[NannyOgg]

Hi Gang,

Has anyone arrived in NZ and managed to secure a rental property without actually having started work? Or having a job offer if you can prove you have the cash?

Thanks
Nanny x

[Smiler]

Erm sort of.

OH hadn't started work when we rented in our 1st week. He couldn't remember the name of his agency, what building he would be working in or anything (if you knew him you wouldn't be surprised). We just wrote the name of the bank he would be contracting for on the rental form and it was accepted, along with a wad of cash as our deposit.

The rental agent didn't investigate further either and our first couple of weeks rent bounced because he wrote the account number down wrong. :confused: Not a problem though.

In the Uk when we rented, we were checked by a credit reference agency, our previous landlords, referees and DNA were checked etc and the whole process too at least 3 weeks on an empty house.

Having looked at more houses here recently the process seems less restrictive and you are taken a lot more on trust. Going to view poperties with an agent I was surprised at the number of times they produced keys from under stones and in one case it was tied to the garden hose tap.

HTH

Sorry I should have said, we came prepared with refs from previous landlords, utility bills, birth certs etc, nothing was needed or asked for. They wrote down our passport number thats all.

[Cardy]

Hello i went to renta house before starting work ,told them i had a job but they never checked just wanted deposit /bond and 3 weeks rent and we were in . i started work day after we moved in.but they never asked for references or anything like that just wanted a copy of my passport and pr .Did it through lj hooker.they even let me use there phone to ring gas electric and phone people did it all in an hour. no hassle very helpful.
Cheers Cardy :nice1

[Kim39]

We took this rental on and it was 4 months before we started work properly. Don't think the landlords are that bothered so long as they are getting their cash.

Kim

[Singel]

Don't think the landlords are that bothered so long as they are getting their cash.

Kim
I agree with this. We told the landlord that we just arrived as tourists looking for a job. It doesn't bother him at all and he is happy to let us rent the house. We do not have a fixed term rental contract i.e. either party just serve 3 weeks notice to quit the rental. This is a flexible arrangement in case we need to move for unforseen circumstance.

[willowshouse]

Yep, same when we were last there .. we were'nt working and had no intention of doing so but had no problems. On a similar note .. we bought a car from a dealer that a friend introduced us to and he let us drive it away without even leaving a deposit - "just post us a cheque" AND opened a bank account with National in 15 minutes when we met the manager in a sandwich shop - no ID / references necessary. Basically, it's the complete opposite of the UK.

:nice1 Dawn

NB. The deposit on a rental is held by a seperate 'agency' to avoid any landlord holding onto a deposit for no good reason. At the end of the rental you apply to the agency for your money back and as long as everything is in order they send it back to you. Seems like a pretty good system.

[K&CS]

Same here - nobody even asked us about our work situation when we signed our lease! We also borrowed a total of three cars from the car dealership for a couple of weeks while we were waiting for our money to arrive from the UK. They said they trusted us and anyway, there aren't many places to hide in the South Island!!

[Hannah]

Hiya,
We organised our rental before we left - emailed real estate agents and was contacted by someone who worked there who wanted to privately rent out their house. Having no job wasn't an issue, and real estate agents said to me prior to us finding that house that having no job wasn't an issue. So long as you can come up with the initial bond payment (which was 2 weeks rent for us) plus 2 weeks rent (paid in advance every fortnight)
Rental was fully furnished and costly as a result ($800 per fortnight). Rental prices sky rocketed since we travelled round NZ 3-4 yrs ago.