[YouMeAndThree]

Who had a place to stay sorted out before they arrived in NZ? If not, how long did it take you to find somewhere? Where did you stay in the interim? And did you have that temporary place sorted before going over?

Lx

[nippa&pippa]

Oh gosh - I spent ages looking for holiday home in riccarton areas for temporay stay while looking for rental house while we were in UK. Found one, then for some reasons, the lady didn't get back in time with final confirmation and we decided to look into plan B, find and book a place at motel at 2am, morning before we flew out to NZ!! Lucky this motel we stayed with www.ashleighcourtmotel.co.nz got two units free, so we booked one of them.
Just arrived at chch's airport, there was a call out for us :uhoh and it turn out to be that lady had "problem" with phone/email system and have left message asking us to contact her. She offer to show us her holiday home that we can rent for 6 months. Took this chance to view it and glad we went next day cos there is no way we can staying this place because it was :eek: place we ever saw....
Took us 7 days before we ever found another place to rent and another 2 days before we can move in.

[mgbridges]

OH arrived on his own so pre-booked a serviced apartment in Auckland CBD and a hire car to collect at the airport on arrival.

In the space of 3 weeks he found and moved into a rental, purchased our car, new TV and new king sized mattress and organised to rent the basic bits of furniture we needed. He also did a shop at The Warehouse for some kitchen type bits that we needed - kettle, toaster, iron, ironing board, microwave etc. I also Fedexed two huge boxes with various bits including duvet for us and single one for DS, linen, pots, pans etc.

What time of year you are arriving will have an effect on whether or not to book ahead, especially if you are considering renting a bach/holiday home.

HTH
Anneliese

[colindp]

My employer provided two weeks in a hotel but it took us over three weeks to find a suitable home to rent....

[markandjackie]

Hi all we are flying out of the uk in October and will be staying with my aunt, she has a 6 bed place in Kapia bay (spelling prob not right) :laugh only her with OH and 3 rats (sorry very small dogs):laugh so any help with the finding of rented accom would be nice, we are looking in the wellington area same as aunty. :cheers

[YouMeAndThree]

Right, so not everyone was completely sorted beforehand then, that's good to know (good to know we are not the only loons :laugh).

OH will be heading off to Auckland last week in July and we haven't decided on where to locate ourselves (that's another thread!), let alone try and find somewhere for him to stay temporarily. Me and the 3 wee ones should be joining him by the end of August or early September at the latest.

Anyone have suggestions for reasonable accommodation in Auckland (his job's in Wiri, but I don't think we want to stay in that area :exit)

Lx

[James 1077]

My employer provided us with 2 weeks in a serviced apartment - but we found a rental on the day we arrived and signed the contract the next day. Initially we planned on doing some painting / buying furniture and staying in the apartment but the house was so much nicer that we moved in a few days later and handed the apartment back!

[gil]

we pre-booked at Howick Motor Lodge (on advice from forumites) and they were brilliant. Others have used them more recently and I know a family who extended their stay there, so comfy was it! http://www.howickmotorlodge.co.nz/ run by Dave and Mandy from Doncaster, they are so friendly and helpful, it's wonderful when you first arrive. They helped us rent a car and were a mine of local info.
Gil

Edit: meant to add that we found a nice rental within a month, then bought our own place 5 months later.

[nickydwuk]

We have booked a holiday ome for 4 weeks when we first arrive - check this site out http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/regions.asp This is where we found ours.

[aberdian]

Took a while here in Wanaka, although we lived well due to the generosity of CatherineP for a few weeks. For a town with so many empty holiday homes prepare for a wait, or maybe even try to get something from afar. To help pass on the goodwill that was shown to us, I'd offer to help out - it takes no effort to view places/take phots and email them.

[buzztalks]

1 month serviced apartments before movving into fully furnished rental. Then a further five months (yes five) looking for a decent long term (unfurnished) rental. yes, we were fussy. Wanted dry,habitable,warm,insulated,centrally heated, double-glazed, on the flat in Wellington but with a view. Plus North facing for the sun.......

we did eventually get habitable......

[Alan]

Lots of great advice but those that found a rental could you state who you used and whether they were good or bad? Cheers Alan

[YouMeAndThree]

Took a while here in Wanaka, although we lived well due to the generosity of CatherineP for a few weeks. For a town with so many empty holiday homes prepare for a wait, or maybe even try to get something from afar. To help pass on the goodwill that was shown to us, I'd offer to help out - it takes no effort to view places/take phots and email them.

The generosity of site members knows no bounds :nice1. What a very kind gesture (I'm off to Auckland, otherwise might have taken you up on the offer).

Lx

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Booked a motel in advance for two weeks on advice from forumites. In that time we found a rental.

[buzztalks]

Lots of great advice but those that found a rental could you state who you used and whether they were good or bad? Cheers Alan

Serviced apartments - Quest on Johnston (booked direct from UK - ask for Murray)

Furnished rental - listed on Trademe with Crombie Property management

Unfurnished rental - listed on Trademe with Quinovic property management (Kent Terrace office)

[buzztalks]

score on the doors -

Quest were great, all the team extremely friendly and very used to dealing with jet-lagged families who don't have the first clue about Wellington. The apartments are right in the CBD so you can very quickly get a feel for the place.

Crombie Property Management is a one person band run by Cate Crombie. Again extremely helpful and amenable. Will go out of her way to help.

Quinovic are a larger organisation with franchised offices throughout the area. Found them to be a mixed bag. Some staff very switched on, others not so. They do, however, get a large share of the rental market with lots of listings. Tend to be pricey, however as with absolutely everything in NZ, don't be afraid to negotiate.

[Alan]

Thanks for that it all helps for when people get there.

[Georgebulldog]

We were lucky all round, had a serviced apartment for 1 month from OH employer & managed to find & buy a house by the time we left so moved straught into our own house :raebanana
Must admit we have been lucky now I think of how quickly we did it & lucky we found an area we liked then & do now, could have been so much worse
Good luck

[Bergita]

We stayed with a very kind family that my husband met here on his jobhunt a month prior. We at first said no thank-you very politely and booked somewhere else but they were absolutely adamant and even insisted on fetching us at the airport at midnight! I don't know how we would have coped without them!

We arrived 27 Dec, and moved into our rental 24 Jan if I remember correctly. Nobody works in the first 2 weeks of January here! It's insane! We so wanted to get our own place and stop inconveniencing our very friendly hosts and we couldn't even get an estage agent on the phone! Merry Xmas messages right up till about 15 Jan. Once they got back from their holidays though, it was quick to get a rental.

Just a word of warning to anyone planning to come here in January - don't expect to get any major business sorted out before the 3rd week of Jan! Now that I don't need anything done, I find it all quite refreshing, but at the time ...!