Studying in Melbourne
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Hi guys,
I will be commencing my studies in Feb next yr in Melb uni. Currently, i'm having a bit of a problem finding accomodation. Date is drawing near n i still have yet to find one. Reason being im seeking private rental accomodation as opposed to college square and university halls as they are rather pricey. Would like to find out from those who have been there or are still studying there which are the areas or streets that i should not stay and where are the reasonable places to stay? I have looked at a few online postings from accomnet and S-H-A.com.au . Mostly alot of postings were showing High Street, Vale Street in North Melb and Collingwood.
Lastly, some of the areas i know to aviod are richmond and footsscray(not sure if i got that right). Though most would advise taking up hall residence, i understand that i have to vacate during the holidays and it would be much too troublesome should i decide to stay on during vacation to work. Any additional advises regarding internet, mobile phone , gas and electricity bills would be greatly appreciated. Way of life and people over there also.
Thanks guys -
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y not save all ur troubles by applying for uni accomodation? or u call up uni to help u look for accomodation? alot of thing u need to look at when renting...
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why not just live in rez first since its oni your first year anyways???
come summer,there will def be lotsa ads for apartments...u should not have to worry abt getting a place in the summer... -
Downtown Melbourne is pretty expensive, average is about A$1K per month. Neighbouring suburbs that are close to Melbourne uni like Carlton will be slightly cheaper, about A$800/month. I don't stay near the city currently, so I don't know much about the suburbs over there.
I'm using a pre-paid dial-up plan which costs $20 per 50 days. The home phone line connection is about $28/month, and each call costs about 16-20 cents. My average phone bill per month is about $45.
Electricity bill comes once every 3 months, mine is about $150.
Water bill is included in my rent.
I'm using a pre-paid mobile phone by Optus. Calls to the same telco's pre-paid users after 9pm are free.
The people here are generally friendly and polite. Way of life is pretty relaxed.
Cost of living is slightly higher than Singapore due to food (takeouts average A$6) and transportation costs.
Like what the other forumnites have said, find short-term accommodation or stay in the halls for a semester or two while you look for cheaper alternatives. It is better to be able to settle down immediately.
Good luck!
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Ah, another Melbourne Uni student!
OK, surrounding Melbourne Uni, you have Carlton and Parkville, both of which tend to be somewhat expensive. To the south you have the city - don't even think about getting a place there.
I recommend that you go slightly further north of Carlton and look in either Brunswick (NOT Brunswick West) and Coburg. Brunswick is closer, but both have tram lines that runs straight past Melbourne Uni, and it's pretty convenient to get to school from there.
I strongly suggest that once you get here, get a car and a licence (if you don't have one already). Even if you are at Melbourne, chances are that you'll have to go to the other universities' libraries to get research materials. If you're living in Brunswick, take it from me that you do NOT want to go to the Monash Clayton library by public transport.
For starters to see what's available, look up http://www.domain.com.au, and check out Brunswick or postcode 3056.
If you have any further queries, please feel free to send me a PM. -
Hey spidee, I thought you'd bailed out in July - you still in town?
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Hi Ged, I'm staying till Dec cos I got to retake a subject. How's life?Originally posted by Gedanken:Hey spidee, I thought you'd bailed out in July - you still in town? -
More thoughts:
- Having a place by yourself is always going to be more expensive. A 1-bedroom place might go for $850 a month while a 2-bedroom place may go for $1200. Do the math. Also, if two of you are getting the furniture, it works out cheaper.
- I recommend avoiding furnished places. The furniture's usually crap.
- Around the corner from Melbourne Uni, there's a bookshop called Readings on Lygon Street. The side window is covered with ads for people looking for housemates.
- As spidee has said, the telco price wars work out in your favour, so look at a few and see who offers the best deal. I've been with Optus for the last 10 years, and they do all right by me.
- Broadband should set you back about $50-60 a month.
- For God's sake, get a place with gas appliances. You do NOT want to pay to run a gas stove in your kitchen. Most places use electric heating, but if you can find a place with gas heating, go for it.
- If possible, avoid getting a place on the ground floor (unless it's a house) - ground floor places are cheaper, but it's really not worth it in terms of privacy and security.
- Speaking of security, you're right about Footscray and Richmond. In any case, neither is as conveniently located as Coburg and Brunswick. Collingwood's not too great on safety either.
- More stuff backing the car point. If you do have a car, Footscray market is about 20 minutes' drive from Brunswick, and for things like meat and vegetables, it's much cheaper than the supermarkets. And if you do get a car, top up your tanks on Tuesdays - it's the cheapest day of the week. -
Life's pretty sweet, dude. I just got back from Lorne this afternoon. It was a company retreat, and while I did have some work to do over the weekend, the rest of the time was taken up by boozing and tennis!Originally posted by ^spidee^:Hi Ged, I'm staying till Dec cos I got to retake a subject. How's life? -
Hi,Originally posted by Insightist:Hi guys,
Would like to find out from those who have been there or are still studying there which are the areas or streets that i should not stay and where are the reasonable places to stay? I have looked at a few online postings from accomnet and S-H-A.com.au . Mostly alot of postings were showing High Street, Vale Street in North Melb and Collingwood.
Thanks guys
http://www.domain.com.au is the authoritive site for real estate agents to place their ads. you can get a very good idea of what's the price range like on that website.
apart from that, the prices you have been quoted sounds fairly reasonable; for a reasonably new apartment. ie: not those crappy types.
understnad that if you rent 1 apartment and sublease it out you'd be the anchor tenant, and will be legally responsible to all damages done ot the house. monies at the end of tenancy will be taken from the bond, which can be anything up to 3 months rent.
you may also wish to go to union house on campus; people usually advertise for housemates there. it's not a bad idea, just stay there, do what you need to do and leave after 21 days notice. ie: no commitments. if they want you to pay for deposit, bond, minimal tenancy period etc tell them no, and no need to sign contract since most students are not legal savvy enough. -
BTW, Insightist, what are you studying? Depending on what your subjects are, I may be of some help if you're looking for contacts school and work wise.
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Nice!Originally posted by Gedanken:Life's pretty sweet, dude. I just got back from Lorne this afternoon. It was a company retreat, and while I did have some work to do over the weekend, the rest of the time was taken up by boozing and tennis!
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Whoa, hey. If you read the Tenancies Act, subletting's a no-no.Originally posted by nomood:understnad that if you rent 1 apartment and sublease it out you'd be the anchor tenant, and will be legally responsible to all damages done ot the house.
You in Melb at the moment? -
Even better, it was all on the house - Bollinger's even better if it's free!Originally posted by ^spidee^:Nice! -
broadband can cost more or less; depending on what you want. and if you're sharing.Originally posted by Gedanken:More thoughts:
- As spidee has said, the telco price wars work out in your favour, so look at a few and see who offers the best deal. I've been with Optus for the last 10 years, and they do all right by me.
- Broadband should set you back about $50-60 a month.
http://www.whirlpool.net.au is *the* site to go to for info on broadband & phone. I am with iinet; the old medium plan which imo was the best bang for bucks. they've cancelled the plan since coz' it's not making htem enough money.
there's a new service called letsgo which sounds pretty good. oh, btw go with ADSL2+, they're the best! -
I've heard about letsgo - they're the ones offering ADSL2 for $54 a month, right?Originally posted by nomood:broadband can cost more or less; depending on what you want. and if you're sharing.
http://www.whirlpool.net.au is *the* site to go to for info on broadband & phone. I am with iinet; the old medium plan which imo was the best bang for bucks. they've cancelled the plan since coz' it's not making htem enough money.
there's a new service called letsgo which sounds pretty good. oh, btw go with ADSL2+, they're the best!
Right now I'm on Netspace and they do all right, although they're ADSL, not ADSL2. -
Hi,Originally posted by Gedanken:Whoa, hey. If you read the Tenancies Act, subletting's a no-no.
subletting is when you rent the space to to others and not stay there youself instead.
sub-leasing is allowed up to the maximum number of people stated in the contract. this usually happens when you rent a 2 bedder but choose to sign it only under 1 person.
I'm in sydney atm, used to be from melb until i got sick of it.
cheers. -
http://www.letsgo.com.au/adsl2.phpOriginally posted by Gedanken:I've heard about letsgo - they're the ones offering ADSL2 for $54 a month, right?
Right now I'm on Netspace and they do all right, although they're ADSL, not ADSL2.
$70.90/60GB/ADSL2+/mth with phoneline rental. i'm paying approximately $100 with iinet for 40GB adsl2+/mth; additionally it's split 20gb peak/offpeak.
i'd switch to letsgo, but will do so after i relocate in march. oh btw, ADSL 2+ rocks so much; i suggest you switch if you can. worth sticking out iwth your current provider for a little while more to see what happens since the privatization of telstra is expected to drive net prices down over trhe next few months. -
OMG ~Originally posted by nomood:Hi,
subletting is when you rent the space to to others and not stay there youself instead.
sub-leasing is allowed up to the maximum number of people stated in the contract. this usually happens when you rent a 2 bedder but choose to sign it only under 1 person.
I'm in sydney atm, used to be from melb until i got sick of it.
cheers.
I miss Sydney so much !!!
As much as VIC sucks (and I wanna go back to NSW), the next place I'm heading is BMTC -
Whoops, teaches me to read more carefully.Originally posted by nomood:Hi,
subletting is when you rent the space to to others and not stay there youself instead.
sub-leasing is allowed up to the maximum number of people stated in the contract. this usually happens when you rent a 2 bedder but choose to sign it only under 1 person.
I'm in sydney atm, used to be from melb until i got sick of it.
cheers. Either way, it's not a great idea. If your name's the only one on the bills, you're left holding the bag if someone decides to do a runner - been there, done that.
You chucked Melbourne to become a Sydneysider?! What's the matter with ya? -
ya man....Originally posted by rmyfrm:OMG ~
I miss Sydney so much !!!
As much as VIC sucks (and I wanna go back to NSW), the next place I'm heading is BMTC
but sydney is $$$ to stay in!
anywayz, enjoy your bmtc. i know i did when i returned. -
Oi, oi, oi - watch what ya say about Vic - we Melburnians can get territorial.Originally posted by rmyfrm:OMG ~
I miss Sydney so much !!!
As much as VIC sucks (and I wanna go back to NSW), the next place I'm heading is BMTC -
Truth be told, I'm not too fussed about the difference between ADSL and ADSL2. My office runs on ADSL2, and I can't see all that much difference. The one thing that would get me to make a switch would be price, and getting away from bloody Telstra altogether.Originally posted by nomood:http://www.letsgo.com.au/adsl2.php
$70.90/60GB/ADSL2+/mth with phoneline rental. i'm paying approximately $100 with iinet for 40GB adsl2+/mth; additionally it's split 20gb peak/offpeak.
i'd switch to letsgo, but will do so after i relocate in march. oh btw, ADSL 2+ rocks so much; i suggest you switch if you can. worth sticking out iwth your current provider for a little while more to see what happens since the privatization of telstra is expected to drive net prices down over trhe next few months. -
the advantage of being the main anchor tenant is that you can adjust the rent accordingly in your favour. you also get to choose the place. I did that because i also furnished the place. i'm the fair kindda guy.Originally posted by Gedanken:Whoops, teaches me to read more carefully. Either way, it's not a great idea. If your name's the only one on the bills, you're left holding the bag if someone decides to do a runner - been there, done that.
You chucked Melbourne to become a Sydneysider?! What's the matter with ya?
of course, i rented it out to a classmate whom i trust. anyway it's not easy to do a runner because of furniture; + the smart ones usually will ask to photocopy passport and student visa.
naturally, i would advise that anybody who isn't street smart enough to pull that off; and go with the sub-rent it from others route instead.
and... really... having stayed in both places (vic for 4 years) i can only conclude that victoria is only good enough for raising cattles and sheeps! it's so...
backwards.
most friends who have moved agree that they can never imagine turning back to vic.