House Hunters – Sydney

Since arriving two weeks ago, our main focus has been finding an apartment because our corporate housing expires on Christmas day (we chose that given all the options and the rental market). Thankfully, we are pleased to be in the final stages of settling on a lease as of Tuesday afternoon! Out of all our combined apartment/house hunting experience, this one was both very different and rather difficult. Below, we list the primary challenges and changes from the familiar process back in the US.  We will follow-up with how we adjusted to the new environment, and what we think ultimately made our search successful.

Some of the differences:

• All apartment units are individually owned by residents or investors, but listed by real estate agents. Even if you find a complex/building you like, you will probably need to contact several agents to see all of the available units.
• Agents set up brief public inspections to show properties; these inspections are often on Saturday and generally last 15-20 minutes. We ended up missing a few inspections altogether due to transportation challenges, spending too much time at a pervious property, or just getting lost.
• Many of the properties did not have things that we would consider “standard”. Most units require a refrigerator and washer to be purchased/rented, several lacked air conditioning and central heat, some did not have bedroom closets, and others only had a single bathroom downstairs (the bedrooms were upstairs).
• Many properties are 100+ years old, and the maintenance you would expect back in the states for a moderately to high-priced rental are not expected here. Carpet is something that might be steam cleaned, but most likely not replaced until the fibers are disintegrating.

Difficulties:

• Housing prices are extremely high (especially compared to Charlotte standards!), and the quote rent on a weekly basis. We expected that rentals between $600 and $800 would be the sweet spot for finding a unit that met our quality, location, and budgetary constraints.
•  Living car-free during our time here is a big goal for us. In Charlotte we managed to be almost car free due to our proximity to work and everyday necessities, and we hope that a combination of public transport and bikes will be sufficient in Sydney. Therefore, we need to live close to a train/bus stop, or close enough to ride/walk into the CBD for work.
• Having a young child changed the way we looked at potential residences. Missing porch railings, steep staircases, single downstairs bathrooms, and dirty carpets were all things we would have overlooked before but now we need to consider. One rental was absolutely perfect for us in terms of character, style, and lifestyle, but completely out of the question for CZ.

In the next post, I’ll introduce our contenders and then we will share our final choice.

Other posts in this series:
The Properties
The Decision