Room needed for short term accommodation in Melbourne - Aug 2012

[MichaelM]

Hi All

I will be heading over to Melbourne in early August 2012 to find a job before I bring my family over. I was recently granted a 175VE skilled migrant visa.

I am 33 years old male, married and have two small boys. I am an accountant and will be looking for work in Melbourne.

If anyone has a spare room to rent out or knows of someone who has an available room please let me know.

I have booked a motel room for the 1st week but I am looking for more affordable short term accomodation while I am job hunting.

I am a tidy person and willing to help with household chores as well. My first language is English and I also speak Afrikaans.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Michael

Edited July 13, 2012 by MichaelM

[KarlBarnard]

Hi Michael,

I don't know if you have managed to find a place yet but I'll be in the same boat soon. I have done a bit of research and I have seen quite a few short term options on Gumtree which look like they could work. If you Google "short term furnished accommodation Melbourne" you should find something.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

[mcbear]

Hello Michael

Funny, my husband's name is Michael, he is an accountant, and we moved to Melbourne last year!!

Anyway, my Michael came ahead of us (a month) and stayed in a studio apartment in Mordialloc - it's actually the spare bedroom in a very large house. The owners rent it out to new migrants like us, and are really helpful getting you settled in. It was great, and not so lonely as he was here on his own. It is self contained, with it's own entrance, own bathroom and a small kitchenette (microwave only). It cost us $450 per week, which I know is expensive, but you'll soon realise not as expensive as hotels.

If you stay with them from when you first arrive, they might even pick you up from the airport, so don't even bother with the motel. They also threw in lots of extras for us, they were super!

(it is obviously suitable for a single person/couple, but it looks like you are arriving solo to start.)

Let me know if you want the owners details and then you can organise things with him.

When the rest of us arrived, we stayed a week in Blossom Tree Cottage http://www.stayz.com.au/77034 which was very comfortable, and we got a really good rate, about $550 for the week (our rental now in an unfurnished spot is $420 per week). Stay there for as long as you can. Unfortunately it wasn't available for us, so we moved into a cabin at South East Holiday Village http://www.sevillage.com.au/ which was small, but was a good base to start looking for a rental and you can stay on a week to week basis fairly long term.

These are all down in the south of Melbourne (bayside), but you are able to travel up east on the Eastlink freeway quite easily to have a look up there.

Let me know if you need any other information, and good luck, get ready for a roller coaster ride!!

[RAD]

hiya, just to add to mcbear. When we were looking for accom we found many ads for single rooms for rent in larger homes. They were quite reasonably priced. I remember coming across these adds on the stay.com site.

Good luck guys.

[MichaelM]

Hi All

Thanks for the feedback. I have had a look at gumtree and stay.com and seen quite a few ads for shared accomodation. I will give that a try once I arrive.

I have heard that emigrating and settling in is quite a rollercoaster ride. One thing that will probably make it better is knowing that that the difficult times experienced are a small price to pay for having the opportunity to leave South Africa and secure a better future for my family.

Edited July 17, 2012 by MichaelM

[MichaelM]

Hello Michael

Funny, my husband's name is Michael, he is an accountant, and we moved to Melbourne last year!!

Anyway, my Michael came ahead of us (a month) and stayed in a studio apartment in Mordialloc - it's actually the spare bedroom in a very large house. The owners rent it out to new migrants like us, and are really helpful getting you settled in. It was great, and not so lonely as he was here on his own. It is self contained, with it's own entrance, own bathroom and a small kitchenette (microwave only). It cost us $450 per week, which I know is expensive, but you'll soon realise not as expensive as hotels.

If you stay with them from when you first arrive, they might even pick you up from the airport, so don't even bother with the motel. They also threw in lots of extras for us, they were super!

(it is obviously suitable for a single person/couple, but it looks like you are arriving solo to start.)

Let me know if you want the owners details and then you can organise things with him.

When the rest of us arrived, we stayed a week in Blossom Tree Cottage http://www.stayz.com.au/77034 which was very comfortable, and we got a really good rate, about $550 for the week (our rental now in an unfurnished spot is $420 per week). Stay there for as long as you can. Unfortunately it wasn't available for us, so we moved into a cabin at South East Holiday Village http://www.sevillage.com.au/ which was small, but was a good base to start looking for a rental and you can stay on a week to week basis fairly long term.

These are all down in the south of Melbourne (bayside), but you are able to travel up east on the Eastlink freeway quite easily to have a look up there.

Let me know if you need any other information, and good luck, get ready for a roller coaster ride!!

Thanks for the information. I have looked at the South East Holiday village website and see that they have a budget cabin available for $68 weekly. I emailed them to confirm if this rate is for the entire week or per person per week. Still awaiting a reply. Might be a viable alternative if this is the case.

How is the public transport connection to Melbourne in this area.

[mcbear]

Hi Michael

I just called them, website is incorrect.

1. Budget Cabin is $360 per week - but it does not have a bathroom, you will have to use the main block from what used to be a caravan park. It sleeps 6 people, comes without linen, will cost you an extra $15 for every set of linen.

2. Bedsit Cabin is $492 per week, sleeps maximum of 2, has a bathroom and linen. (standard cabin seems to be same price but bigger (sleeps 4).

All prices are off-peak = not school holidays in Victoria.

There is a bus stop just outside the village, the airport bus, which actually goes all around Melbourne. My husband caught this bus to either Clayton station, which has lots of trains going into the city. Otherwise he caught the same bus opposite direction to Edithvale station and caught a train into the city. Both accessible, about 1.25hours journey.

Apartment in Mordialloc will include washing (ie use of their washing machine), and internet connection. I think a better deal for you? The cabin is a better idea once the rest of the family arrive.

There is a bus stop close to the house in Mordialloc (but station within 15 minutes walk). Catch train from Mordialloc station direct into city. Journey also about 1.25 hours.

We looked for a long time, and this was the best and cheapest by far. And it gave him a really soft landing, which really helped.

[MichaelM]

hiya, just to add to mcbear. When we were looking for accom we found many ads for single rooms for rent in larger homes. They were quite reasonably priced. I remember coming across these adds on the stay.com site.

Good luck guys.

Hi thanks for

Hi Michael

I just called them, website is incorrect.

1. Budget Cabin is $360 per week - but it does not have a bathroom, you will have to use the main block from what used to be a caravan park. It sleeps 6 people, comes without linen, will cost you an extra $15 for every set of linen.

2. Bedsit Cabin is $492 per week, sleeps maximum of 2, has a bathroom and linen. (standard cabin seems to be same price but bigger (sleeps 4).

All prices are off-peak = not school holidays in Victoria.

There is a bus stop just outside the village, the airport bus, which actually goes all around Melbourne. My husband caught this bus to either Clayton station, which has lots of trains going into the city. Otherwise he caught the same bus opposite direction to Edithvale station and caught a train into the city. Both accessible, about 1.25hours journey.

Apartment in Mordialloc will include washing (ie use of their washing machine), and internet connection. I think a better deal for you? The cabin is a better idea once the rest of the family arrive.

There is a bus stop close to the house in Mordialloc (but station within 15 minutes walk). Catch train from Mordialloc station direct into city. Journey also about 1.25 hours.

We looked for a long time, and this was the best and cheapest by far. And it gave him a really soft landing, which really helped.

Hi there McBear

Thanks for following up on the rates. It did seem quite underpriced compared to the other cabins.

Can you please give me the details of the apartment in Mordialloc.

Thanks again for your help.

Michael

[mcbear]

Hi Michael

Sure, it's a pleasure.

The Mordialloc apartment details are:

http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/melbourne-furnished-rental-accommodation-mordialloc.htm

I have contacted the owner to see if it's available, and then can put you in touch with him directly.

Other options, where we found this apartment, are:

http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/melbourne-rental-accommodation.htm

Will let you know once I hear from the owner.

[MichaelM]

Hi Michael,

I don't know if you have managed to find a place yet but I'll be in the same boat soon. I have done a bit of research and I have seen quite a few short term options on Gumtree which look like they could work. If you Google "short term furnished accommodation Melbourne" you should find something.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Where are you heading to in Aus? If its Melbourne I can give you some information based on my experience. I have moved into shared accomodation after spending a few days in a motel.

Regards

Michael

[MichaelM]

Hi Michael

Sure, it's a pleasure.

The Mordialloc apartment details are:

http://www.moving-to...-mordialloc.htm

I have contacted the owner to see if it's available, and then can put you in touch with him directly.

Other options, where we found this apartment, are:

http://www.moving-to...commodation.htm

Will let you know once I hear from the owner.

Hi there,

I arrived in Melbourne and have managed to find shared accommodation for the next 2 months. Hopefully by then I have found a job and somewhere permanent to live. Thanks for the advice you have posted on this forum. It has been really helpful.

Hope to meet you and Allison sometime in the near future.

Keep well

Michael

[mcbear]

Welcome to Melbourne Michael.

I am glad you've found somewhere to stay - good luck with the job hunting.

Let me know if you need any other help.