G’day mates! Howzit going?

Apartment hunting is a tedious and necessary task which would have been hell had we done it back in Toronto. Fortunately, we were able to come to Brisbane first and stay at the Mantra on Queen while we got our bearings and get acquainted with the lay of the land.

It was also very helpful to get into contact with a friend’s friend who was going to school here. Sandy gave us a heads up on the distinct differences with living in Toronto and living here in Brisbane, and that it does take a while to find the right place.

Interesting notes:

• Apartments in Australia are known as “flats” or “units” (apartments commonly refer to hotel apartments which are fully furnished and intended for long-stay travellers)
• A bond (deposit) must be paid (usually 4 weeks worth of rent) plus 2 to 4 weeks rent to move in.
• Rent is paid bi-weekly instead of monthly in Toronto
• Utilities such as electricity, gas and water can increase the cost of rent depending on the arrangement (you can save money by not having gas appliances and electricity bills come every 2 to 3 months)
• A stove, or stove top is referred to as a “cook top”
• Most apartments had a combo clothes washer and dryer. So it’s just one machine that will wash AND dry your clothes! A great space saver, but oh, wait, it’s a STEAM DRYER and not like the dryers we’re use to in Canada. It takes a very long time for clothes to dry in a steam dryer because they’re repeatedly tumbled in their own heated moisture content. As far as we’ve learned, they don’t have the same type of dryers as we do in Canada that have ducts going outside.
• Passports can be used to look up an individuals’ rental history – we didn’t have any yet but it is interesting that real estate agents have this service provided to them
• There are many forms and applications to fill out depending on the real estate agent/lessor before you even start a tenancy
• To start a tenancy you’ll need to fill out Form 18a (General Tenancy Agreement), Form 2 (Bond Lodgement) and Form1a (Entry Condition Report), these will most likely be provided to you but you can also download them www.rta.qld.gov.au

I think the most painful part of apartment hunting is scheduling viewings, if not handled correctly, you could be running around all over town in a mad dash to get from one viewing to the next. I tried pretty hard to schedule viewings that wouldn’t take Jason away from work as much as possible as it was very important to me get Jason’s input because having a place where you can feel safe and at home is integral especially when in a different land. I wouldn’t want him to come home from work and not feel comfortable in a tight, sunless apartment just because it was closer or cheaper.

It was a tedious experience, but we did learn more about the different communities and are getting better acquainted with the streets, bus systems and ferries.

We crossed the Brisbane river on a short ferry ride and got some pretty awesome photos. One of the flats we looked at was in the New Farm community and it had a outdoor pool, however the walkability score was pretty low and there wasn’t much at ground level until you walk 15 to 20 minutes out which is too far for a lazy bum like me. Still, it had a great view of the Brisbane CBD across the river!

Stay cool, sprinkle hearts!