Finding somewhere to live in Sydney

How the process actually runs

Properties are advertised on the two national portals with an inspection time, usually a fifteen-minute Saturday window and sometimes a weekday evening. You register to attend, queue on the footpath, walk through, and apply online the same day through whichever application platform the agency uses. The agent shortlists and the owner picks. Nothing is held for you until the owner has approved and you have paid the holding deposit.

• realestate.com.au and Domain carry effectively all the stock.
• Register for inspections in advance — some agents cancel a viewing if nobody has registered.
• Applications go through platforms such as 2Apply or the agency's own portal, not by email.
• Nothing is yours until the owner approves; keep applying elsewhere until then.

The application pack

Agents want 100 points of identification, proof of income, rental references and, in a competitive market, a short covering note explaining who you are. Arriving without an Australian rental history is completely normal and is not disqualifying, but it does mean you have to substitute: an employment contract with a start date, an overseas landlord's reference, bank statements showing savings, and sometimes an offer of rent paid further in advance.

• 100 points of ID: passport, driving licence, bank cards, utility bills in your name.
• Employment contract or letter of offer with salary and start date.
• References from previous landlords or agents, with contactable details.
• Bank statements or savings evidence where there is no local rental history.

Bond, rent in advance and the condition report

The bond is capped at four weeks' rent and is lodged with the state, not held by the agent, through NSW Fair Trading's Rental Bonds Online. If anyone asks you to transfer a bond into a private account, that is not how it works. At the start of the tenancy you also pay rent in advance, and you are given a condition report to check, complete and return within the required window — this is the document that decides the bond dispute at the end, so photograph everything and be pedantic about it.

• Bond: maximum four weeks' rent, lodged with NSW Fair Trading via Rental Bonds Online.
• You should receive a bond lodgement confirmation from Fair Trading — chase it if you do not.
• Return the condition report inside the stated period, with your own photographs attached.
• Rent in advance at the start of a tenancy is limited by law; check the current cap.

Reading the price and the place

Rent is advertised per week. To get the monthly figure, multiply by 52 and divide by 12 — a factor of about 4.33, not 4 — which is the single most common budgeting error new arrivals make. Beyond the price, check the strata by-laws in an apartment building for pet and parking rules, ask which floor and aspect you are getting, and find out whether the block has a lift, because Sydney has a great many three-storey walk-ups built in the sixties.

• Weekly rent × 52 ÷ 12 = the monthly cost. A$700 a week is roughly A$3,030 a month.
• Ask about strata by-laws for pets, parking and short-term letting.
• Confirm whether water usage, parking and storage are included or charged separately.
• North-facing is the good aspect here; it is the southern hemisphere.

In order

1. 1Assemble 100 points of ID, employment letter and references before you start looking.
2. 2Set up an account on the application platform your target agencies use.
3. 3Register for Saturday inspections in advance and plan a route between them.
4. 4Apply the same day, with the covering note attached.
5. 5On approval, pay the holding deposit and sign the residential tenancy agreement.
6. 6Pay the bond through Rental Bonds Online and keep the Fair Trading confirmation.
7. 7Complete and return the condition report inside the required window, with photographs.