don't have the budget to buy a car, you will have to use public transportation, so you should analyze if the room you are quoting is close to your school or work, if you have bus stops. buses or trains near your house, or if you are willing to sacrifice distance to be close to the beach or a place where you feel comfortable.
How much is your budget?
The budget will give you room to choose, if you have a good budget you will be able to choose which area to live in, if the room will have a private or shared bathroom, the more budget you have the more luxuries you will have, also another factor to consider will be the city where you arrive.
Do you want to live with people who speak the same language as you or with other countries?
Knowing how to choose who to live with will be an important part of strengthening your English , so the recommendation, although it may sound cruel, is not to live with people who speak the same language as you, even if you don't know much English, make an effort and look for a rental with Australians or with people who speak in English, that will help you practice day by day, strengthen your hearing and get out of your comfort zone.
What should the room have?
Knowing what you want will also help you, for example I want a large room, with good windows, that has heating and air conditioning, that is furnished with a double bed, that has a desk with a chair, television, internet and a private bathroom, this is already It will give you an idea which rooms will be on your list and which will not.
Online platforms that can help you search are:
Facebook Marketplace, the same search for room for rent | apartment for rent | houses for rent and filter according to your preferences
Flatmates, this is an application that you can create your profile and search for a room Share Accommodation | Flatmates.com.au
Gumtree, https://www.gumtree.com.au/ (In the Gumtree search engine you must enter room for rent and you can search by areas where you want to live, so you can get an idea of what is on the market)
Homestay, Homestay Accommodation in Australia you pay for your room per day.
Au pair , Au pair in Australia: Requirements - AuPairWorld This option you stay in a family's house and they give you accommodation in exchange for you taking care of their children.
Other options that are used if you are looking for a room for a short or long stay, you can create a post on the Facebook pages of the suburbs you are interested in living in, or you can check these to see if local people are offering rentals.
Summary
Check the location if it is close to a bus or train (you can look on Google maps, the bus stops appear)
The room comes fully furnished or you will have to buy furniture.
If you have a car you should check if they offer parking.
Make a quote, check if the room will include the costs of electricity, water, gas, internet or you have to pay them separately.
Check how much you have to pay as a bond (guarantee deposit) , it can be from one to four weeks of accommodation, it all depends on the owner of the house.
Go check out the place if you like it or not, maybe the photos look very nice, but when you are there you will notice if you like the atmosphere or the person who is renting it, many times you will find surprises.
The room has air conditioning or not (very important in the summer Perth has temperatures above 40 degrees, not having air conditioning will not let you sleep).
What country will your roommates be from? Remember that each country has different customs.
They will allow you to have visitors, check the house rules.
In Western Australia, as in other cities at the moment, there is a lot of demand to find accommodation, so I recommend that if you found your perfect place, try to get it ready as soon as possible, you don't want someone else to pay more and take away your option.
PS: Check carefully and do not pay anything in advance if you have not met the person first.
I hope this information has been useful to you, tell us if it was useful or if you would like to know more information .
