#Renting Saga Concluded 🎉

From the end of May to the beginning of July, we finally received 2 offers. We all unanimously felt that the overall conditions of the first one were satisfactory and immediately agreed without waiting for other application outcomes, and cancelled all subsequent appointments. Three or four days after moving in, we received the second offer (one of the dream houses), and while we were happy that our efforts paid off, there was a slight sense of regret. However, for our first time renting here, the result was already very good.

A month after moving in, what exceeded our expectations was being able to see the sunset every day.

Finally, here's a brief summary of our renting experience:

• Adjust expectations. Initially, we were optimistic, only looking and applying for the places we were most satisfied with, submitting only 2 applications in two weeks. Unfortunately, the following weeks brought rejection + rejection... Not being able to secure a rental was really panic-inducing and disheartening. Being newcomers with no local rental history, unstable work and life status, we were less competitive compared to locals, giving landlords no reason to choose us first. We then thought about lowering our expectations and extended the house-hunting period to 1-2 months. Later, we learned that during this period, even locals struggled to find rentals, some even starting their search 3 months in advance.

• Change the house-hunting strategy from being picky to casting a wider net, expanding the search area to 5+. We decided to view properties that met our basic requirements, even those slightly over budget, basically, to see as many as possible. This proved to be very meaningful. On one hand, visiting the properties in person revealed that some conditions were better than what was presented online; on the other hand, properties priced slightly above market value might adjust their prices based on market feedback after being listed for a while. Prospective tenants might perceive the price to be too high and adopt a wait-and-see approach, but the catch is, you can only apply after viewing, so looking before a price drop could mean snagging a great deal. Additionally, without the purpose of viewing, some areas might never be visited. Once visited, first-hand experience allows for horizontal comparison between areas and a chance to become acquainted with more aspects of Melbourne.

• Approach house hunting as a project and manage it with tools. Tools have been mentioned in a previous post, so I won’t elaborate on them, just some additional notes on scheduling. The open house viewings arranged by agents are generally on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, occasionally Fridays, with other times occupied by their other engagements. We followed this schedule rhythm, which prevented excessive anxiety. Viewing days were exclusively for viewings and submitting applications, with other times used for filtering, booking, planning routes, and scheduling. Also, without a car, crossing districts for viewings was inconvenient, so we scheduled one district per day, luckily managing 3-5 viewings/day. Viewings only lasted 15 minutes, feeling somewhat insufficient just for viewing properties, so we also snuck in visits to interesting cafés, parks, and shops into our itinerary, treating it as a suburb day trip with a focus on house hunting.

• English preparation. Personally, I wasn’t very confident with telephone English conversations, my biggest worry being the agent calling to inform me my application was successful but misunderstanding or accidentally refusing due to not hearing clearly. Unable to find complete guides online, my approach was to map out all stages of the renting process and then list the relevant rental vocabulary and spoken English needed for each stage in a document, making it easier to adapt to corresponding scenarios.

This concludes our four-part series on renting!

Thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend!!