Moving to a completely different country has many challenges, including—especially in Victoria—finding a place to live.
As international students, the best option is to seek a room or an apartment to share the costs. Remember that it’s important to choose your roommates well and ensure that you are able to share the expenses of the place you live in.
It’s also important to ensure that you will share the responsibilities involved with living somewhere, such as keeping it clean.
If you don’t have colleagues or friends to share a house with, search online for rooms to rent. There are always other students in search of roommates or families who provide rooms or basements for rent.
If you already have a friend to share with and are looking for a new apartment, you can look at property management sites for vacancies.
It may seem like an easy task, but finding the right place is an arduous task because few locations in Victoria have places with vacancies and there’s a lot of competition—a room or apartment is never vacant for long. So, it’s not just finding places available online, but finding them quickly.
With that in mind, I recommend looking at all the property management sites and other websites that list vacancies daily. Also, instead of sending e-mail, the best strategy is to get in touch by phone and book a visit to the place in question as soon as possible.
If you’ve found a room or apartment that interests you, I recommend that you go to the viewing prepared with the information you need to put in an application right away. Do not wait until the next day or you might lose your chance at getting the place. The information that’s usually required for an application includes references from your boss and previous landlord, and a credit check.
If your application is accepted, always make sure you get a written contract, as verbal contracts have no value. At the time of signing the contract, do not forget to make everything clear: for example, who deals with maintenance, whether the utilities and garbage-collection costs are included in the rent, and what are the general rules of co-existence. Also, the landlord usually asks for a damage deposit.