It took us quite a lot of time and effort to get this. Apartment hunting here is very different from anything we've experienced before. It is very competitive! Apartments up for lease are scheduled to be viewed by everyone at the same time, usually on Saturday mornings. Everybody comes in at the same time and has about 15 minutes to view the apartment. So most of the weekends we spent our Saturdays literally running around town to go to inspections.
If you’re interested in the apartment, the paperwork starts! You ask for application forms which you have to fill in including heaps of paperwork that you have to hand in as well. We had to make copies of passport, driver’s license, bank/credit cards, bank statements, pay slips, healthcare insurance proof. And those are just the basics, in addition to that you need at least 2 persons who are willing to recommend you (who also have to supply their full names, birth date, passport or driver’s license number and sign for approval. Try arranging that when you just got here and don’t know anyone…), and these persons cannot be family and you need a recommendation letter of your previous tenant. And all of this is just to be considered for a property!
On the spot you have people practically waving around their money to let the real estate agent know that you are seriously interested. We’ve seen people offering to pay more rent than is asked for or paying 6 months of rent in advance. It really is a lot of hassle and we’re so happy that it’s over :)
