How to rent an apartment in Sydney

Sydney's rental market is much different than anything I've experienced in the US. The short story is that Carrie and I decided to bypass this crazy system for the time being, and we've rented some rooms in a share house for a few months. This will give us a place to stay when Carrie arrives in a few weeks, after which we can look for a more permanent place together. I'll post later this week with pictures of the house and a description of the area where we've decided to live, at least for the short term.

I pieced together how the Sydney rental market works from talking with many recent immigrants from the US and Europe. So if you found this page because you're moving to Sydney, this will give you a short introduction to finding your own place. If you're just reading this for fun from the US, maybe it will be interesting to hear about a system that is so different.


How to rent an apartment in Sydney

(1) Take a deep breath, and prepare yourself for battle. This is a competition. There is incredible demand for rentals in the Sydney area, and this has a large effect on the market.

(2) Compile a list of potential flats in your price range- useful websites are realestate.com.au, domain.com.au, and gumtree.com.au. Prices are listed per week. Take another deep breath, and let the sticker-shock pass. Carrie and I were looking in Richmond, which is very far from downtown Sydney, and crummy-looking 2 bedroom apartments were generally $400pw. That's quite a bit of money for not much apartment, but that same average 2 bedroom could be $1200pw in a popular Syndey neighborhood.

(3) Call the realtors and find out when the open house is scheduled. The flat will only be open for 15 minutes on a single weekday afternoon, and the realtor will not be willing to show you the place at any other time. You must go to this open house, or you just won't get the place. I heard a story from another recent US immigrant- he arrived 5 minutes late to an open house, but the realtor wouldn't let him see the apartment. She said "I already have 25 applications- I don't need 26."

(4) Prepare a rental application tailored to the apartment before the open house. The rental applications are quite involved and you won't have time to do it all after the open house, as you need to submit the application within just a few hours. You will need letters of recommendation from previous landlords, a copy of your employment contract, copies of a few pay stubs, evidence of your visa status, and possibly a bank account statement showing your balance. Privacy, apparently, is not valued.

(5) Go to the open house, and don't be surprised when 30 other couples or families also show up. You've only got a few minutes to decide if you want the place, so go nuts. Try all the light switches, check the water pressure, and pound on the walls in search of insulation (generally, there is none). It's very strange to look at an apartment like this while a bunch of strangers are mentally arranging furniture in the living room, but get used to it.

(6) Think about sweetening the deal, based on the competition and how much you want the place.
 Apparently it's common to offer 10% more than the asking rent, and to offer a substantial amount in advance (e.g., six months up front). This will help your application float to the top of the stack. Put this offer into the cover letter of your application, and turn in your application within a few hours of the open house. I talked to a woman who had filed 27 applications and had never been selected by the relator, possibly because she is poor, disabled, and on government assistance, and thus couldn't compete against other applicants that offered more money. The system is tough and arguably discriminatory, but there's not much you can do about it.

(7) Sit by the phone. The realtor will probably offer the place to three different applicants, and the first applicant to pay a deposit (normally 2 weeks rent) gets the place. You must act fast.



This system, from my perspective, is absolutely mad. But don't lose hope, most everyone eventually finds a place. At the very least, understanding this system may make you feel better about your experiences in other, more reasonable regions of the world.

Carrie and I decided to sublet a room in a house for the time being, mostly so that we can navigate the Sydney rental system together. In the next post, I'll upload some pictures of the house and the area where we've decided to live for the next few months.