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Unfortunately it is not easy to rent without references within Australia, we had to get a older and richer "uncle" to apply for a property on our behalf for the first time because the rental market in the areas we wanted in melbourne were cut throat, one property inspection would have 20 - 30 people show up at once and more than half would apply.

not impossible, just saying it probably won't be very easy.

Mioney talks tho, the second time we rented an apartment we upped the rent in our application to stand out of the crowd by offering to pay more, in the end we got it without having to pay more.

Oh I see. We have the option to stay with our friends or with some distant relatives in Mandurah so it shouldn't be a problem. I'd have just preferred to have our own place from the start. We may just have to do what you did & up the rent if we can afford to. Thanks for the info. We'll bear it in mind.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying you won't find a place, just saying don't expect to come here and walk straight into the first place you apply for, because that most likely won't happen, australia is notorious for it's tough rental market.

It depends on alot though, your age, income, appearance, are you a single male or a couple etc etc.

over here they prefer women, the older the better and they prefer people with a higher than average income, of course everyone does. This also depends on the area you want to live in.

But don't let it get you down, it is for the best you have somewhere to live while you look for an apartment, it will make it much easier and you could take your time and make sure you find a place you would actually be happy with.

Not sure about over there ( though i lived there for a few years ) but be careful of property ads, only one of about 25 properties we inspected looked anything like it did in the photo's or description, they will lie through their teeth to get you there...make sure you see as many places as you can for the same price as possible and i can assure you that you will be amazed at the differences.

They absolutely love advertizing the photo's taken on the day the apartment was built or renovated and when you see it the apartment is 30 to 50 years old and never been cleaned....happened a few times.

I suggest going to Perth or Mandurah and as long as you can pay a bond plus 3 months rent in advance then you will have no problems finding a place. Sometimes you won't even be required to pay that far in advance.