Where to look for apartments in Australia

In a previous post I mentioned that I’d be comfortable making a minimum of $1000/wk….. baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It’s lookin’ like that minimum’s turning into a need-be guarantee.

You could get by making the bare minimum while travelling, but it looks like Sydney’s going to be a tad more expensive then originally planned.

I’ll be getting everything together when I arrive in my first week, but I figured now’s close enough (to my departure date) to check out a few listings for apartments. Here’s where I’ve been lookin’:

AirBnB is great site. You’ll find listings for hotels, hostels, vacation rentals and apartments with pictures, the property’s available amenities (Wi-Fi, kitchen, washer/dryer) and more. You also have the option of emailing the property owner directly to work out the exact dates you’d like to make a reservation, or for any other questions.

GumTree is equivalent to Canada/US’s Kijiji or Craigslist. Property owners are free to share as much or as little info as desired. You’ll need to poke around and ask a few questions. You’ll likely find more ads here (compared to AirBnB), which also means more to filter through. GumTree also gives you the option to search under specific headings, such as ‘couch surfing,’ ‘short term,’ ‘shared accommodation’ and more.

Realestate.com is specific to Australia. You’ll be able to filter your search by how many bedrooms, bathrooms, min./max. budget, car spaces etc. You can bank on this being a more established site as well. And for those looking to buy properties, you can search this site too!

A note of caution: Make sure you’ve seen the apartment and signed a legitimate contract with the property owner/manager. NEVER…. EVER agree to an apartment before seeing it or departing from home. There was an awesome looking apartment on AirBnB, and after talking to the contact, she informed me that she’d need a deposit, that she’s working in the UK and that she could mail the key over to me in Canada. Sorry… no dice there woman. Should’ve figured something was fishy… this was a 3-bedroom apartment, each room with an en-suite bath and cheap rent.

Any tips or something you’d like to add? Need not be Australia-specific. 🙂

11 thoughts on “Where to look for apartments in Australia”

  2. justpatmedamnit

    I Live in Australia and when i’m dreaming about my imaginary move that i’ll never be able to afford, i head to domain.com.au. just a standard real estate site like realestate.com but sometimes has stuff that’s a bit hard to find elsewhere, and i like the search criteria better. Good luck!

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  3. Bastian

    In case that is relevant to anyone: That scam exists on EVERY real estate site. Specifically saw it for London. There are stories of people sinking thousands of euros into these rip-offs.

    Good Luck with your search.

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  4. interiorapartment

    Im an Aussie and I live in Sydney 🙂 If your looking to rent in Sydney make sure you go through a reputable real estate company, or if your wanting to share temporarily (ie. Find someone on Gumtree & move in) make sure you sign a temporary lease agreement with the tenent and have it signed by the real estate company- this protects you from housemates kicking you out or trashing the apartment and leaving it for you to pick up the pieces… Good luck 🙂 Cat

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  6. antarabesque

    Very familiar with that scam. It is extremely popular in Vancouver, BC. When we were looking for new digs at least 1 in 4 was “I am currently out of town, my wife(sister, brother, boss) will take your deposit and I’ll mail you the key. No pre looky/looky possible. We reported all of them to the authorities. If there are pictures of the ‘apartment’ check the photo properties, you’d be surprised (or not) to find them elsewhere on the net on interior design sites, blogs, real estate sites, etc.

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