[duckbill]

Hi

It seems we are competing with denalipop to reach Nelson;)

We (husband, wife and three kids) are planning to arrive in the second week of November and are looking for a furnished rent until our kit arrives mid-December, from which time on we shall be needing an unfurnished house close to good schools.

Any help is much appreciated.

duckbill

[denalipop]

We're arriving a couple weeks before you, but don't worry; we only have 1 small baby, so will probably be looking for a much smaller place than you guys!

[thezorbster]

If you only need furnished for a few weeks, I'd personally search for a holiday home as they're generally pretty well equipped and available for short periods. We did that when we first arrived. They'll be a bit more expensive than a furnished rental but you'd be hard pushed to find a furnished rental for just a few weeks.
Try
www.nelsonholidayhouses.co.nz
www.bookabach.co.nz
www.holidayhomes.co.nz
www.holidayhouses.co.nz

[KatieBen]

Can recommend nelsonholidayhouses.co.nz - Randi Westphal (the woman who runs it) made us amazingly welcome when we arrived! We stayed in the Maitai riverfront house for 2 months when we got here and it was great - 2 minute walk into the town centre, the Maitai River to walk along in the other direction.

Offhand I think it was around $600/$650 a week to rent (was paid by my employer so not totally sure) but may be more in summer. Then again you won't pay as much for heating it in summer, may actually cost less overall!

[magcats]

Wow! KatieBen! $600/650 a week seems very expensive to me. Even quoted in NZ dollars that seems high. Is this pretty much what people pay for rent in Nelson?

[KatieBen]

That's for a completely furnished holiday house with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, off street parking within 2 minute walk of the town centre - so not typical of Nelson rentals!

We're paying $520 per week for an unfurnished 4 bed house (but admittedly in the "you are either rich or mad or both" road - it was the only one with double glazing when we were looking for rentals, and we were looking in winter!)

A more typical price would be $350-$450 depending on size and location. You can pay a lot more than we are (but then they come with swimming pools - and I'm still regretting not going for the $500 per week place in Richmond with its own pool...)

[Tim S]

KatieBen: Sorry if you've mentioned this elsewhere but did you organise your long term rental before you arrived in Nelson? We plan to arrange the short term rental before we arrive and then once our container arrives (which we are expecting around 4 weeks) we'll move into a longer term rental while we find a place to buy. Those nelsonholidayhouses.co.nz look ideal for our needs too and the prices seem fairly reasonable for short term furnished accommodation.

As far as longer term rentals go I have heard periodic leases are quite common there as apposed to fixed term leases, would you say this is accurate?

[KatieBen]

No, we had nothing organised before we came to Nelson bar the holidayhouses.co.nz accommodation (which was arranged for us as part of a relocation package). We sorted out the long term rental, buying car etc once we were here - found the rental on trademe property, viewed a couple of times and arranged to move in. It took about a week for us to sort it out (from beginning search to signing papers) but in reality that is a day to find the property (we viewed 3) and decide on it and a week procrastinating.

We currently have a fixed term lease that becomes periodic at the end of its term - my husband tells me that periodic is more common over here but you can generally negotiate your own terms with the agency.

If you go with nelsonholidayhouses say hi to Randi for us! (and ask her if she found my son's toys lurking under the fridge when we left... )

[Tim S]

Ahh cheers for that KatieBen, thats what were planning on doing, we considered looking for a rental and organising before we arrive but we are probably a bit too fussy for that and I'd imagine it would be a lot easier applying in person.

As far as your son's toys under the fridge, they are probably too afraid too look under there, I once looked for something under our fridge and found a few other hundred things I either didn't know I'd lost or didn't want to see again anyway! :uhoh :laugh

[Yoshimi]

Hi there, I'm new to this forum (to all forums!) so apologies if I do something wrong... :)
My husband has a new job in Nelson, so we're moving there next month with our 21 month old son and our cat.
We need to find a short term rental, preferably furnished, as our container won't arrive for at least 10 weeks.
I've had a look at past threads to see which areas we should avoid, but it seems like the triangle around Toi Toi (the possibly seedy area) is the only option we have. There are hardly any rental properties available, probably because it is peak season.
So, my question is: should we get a potentially grotty house in an unsuitable part of Nelson or should we look at areas like Wakefield where they have nicer rentals but my husband will have a longer commute?
Once our furniture arrives we can find a decent long term unfurnished rental (I hope!) so this will only be for about three months maximum.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome. :)

NZ will be awake and online a bit later on, so I'm sure you'll get some advice then.

[denalipop]

We're staying at hostels until our rental house is ready (mid-January). It's a lot cheaper than a furnished apartment.

I don't know if you can bring your cat, though. Won't your cat be in quarantine for a month?

[Yoshimi]

No, our cat will be released straight away, he is microchipped etc.:clap

But he may have to go to a cattery (effectively the same as quarantine) if we can't get a home to rent :eek:

[JandM]

I think quarantine - or not - depends on which country the animal is coming in from, as well as things like microchipping, vaccinations, blood tests etc.. http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/enter/personal/pets