Renting an apartment is one of the biggest problems when studying abroad, and it is also the top priority you must arrange.
This article is based on my real experience, sharing the environment of renting an apartment in Adelaide, tips on renting an apartment, and advice on preventing pitfalls. I am a student of the University of Adelaide, and the content is based on the University of Adelaide North Terrace Campus. The same applies to the University of South Australia City and Flinders City Campus.
This article will start with the following six aspects:
Common House Types in Australia
Commonly Used Websites/Apps
View Experience (Whole/Shared room)
Rental Experience (Whole/Shared Room)
Open Grid Gas
Pitfall Prevention Reminder
Any experience article you can find about renting in Adelaide is not as detailed and accurate as this one. Rental tips you find from all sorts of places are either sparse after reading them, or they are just soft pushes to push flats. Not all study abroad parties are rich enough to afford student flats. Currently, the price of student flats in Adelaide is increasing yearly. And the lowest price is not the price of a single room. It is the price of two people living in one room, either a bunk bed or a room in the middle of a baffle.
There is no privacy and sound insulation, and the lights are still connected to the central control. However, you can rent a shared room in the city for this price. And while you can’t get a master bedroom for this price, you can get a second bedroom for the same price (without a bill). Because the rent in Ade also increases yearly, the price is often raised if you catch the season of change. This article gives those who do not want to live in student flats and do not know how to find housing partners to provide reference advice to help you get ready to screen the house to rent.
Common Room Types in Australia
The house is detached. The standard material is brick, followed by wood. Generally, it is a courtyard + a house + a family. The house can be one-storey, two-storey, or even three-storey (rare).
House
The house is characterised by spaciousness. The rooms and the yard are pretty large, especially in the suburbs, where the area of 400 sq. ft. is small. The further away the house, the cheaper the whole rental price, whether expensive or not, depending on the location and decoration. The bad thing is that you must do regular pest control, garden weeding, etc. This depends on what the agent or landlord says. Generally, tenants must water, prune, de-worm, etc., done by the landlord/agent, depending on the contract you signed.
If you go to sublet, you will find that some of them are renting out a separate room with a kitchen and bathroom, which may be a Granny Flat, that is, a small house built separately at the back of the house to take care of the elderly, to protect the privacy and facilitate care. If you want to rent this kind, you’d better take a closer look at the building structure and ask about the material.
Townhouse
The townhouse is usually a row of several houses connected. The external style of the house is relatively uniform, and the internal layout is mostly the same. Some may have more bathrooms than the next door when they are being built. Generally, the neighbouring houses are connected and share a wall; they all have separate gardens. They are usually 2-3 storey houses with modern decoration. However, most townhouses are made of wood or brick. Some have detached garages, and some may have car parking spaces, depending on the location and design of the house.
Units
They are mostly brick. The price is cheaper than a flat. There is no independent garden, only a tiny balcony, a large shared yard, no independent garage, and only a centralised parking space. There are also units with five floors. Most Units don’t have lifts. If you see a Unit with more than three floors, I wouldn’t recommend you rent it. First, old units usually don’t come with a lift; I once saw a 5-storey circular uni in Goodwood; there is no lift but only stairs. And it’s OK if it’s furnished or unfurnished, it’s a matter of you moving the furniture up. The point is that the door distance in Australia is narrow, and some furniture is not good to go in. Even if you can go in, the moving company will charge you to go up the stairs.
Apartment
The apartment is the most common and popular apartment type for international students. The security factor is higher than in other apartments because there is a separate door to swipe the card. Some flats even need to swipe the card for several doors before you can go in. New flats in Ade are built one after another, and at least four flats will be completed and put into use in CITY alone by the end of 2019, one of which is just across the street from the U of A. Prices vary by renovation and location, and rents are not bad either.
Most new flats are centrally air-conditioned, a lifesaver for Ade in summer. Because most of the older flats only have 1-2 wall-mounted air conditioners in the living room or one in the master bedroom, but the carpeted rooms are sweltering in the summer. Flats generally do a better job of getting rid of pests, so no other critters visit. And you basically can’t run into anything as scary as a snake in the toilet. Car parking in flats is generally communal underground parking, and you need to swipe a card to get through the gate. There is no separate garden. Some houses only have a small balcony. Some do not even have a balcony.
Semi-house
A semi-house is two separate houses connected by a wall. It is a one-storey house with a shared garden and a garage. It resembles a townhouse, but a semi-house only has one floor.
Australian houses are mainly decorated with wooden floors and carpeted rooms, with a small portion of tiles. The advantage of wooden floors is that they don’t absorb heat in summer, dissipate heat quickly, and are easy to clean. Carpets are comfortable to step on but slow to absorb heat and dissipate heat in summer, and if the room is not air-conditioned, it is simply hell. In addition, repair and cleaning cost a lot of money if the carpet gets marks or is damaged. And if there is a severe need to replace the carpet, the cost is very high. Generally speaking, if you can not rent a carpeted room, don’t rent a carpeted room, or if you can’t, the bedroom in a carpeted room is fine. Air conditioning is essential. Otherwise, you’ll cry in Adelaide’s 40+ degree summers.
Ade’s room type in the city is mainly 2-3 rooms. Most have at least one bathroom (bathroom + toilet), and some houses will have 0.5 baths (toilet, no bathroom). If it’s a 1-bedroom, it’s more expensive, depending on the location. If it’s in a suburb, there are 2-6 bedrooms. Most 3-4 bedrooms are more common; some may only have a bathroom, and some may have more. You have to look at the house. If you share a room, you can usually rent a second bedroom or master room. The master is the main bedroom. Most master rooms are more significant than second bedrooms and have a good layout. Some will have a separate bathroom, which is more popular with couples or partners who dislike sharing with other people. Still, of course, the price will be higher than the second bedroom.
Commonly Used Website / APPS
Website Address
Realestate.com.au
Domain.com.au
https://en.uhomes.com/
Features of the Uhomes service include fast and accurate property search, transparent and open pricing, one-stop service, and cooperation with globally renowned flat providers to ensure the security of the rental. The platform also provides virtual reality viewing, detailed floor plans and one-on-one support from professional consultants to help international students find their ideal accommodation overseas.
With the vision of “letting every international student have a good home in a foreign country”, Uhomes is committed to creating a service platform exclusively for Chinese students and a credit system that every international student and parent can trust. Through cooperation with overseas property developers, brokerage teams, individuals and international student flats, Hometown Haoju has established a smooth two-way channel to provide a safe and convenient one-stop platform for post-study services for international students.
View Experience (Whole / Shared Room)
The basic situation in Australia is to look at the property before applying for a rental. After all, it is easy to have problems when renting without looking. And the agent does not want to waste time and energy looking for things. The experience of viewing a property includes two cases: a whole room and a shared room.
Tip:
Be sure to avoid renting a room from January to March!
January to March is the peak of Australia’s housing season. Not only do students go to rent a room, but there are many local workers. They have more water and credibility than students. If you rent an apartment, especially a whole flat, don’t consider seamlessly reducing your losses. Especially during the season, the better you think, the more you lose.
My advice is to start looking for an apartment 1-2 months in advance, and it’s best to move in a week before your current apartment expires. You need to do the exit cleaning, moving, refund bond, sign the contract, and get the key. Agents in Australia are not quick to approve your application and don’t work on weekends. Even if the agent calls you and tells you your application has been approved, you can’t move in immediately. So, don’t think about being able to move in seamlessly. Losing 1-2 weeks of rent is normal, but if you need to move in a few days later, it’s a toss-up where to put all your stuff.
Renting the Whole Place
Firstly, you need to make sure that you know what kind of house you want to rent and what amenities you need to focus on.
After all, the picture may be a model room, or even the old picture is not the actual situation. The image does not show some minor defects, so you must confirm in person. After making an appointment and arriving at the time specified by the agent, sign in and go in to see the property. If you don’t have an appointment and want to see the property on short notice, that’s fine, too.
Viewing Times
Generally, the inspection is only about 15 minutes, so please don’t be late. If many people look at houses, there will be extra time. If you want to see more than one house in a day, please ensure that the opening time of the two houses is more than 1 hour apart. Otherwise, your delay on the way will make you miss the house you want to see. Take the example of a new 2-bedroom flat I recently rented. I was particular about the area’s location (district, street, etc.) and traffic. And whether the house had central air conditioning, furnishings, etc., when I was screening.
If the map is not good enough to see the air conditioning, facilities, and house floor plan, this will be the critical direction of attention for me when looking at the house.
The Picture of the Apartment May not be Accurate
In addition to the direction, ventilation, personal feeling, etc., it is the basis of my judgement when seeing the house. Some houses are new, and a distinct smell hasn’t dissipated yet when you go in. Some houses do not have good lighting, and the pictures can be faked, but entering the living room is very dark in the daytime. You need to turn on the lights, and even the atmosphere is very depressing; this kind of house will not be happy.
Some houses do not have good lighting, and the pictures can be faked, but entering the living room is very dark in the daytime. You need to turn on the lights. Even the atmosphere is depressing. This kind of house will not be happy.
Check the Room Facilities
The hood is also a place to check. Some hoods don’t have excellent pumping power because they are not cleaned for a long time.
After the inspection, it’s best to chat with the agent, ask about the house and your situation, and leave a good impression.
I looked at a flat on Grenfell St. in mid-January, and 30+ pairs of applicants were looking at it. It opened up again the following week, and it was competitive.
But because the second room of the so-called two-bedroom, a curtain separated two-bath apartment, many LOCALS saw it and just walked away and didn’t apply.
Finding Someone to See the House On-site
In addition, some partners may not be able to see the house on the spot in China; my advice is to find someone to help you. It is best to find someone with experience with the whole rent or who has experience in the house. Whether paid or unpaid, the most important thing is to need his feedback on the viewing, which can give you the advantages and disadvantages of the house and the number of people in the same batch to see the house for your reference. But don’t think about letting the other person give you video photos or live broadcasts. Most agents cannot take pictures/videos during the viewing period. For live video, you need to ask the agent whether to agree.
Share Room
A shared room is also known as joint rent/sub-rent; just rent a room in the common area and share it. See the room if it is easier than the whole rent.
The process is similar to that of the whole room, but the second landlord of the shared room is usually Chinese. The information is detailed, but you have to look at it yourself. You need to focus on the house’s expiry date; it is best to see the original contract. If you can see other people, that is the best, the first impression you can feel whether it is good to get along with, whether it is quiet and so on.
The house’s tidiness is also the scope of your examination; the landlord and agent will inspect the home. If the daily hygiene is not done correctly, you will be warned during the inspection, and if it is severe, you will be asked to move out.
Most importantly, you must ask your housemates about their work and rest time if you can’t stand those who are still playing loud games in the middle of the night or those who come back to the bathroom in the middle of the night. They make all sorts of noise, even those who bring their friends home to play for a long time or even spend the night. I suggest you find out as soon as possible and eliminate them. I would advise you to be careful when sharing a room with a couple or a family with kids, especially with a couple, as there are a lot of shared rooms that CPs are not willing to rent. I’m not discriminating against couples. You can’t imagine how hard it is for other housemates when Couple fights and tosses them around.
Rental Experience (Whole/Shared Room)
After viewing a property, you must apply to rent it. There is a big difference between a whole room and a shared room.
Renting a Whole Room
If you want to apply for the property after the viewing, get an application form from the agent after the viewing and ask him how to submit the documents. Some agents use 1form or other websites to apply online, which requires you to register on the website and complete your personal information. If the agent says to send the documents to a specific email address, you need to combine all your documents + application form into a PDF and send it to the agent with the filename after sending it. If it’s a non-weekend and it’s not time to go off work at 5 o’clock, we suggest calling the agent and giving him your name + which property you’ve viewed today and telling him you’ve already sent in your application.
Note: If you plan to apply for a property with another friend, it’s a good idea to fill in the information for both of you. Because the application form for non-one-bedroom properties will ask if you are living with someone else and ask you to write your information, my advice is that it is best to write. Still, the principal applicant, you in the first order, will be acceptable.
Whether you submit the documents on the website or send them to the email address individually, it is essential to have your personal bank statement (for Australia), scanned passport, scanned student card (to prove that you are a student), previous tenancy agreement, payment slips and other documents to prove that you are living in Australia.
It’s best to have a local bank statement with a large balance. This is to prove that you have enough money to pay your rent. Your domestic credit card statement is also acceptable if you are new to Australia and don’t have enough bank statements. If you can’t, your parents’ bank statements will do. This is to prove that your living expenses come from your parents and your parents have enough financial ability to pay for your living needs.
The decision to rent the whole house is in the hands of the landlord. Usually, the landlord will not come forward; it is all by the agent. You won’t see the landlord’s information on the contract until you sign it, and contacting the landlord for bargaining is impossible. Agents are usually rapid, as the landlord will tell the agent what tenant they are looking for.
When the agent receives the application, they will prioritise the tenants and give them to the landlord. If they don’t have any, they will either continue to look at the property, or the agent will offer the landlord a good deal on one of the remaining tenants, but the final decision is still the landlord’s. The agent will not disclose any of this information to the landlord. The agent will not disclose this information to the applicant; this is also my experience of so many viewings + asking a lot of people’s summaries, just for reference.
When filling out the application form, reference information will be a reference for a person. Here, the reference can be understood as a guaranteed recommendation, meaning that this person knows your living habits and better understands you. However, please do not fill in your friends. If you have a part-time job, you can ask your foreman if he/she can be your reference. If not, say hello to your landlord or second landlord and fill in their information. The agent will use an email or phone call to contact them and ask fundamental questions about cleanliness and character. And whether or not you pay your bills on time to help them determine whether or not you’re reliable. If they aren’t, then they don’t fill it out.
Once you have submitted your rental application, you must be patient. In the meantime, you can continue looking at properties and applying for others. Usually, the agent will contact you by phone to let you know if you are still interested in the property, and they will only call you from Australia. They won’t make any long-distance calls.
You can answer YES if you have not signed any other contract during this period. If you have, say SORRY. But while waiting for a reply from this property, you’ve got another property through. It’s best to email about it or go to the application website and withdraw your application as a courtesy. It’s okay if you don’t. If you want to rent this property, you can write on your application that you are willing to pay 3-6 months rent in advance to show that you have the financial means + sincerity, but it’s up to the landlord to pass.
When you sign the contract, the agent or the landlord will make an appointment to meet with you, or some of them will sign the agreement online. My current agent uses DocuSign to sign the contract with me online, not face-to-face. Some agents will give you the keys right after signing the contract, while others will arrange another time to get the keys.
If you want to move, you’d better ask ahead of time so that you won’t be able to get an appointment with a moving company. At the same time, the agent/landlord will ask you to transfer the rent + bond. Generally, you must pay four weeks of rent as a bond for a house or room within 250 knots/week and six weeks for a house or room over 250 knots. The bond is paid to the government, and the landlord or agent has no right to take this money. The agent will pay the rent to the government on the landlord’s or agent’s behalf and give you the contract when it comes. If not, remember to ask for it. Besides the bond, most agents or landlords will ask for one month’s rent upfront and transfer the money.
Here is a crucial reminder: whether you rent a whole flat or sublet, no matter who your landlord is, don’t take the cash payment method. Unless both parties have a receipt voucher after each payment, you can’t even tell if you’ve been hacked.
After signing the contract, there will be an Inspection list that you need to sign again to confirm. It’s a checklist. This is a checklist, that is to say, you move in when the house has what the situation, for example, there are five nails on the wall, the sofa has scratches, the balcony, a tile missing a corner and so on are written in the agent to check the situation of the property in the content. You check it over when you move in, write up any problems, and preferably take photos to keep. This is to prevent when you check out of the house to be screwed, forcibly deducted bond. You say you moved in when you had already done so but have no evidence, so you must take the blame.
During the stay, house cleaning and maintenance are a must, generally cleaned once a week; the agent or landlord will check the room from time to time. If a hygiene problem does not meet the standard, they will warn you and seriously let you move out. In that case, whether you can get your bond money back or not, your black history will seriously affect your rental application when you reapply for the house. Suppose there are problems with the flat during this period, such as water leakage, broken glass, broken light bulb, etc. In that case, it is best to contact the agent/landlord and let him deal with it, and you should not deal with these situations arbitrarily so as not to take the blame yourself.
Shared Room
Usually, there are two types of subletting: signing a contract directly with the landlord and signing a contract with a second landlord. Generally speaking, the agreement with a second landlord is not very protected. No matter who you sign with, please download a copy of the South Australian government tenant’s contract and sign another copy in English and Chinese, just in case. If you are signing with a landlord, you should also sign the official SA government document, which can be found on the above-mentioned page. If you are signing with a second landlord, read the rental contract between the second landlord and the landlord/agent before signing, focusing on the tenancy term, the precautions to be taken in the house, etc.
In most cases, the bond payment to the second landlord is not given to the government and is transferred directly to the second landlord. So be sure to pay attention to this. The subletting contract usually doesn’t give you the inspection list. You’d better check your room carefully after you move in, take photos and videos, and ensure you keep them. You may not care about the hygiene of the common areas, but you must control yourself to have confidence.
Open Grid Gas
Generally, most rented houses need to be opened with electricity, a grid, and gas by yourself. You don’t need to set up an account for water. You will receive a bill every quarter and pay by direct transfer. Electricity, grid, and gas need to open their own, which can be applied online to create an account to choose the opening date.
Australia’s energy companies (electricity, gas) have several. Ade also has several that are not the same, and charges are also different. How you choose depends on you. If you don’t know and don’t want to research, google. This moving agent can help you find new open energy like the net. He has cooperative energy companies and direct choices on the line. If you don’t speak good English and are afraid of missing information, tell him you need a Mandarin-speaking translator. And he’ll arrange something for you.
If you rent an apartment through an agent, they also have cooperative companies that can help you register for energy. Since NBN is being promoted in Australia now, you can find out if the address you wish to rent is covered by NBN before renting the house. You must choose your operator and sign up for an appointment if it is covered. They will arrange a commissioner and send you a router. And after the home commissioning, you can use the internet.
Pitfall Prevention Reminder
Traffic
Firstly, Google Maps can be used to check how far the location is from the school and how many transport routes are available. It is recommended to check the period; Google Maps can choose different travelling times. Select a period during the day and night on weekdays, a period after 10 o’clock in the daytime, and 7 p.m. on weekends. If the same bus stop is less than two and the interval is more than 15 minutes, the place be changed. Another way to judge and search around your neighbourhood is whether there is a supermarket, the best walking 5 minutes or so to the best.
My roommate lived outside the city. The house was big, not expensive, not surrounded by supermarkets, and the nearest was a kilometre away. Shopping for food thief trouble every week to buy groceries was very high, but also tossed. In Adelaide, there are buses, trains, trams, and Siobhan. It is a priority if the house you are looking at has the latter three nearby and not far away. If you are looking for a home near the latter three means of transport and not too far away, you should prioritise it. However, houses near the train and tram are noisy.
House Hunting
Some of them are not the properties you see, and some of them are even scammers. My friend almost got scammed before, the house didn’t match at all, luckily she didn’t pay and came early or she would have flown. If you can’t get someone to look at the house for you, don’t just trust the pictures. Turn on a video to see the house if you can. If you can get to Ade in advance, stay in a hotel or Airbnb for a few days and see the room yourself.
Pay Bond
You need to pay a deposit to rent a room. A minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 6 weeks is the most common; the length of time depends on your rent. I forgot the specifics. To pay the bond, you must have a receipt signed by both parties and a record of the transfer. The best receipt should have the other party’s passport number, mobile phone number, student ID, other identity information, and how much money was received. And the English version on the line. It’s hard to say whether to give RMB or Australian dollars; it depends on your negotiation. Anyway, it is risky to pay bonds across the border.
Most of the short-term rental houses are mainly sublet, and most of the subletters are second landlords. If you enter the negotiation stage, you must see the other side and the landlord/agent sign the contract. The rental price can not be seen. You must see the rental period to prevent problems such as time difference. Discuss the rent return cleaning fee if the original contract was transferred directly into your name.
Rental Period
Most house exit cleaning is something tenants need to do themselves. There is a mix of doing it yourself and getting a cleaning company, and this money must be accounted for. After all, the house was already being used when you moved in. In addition, during your stay, because you or the other party. Both sides negotiated and decided to suspend the subletting early; it is best to sign a suspension agreement in case there is a villain to take your previous contract to blackmail you.
Payment of Fees
All the fees, including bills and daily share, go by bank transfer, as small as you like. If you go to cash, please sign a receipt stating the date and amount for each payment. And the names of both parties. If a third party witnesses the payment, write it down and keep it in duplicate because there have been many cases of people reneging on their debts after paying cash. If the other party is after the landlord/agent agreed to transfer the house to your name, be sure to ask whether you need to re-open the electricity, gas, and network accounts (depending on the house). It is best to pay attention to those who usually use high-power appliances, such as heaters and small air conditioners.
Pets, Smoking, Furniture and Other Details
Ask the person if they have pets, smoke, etc. Especially pets. Most dogs and cats shed hair, and I’ve seen their clothes in the same washing machine with hair on them. If you don’t mind pets, ask about laundry issues and whether you mind animal hair yourself. As for smoking, forget it. The other thing is to check your room and common areas when you arrive at the place. If you find any suspected cracks and damages, take photos and records to save them so that when you return the rent, you can prove that it has nothing to do with you. Otherwise, you can’t say anything about it. This applies when you are renting your room.
FAQ
Adelaide offers a unique blend of academic excellence and lifestyle quality with its world-class education institutions, a vibrant cultural scene, and a more affordable cost of living compared to other major Australian cities. It’s where your academic goals and personal development can flourish together.
Start your search by tapping into university resources like accommodation services or student support groups. Online forums and social media groups dedicated to Adelaide living can also provide insights and direct listings from landlords or outgoing tenants.
Absolutely! Adelaide boasts an efficient public transport system that covers the city and suburbs extensively, including buses, trams, and trains. Many students find commuting to the university and exploring the city convenient.
Like anywhere, challenges can include understanding lease agreements, securing a rental within budget, and sometimes, competition for desirable properties. Engage with tenancy support services and seek advice from fellow students who’ve navigated these waters.
Adelaide is known for its friendly locals, art festivals, and incredible food and wine scene. It’s a city that prides itself on being inclusive and welcoming to students from all walks of life.
