[andreamatt]

Hello

Can anyone please recommend some good rental agencies in central / west Wellington? We will be in NZ from early July and will start the leg-work then. Being mid-winter will this be a more difficult time to find rentals, or doesn't the time of year matter much?

Are there any rental agencies to avoid?

Your comments please...

Many thanks, Andrea

[sarahw]

A lot of the estate agents do rentals - we rented through the 'Professionals' but which staff member you deal with will have a big bearing on your experience.

If we did the move again I'd rent privately. I would recommend you pick up a copy of the Dominion Post on a Wednesday/Saturday when you arrive (early in the morning mind as all the good rentals get taken early on) and pick out the ones you like & give them a call & go & see them. You then don't end up paying through the nose & most likely won't have to pay such a big bond.

[jess]

We also had our best luck through the Wed. paper. Becasue we had a dog, it turned out to be the best bet for us.

There's also
Guardian First National (http://www.guardianfirstnational.co.nz/index.cfm?pagecall=search&propertyaction=Rental&MenuItemID=7792)
(I've heard they will set up a rental before you even arrive, if you're that brave. - I wasn't.)
The Professionals (http://www.the-professionals.co.nz/)
(I didn't have a good expeirnce with them, but as Sarah said, it's down to the agent you use.)
There was one we really liked with an office just down the street from Embassy Theatre. They let us look at the book which had photos of several houses that had not been advertised yet. Unfortunately I cannot remember their name to save my life and don't see it online. (anyone know who I'm talking about? It's bugging me.)A big list of rental agencies in the Welly region is online here (http://yellow.pages.co.nz/Pages/Search/Results/0,2878,a6001_c1379_l3920_m0,00.html?businessName=&category=Real+Estate+Agents+Licensed&location=Wellington+Region&keyword=&pageNum=1&street=). You can narrow by area.

[sizzlingbadger]

We used First National Guardian, our agent was Jo De Jongh. She was fantastic and helped us out when we wanted to get out of our rental early as we had bought a house. She also let us take a property unseen from the UK, not something I'd recommend doing, unless you were really brave. We had seen pics of the inside and out and new it was in a good area, Churton Park.

www.guardianfirstnational.co.nz/

HTH

[Angelonthemove]

http://www.justpropertymanagement.co.nz/

are great and have very clean well looked after speak with Carol

[Trigirl]

we used the dom post and trademe. they both carry listing from private landlords and agents. agents will push you to do at least a 6 month rental - in this market more likely a 12 month. private landlords are more likely to use a periodic tenancy agreement where you can give 3 weeks notice at any time.

[andreamatt]

Thanks everyone

Have been browsing on Trademe and will look in the Dom. Post when we get there. I'd hate to be tied to a 6 month or, worse, 12 month contract esp. if we fell in love with a house and then wanted to buy... We have no pets but two active children - think that might rule out any rentals without at least a small yard (although I appreciate that there are plenty of green spaces in which to let off steam).

Andrea

[eternalkiwi]

Quinovic is a Property Management franchise that is based in Wellington, some franchises are better than other but they are one of the biggest in the business.

Active Property Management is one that I personally have found to be good.
Though currently I am renting privately, ironically the landlord is a Real Estate agent.

Mid winter is a harder time to rent, and many landlords will try to avoid the risk of having a lease expire at this time of year, though some properties are still available.

If you sign up for a 6 or 12 month agreement you can still exit early, the main issue is that you can only move out once someone else is ready to move in.
So if you can find someone to move in quickly, you may be able to move out within the same period of time as a periodic (monthly) tenancy.

Some advantage of a fixed term contracts are that you usually cannot be forced out and your rent will not alter.

[jess]

Quinovic is a Property Management franchise that is based in Wellington...

That's the one I was trying to remember the name of (mentioned in my ealier post)!! :nice1 We had a good experience with their office in the CBD near the Embassy Theatre.

[andreamatt]

Thanks Jess and eternalkiwi

It's all a bit daunting really but will check your recommendations,

Andrea

[highlander]

We used Quinovic Lambton in Victoria St - they were pretty good overall. We were on a 6 month fixed term contract but found a place to buy half-way thru. If you want to break the contract you are liable for various costs (see agreement below).

Re: Breaking Fixed Term Tenancy: <address> (Tenancy Code: <code>)

We advise that we wish to break the fixed term tenancy at the above property. We authorise Quinovic to market the property for a replacement tenant, and authorise Quinovic to sign up a replacement tenant.

We accept responsibility for paying the rent until a replacement tenant begins paying rent or our fixed term contract ends on <date> (whichever is sooner), and also for the advertising charges, the cost of the credit check for the prospective tenant, and the cost of photographing the chattel photos for the property.

We also understand that we will need to vacate the premises five (5) working days prior to the start date of the new tenancy to allow for the Final Inspection. We accept that we will still be responsible for the rent for these five days.

They managed to find a replacement tenant for us within 4 weeks over Christmas but we are still trying to claim back 3 weeks of overpaid rent. :roll Aparently the cheque has been lost in the post (twice now).

Our exit costs were :

$110.00 for Photo and Condition Report
$22.50 for Credit Check
$75.00 for web advertising
$98.30 newspaper advertising