I just recently moved to Sydney from London. It can be hard trying to find a decent place to live. I was lucky and found a place within just 1 week of moving to the city Down Under. Here are some of my tips:
1) Budget
Make sure you are setting the right budget. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world, more than London which I was really surprised about. To live in a relatively nice area, for one room you are looking at around $250 – $350. You may also have to pay for bills on top of that. So before you live your home town, make sure you have saved up enough to pay for at least one month’s rent up front as well as your weekly rent.
2) Transport
I took advantage of the London transport network while back in the UK. Despite the age of the tube, it is one of the best public transport network systems in the world. Sydney’s does not come close to it and I was very surprised about the poor transport connections. There is no metro, the trains do not stretch to all parts of the city and therefore many people use buses. Try and find a place where you do not have to rely on buses as there can be a lot of traffic. Instead, look at accommodation near the main train stations. If you want to be near the beach, but work in the city, look at Bondi Junction as you can catch the train into central Sydney. If you live at Bondi beach, it is a good 30 minute walk to Bondi Junction station.
3) Live with others
It can be very expensive to rent your own apartment. Therefore you may need to rethink your budget and/or try living with others. Co-habitation is very common in Sydney, especially for those in their 30s. If you already know people who you want to live with, you just need to find a big enough place and one that you all like. Gumtree is a good place to look for shared accommodation, you will need to meet the other housemates so that they can “check you out” to ensure you all would get on well in the house.
4) Interview
This sounds very formal, but as mentioned in the point above, it is important to meet those people who you may be living with. Just remember to be yourself. If you cannot, then it will be difficult to live with these people under the pretence of being some one that you are not.
5) Meetup
I joined a great meetup while I was in Sydney. It was a bootcamp that I went to every Wednesday without fail. Ben, the organiser was great and he also ran social events as well. This meant it was very easy to meet other like minded people who had just moved to Sydney and I made a lot of friends. There was always someone looking for a room or new housemate in the bootcamp group.
I was lucky and found a nice apartment with normal people, who were all tidy and working professionals and no one watches sports on tv or plays video games – which is great. You can’t always be that lucky and the next house I lived in, one person watched a lot of tv most nights and weekends.
