Renting in Sydney

[StripyChicken]

We're moving to Sydney next year, as DH has a year-long secondment out there. I'm vv excited, and have started looking at real estate websites, but have no idea about which areas to look at, and also quite at the rental prices!

Can anyone give any advice on which suburbs we could start by looking at? DH will be working in St Leonards on the North Shore. I'll be either full-time SAHM, (DS will be 18mo when we arrive), or I may be able to work a couple of days a week from home with DS in childcare. So ideally it would be a nice friendly surburb with other young families, baby and toddler groups etc, and a reasonable commute for DH. Any tips gratefully received!

Mosman is gorgeous and surprisingly affordable to rent in, despite being $$$$$$ to buy in! Very near cremorne, which is lovely. Mosman has ferries to the city (15 mins, lovely journey). Easy bus ride to st Leonard's. Lots of nice parks, cares, shops, delis. I recommend it. Balmoral beach beautiful also.
Lane cove, artarmon both closer to st Leonard's but not very picturesque IMHO.

Good luck!

Thanks, will have a look at those. Do most people rent furnished or unfurnished?

V unusual to find furnished places in Sydney. However, places like Mosman and especially manly often have noticebords full of almost-brand new ikea furniture to buy second hand, where people have come over for a few years and then left.

Furniture and appliances are quite expensive in Australia. But there is a big ikea near the olympic stadium if you want cheap and cheerful ( same price as uk, roughly).

We lived in lane cove, which is lovely and very close to st Leonard's (we also lived in st Leonard's for a short time - more expensive and less family friendly)

I lived in gladesville first of all in a brand new 2 bed apartment( 2 levels, dishwasher, tumble dryer, 2 huge balaconys etc) for $475 per week, within a year it had gone up to $500 per week and when i moved out it went for $570 per week.

I moved to lane cove for personal circumstances and paid i think $420 per week, for an old old awful one level tiny old hole place!!! was not nice but that was my fault and had to move very quickly, the area itself in lane cove is amazing!!loved it!

I used to drive my daughter to her dads in manly which wouldnt take long, manly felt too far out of the city for me and the many siders tend to stick to over that side and not venture city wise.

I think Lane Cove, Gladesville, Ryde, Balmain, Five Dock, and all in and around these areas are central and loads going on and generally nice areas.
It is expensive to rent in all these areas, i would say now for good 2 bed apartment at least $550, few hundred more for small older style house.

Manly and the Northern beaches are lovely esp if you're gunna be a sahm. Loads of young families. Beautiful beaches. Great walks along by the beach.

Meant to say, if you're wanting to investigate commute times, 131500.com.au is a fab site (also generally fab to be honest - I used it loads!)

Wollstonecraft is right next to st Leonards and it is lovely, especially if you are happy with a town house or apartment. Very leafy and quiet, despite being very close to st Leonards and city. Crows nest, naremburn and cammeray are also very close. They can be pricy, but that is the case everywhere in Sydney.

And anywhere along the north shore train line will be very accessible to north Sydney/st Leonards. We found that the further north you went the easier it was to get child care, if that is a consideration. I started looking around lower north shore ( that is chatswood to north Sydney ) and couldn't find much available that I was happy with).

Will your DH's company pay for temporary accommodation while you find something long term? I would say you need to try and get three weeks to give yourself a chance to find something you like, not have to jump at anything because you are running out of time. Is there any chance of help with finding a rental? If it is offered say yes as from time to time the Sydney rental market goes particularly bonkers (like it was when we landed) and while of course you will always find something, you want it to be as nice as possible if you are only here for a year.

For most rental properties there will be an "open viewing" where you will queue up to view with everyone else interested in the property, then if you are want it you submit an application and wait to see if the landlord chooses you! A friend of mine moved recently and didn't get the first five places she applied for so you need to be prepared for that.

With one small child I would go for location over anything else personally. You don't need the big family houses further up the North Shore train line. Willoughby/Crows Nest/Lane Cove are nice areas with decent restaurants/bars etc., they would be convenient for your DH and are close to the City.

Thanks everyone, these are great tips. I'm not sure whether we will be able to get temporary accommodation, but it's definitely something to look into to give us some more time to find the right place. I think I agree about choosing location over house-size as we're only there for a year so we won't have much stuff.

Beecroft is worth a look.