Auckland Questions

Rineanna

Hi all,

You're probably sick of newbie questions, but I would appreciate some guidance from boardsies who've been or are currently in Auckland.

Can anyone give me a few names of relatively nice areas to go apartment searching in Auckland from your experience? I basically just don't want to be going over there blind and ending up taking an apartment in a rough spot.

Also, does anyone have any names of estate agents or any other accommodation sources that ye found helpful over there? I've been monitoring some of the popular websites.

Thanks.

ladder042

not that i know to much about the place but my sister did visit and said anywhere near the south side of the city is really nice but i can try to verfiy that and get back to you love NZ would love to go there myself !

neilm

I lived there for 5 years, I lived in the city centre (University Dorms, would have called it a concrete jungle at the time, but not really compared to Europe), then moved to Parnell (very nice area, but close to being one of the most expensive suburbs in the country, just don't walk through the domain after dark). It's on the link bus route.

Greenlane is another good area if you can get a place within walking distance of the great south road, if relying on public transport (major bus corridor, you'll have no trouble getting a bus).

Remuera is handy enough if you can get close to the Remuera road, or a suburb along that route before Glen Innes, for the bus routes, if needed.

I think most areas on the North Shore are just fine (some very pricey too). Can't say I know much about west Auckland myself. South Auckland has some shockingly bad areas (or at least I thought, a lot of the headline crime seems to come out of South Auckland).

MrCreosote

In general North and East is good, South and West is bad.
Neilm has good advice. It depends on what you want to pay but some of the areas I know of:

Parnell- very nice, great location for the city, bit expensive. Good running in the Domain.
Remuera-posh, a bit D4, not as nice as Parnell
Mission Bay, St Heliers- all very expensive, but really nice beaches
North Shore- the closer areas to the water are nice, Devonport is lovely but expensive and has a ferry connection with Central Auckland
Mt Eden- nice middle of the road spot, not too expensive and close enough to town
Herne Bay, Point Chev and Mt Albert are all fine from what I know.
The further West you go the suburbs have more of a reputation for bogans, but aren't particularly rough and are near the Waitakeres, which have smashing trailrunning!
Some of the South Auckland suburbs are tough (by NZ standards!)- the biggest problem is they are quite far out from Auckland city centre itself and traffic is quite bad
How about Waiheke island? It's a half hour ferry commute to downtown, and a mix of aging hippies and upmarket wineries. Lots of people live there and commute in every day. Good spot to visit at least.

jonnybravo

I just moved to Auckland a month ago. Just got an apartment in the city centre so can't really help you with areas outside that. But I have walked around Newmarket and stayed in a hostel out near Ponsonby and both these areas seemed to be nice and close to the city centre. Just some other things that I noticed that were different to renting at home that might help.
1) Any apartment that we went to see didn't have central heating and some of the apartments that we went to see were cold. Apparently its a big problem in some places. Auckland doesn't get very cold but its still something to bear in mind if you're looking at apartments during the summer that it will be colder in the winter.
2) Most estate agents charge a weeks rent or more as a fee. We rented our apartment through Quinovic because they didn't charge any fees. Also some of the estate agents force people to get professional cleaners in at the end of a tenancy no matter how clean the apartment is.
3) We found trademe.co.nz the best website for looking up apartments.
4) Some apartments come unfurnished so you'd have to factor in purchasing furniture.

Rineanna

Thanks a million for the information. I genuinely appreciate it as at least I've some guidelines going over there. Thanks again.

neilm

jonnybravo wrote: »

1) Any apartment that we went to see didn't have central heating and some of the apartments that we went to see were cold. Apparently its a big problem in some places. Auckland doesn't get very cold but its still something to bear in mind if you're looking at apartments during the summer that it will be colder in the winter.
2) Most estate agents charge a weeks rent or more as a fee. We rented our apartment through Quinovic because they didn't charge any fees. Also some of the estate agents force people to get professional cleaners in at the end of a tenancy no matter how clean the apartment is.
3) We found trademe.co.nz the best website for looking up apartments.
4) Some apartments come unfurnished so you'd have to factor in purchasing furniture.

Most places in NZ don't have central heating (or even insulation), so it makes for some shockingly cold winters when you are cold both outside and inside. Power is a lot more expensive in NZ than here. After living in a new build Irish home, I could never go back to those cold kiwi homes.

cupthehand1

jonnybravo wrote: »

I just moved to Auckland a month ago. Just got an apartment in the city centre so can't really help you with areas outside that. But I have walked around Newmarket and stayed in a hostel out near Ponsonby and both these areas seemed to be nice and close to the city centre. Just some other things that I noticed that were different to renting at home that might help.
1) Any apartment that we went to see didn't have central heating and some of the apartments that we went to see were cold. Apparently its a big problem in some places. Auckland doesn't get very cold but its still something to bear in mind if you're looking at apartments during the summer that it will be colder in the winter.
2) Most estate agents charge a weeks rent or more as a fee. We rented our apartment through Quinovic because they didn't charge any fees. Also some of the estate agents force people to get professional cleaners in at the end of a tenancy no matter how clean the apartment is.
3) We found trademe.co.nz the best website for looking up apartments.
4) Some apartments come unfurnished so you'd have to factor in purchasing furniture.

Is it kinda like Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) when looking for a place to live, in that they are looking for references and wage-slips, previous address's, 12 month contracts etc all of which are very hard to get when you've only just arrived in the country and places are scarce anyway so they are extra picky and expensive?

Im landing in Auckland in a few months but not restricted to living there just gonna start off there and try and get a job as quickly as possible and settle down for awhile, I have most of the country travelled and will probably end up settling in an urban district be it Auckland or Wellington or some other urban area on the north island.

I'll be happy to accept any tips/advice (which bank to join, which mobile network, mobile broadband etc, we had ANZ, Vodafone for the phones and Three for the internet in OZ) from anyone that willing to share the info! So don't be shy guys because we are pretty much jumping into the unknown with NZ, although we did spend 3 weeks there travelling around and have lived in Australia for a year so have a rough idea of what to expect.

jonnybravo

cupthehand1 wrote: »

Is it kinda like Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) when looking for a place to live, in that they are looking for references and wage-slips, previous address's, 12 month contracts etc all of which are very hard to get when you've only just arrived in the country and places are scarce anyway so they are extra picky and expensive?

Im landing in Auckland in a few months but not restricted to living there just gonna start off there and try and get a job as quickly as possible and settle down for awhile, I have most of the country travelled and will probably end up settling in an urban district be it Auckland or Wellington or some other urban area on the north island.

I'll be happy to accept any tips/advice (which bank to join, which mobile network, mobile broadband etc, we had ANZ, Vodafone for the phones and Three for the internet in OZ) from anyone that willing to share the info! So don't be shy guys because we are pretty much jumping into the unknown with NZ, although we did spend 3 weeks there travelling around and have lived in Australia for a year so have a rough idea of what to expect.

When we rented in Auckland we had to provide references but just put down some of our relatives and they never checked them. We signed a 6 month contract but I think some apartments were available for less time. Seemed to be a good few apartments around when we were looking.

Bank - went with ANZ - free banking with one of their options if you don't do any manual transactions in their branches.

Phone - went with Vodafone - costs $6 a month for 1000 mins calls and 1000 text to the girlfriend and costs $2 to ring any Ireland Landline for up to 60 mins. Think 2 degrees might be the cheapest for calls and texts in New Zealand.
I
nternet - didn't get mobile broadband but got Orcon fixed line broadband in the apartment. No long term contract or phone buts its expensive compared to Ireland but if you compare the costs and speed of it compared to mobile broadband its defo worth it imo. Also have to sign a 12 month contract for mobile broadband.

Hope this helps!

oooomy

my two cents
using ASB bank - no problems,nice website
orcon for broadband - excellent service and only 30 days notice to quit. telecom has a year contract.
vodafone prepay mobile - seems cheap not spending much - skype for calling ireland
you will need a heater if your arriving soon for the next month or two. - westfiled has cheap ones (http://westfield.co.nz/downtown/)
Clothes shopping is though (not much in the city center).
I brought tee shirts and shorts - there still in the bag - had to buy a new wardrobe of warm clothes and shirts etc for work
Try One hunga outlet store (http://www.dress-smart.co.nz/index.php/page/homepage) nothing special but not bad either. you can get a bus from outside ASB on queen street.Theres also a free one on weekdays if you look on the website.
Theres the link bus that does a circle of the city center for about 2 or 3 dollars - good idea to just jump on this for look around the city to get familiar with it. http://www.linkbus.co.nz/tickets-and-timetables/route-information.php
nightlife - viaduct area(tourist area), cbd (mix), ponsonby (local trendies???), havent tried newmarket/parnell area yet, mission bay should be good when summer arrives.
Open to suggestions on the nightlife (people tend to stick to the surburbs weekdays and city at the weekend from what i understand)
complete lack of foodstores in the city center. countdown beside beach road and new world beside victoria park everything else is convience stores and they are expensive. Its a pain if you dont have a car and not living close to one.
car rentals - beach road.
appartment rental (one weeks rent as a leeting fee seems the standard, i didnt need any references from previous landlords, my recruitment agent was enough just to say i had a job I dont think they even called them. Your bond/deposit is safe here from dodgy landlords as it gets sent off to a goverment agency that looks after it for you.
you can go to the aa (believe it or not) to get your work number or just go to a post office and fill out a form and send it off.
you can go to the immigration center on queen street (280) to get an additional visa stamped onto your passport - handy if your heading off to aus for a weekend - takes about 20 minutes and its free.

mac_09

What about Hostels in Auckland for a few nights stay?

Any recommendations?

Rineanna

Thanks for all the insider info; it really helps when you're preparing to leave.

oooomy wrote: »

i didnt need any references from previous landlords, my recruitment agent was enough just to say i had a job I dont think they even called them.

This is one thing that's nagging me. Here in Ireland you don't need references (from my own experience anyway), but am I right in saying that they nearly always ask for references and proof that you're working? It seems a bit of a vicious circle; can't get a job until you've a permanent address (?), but can't get a permanent address until you get a job! How does one get around that?

m*pp*t

Rineanna wrote: »

Thanks for all the insider info; it really helps when you're preparing to leave.



This is one thing that's nagging me. Here in Ireland you don't need references (from my own experience anyway), but am I right in saying that they nearly always ask for references and proof that you're working? It seems a bit of a vicious circle; can't get a job until you've a permanent address (?), but can't get a permanent address until you get a job! How does one get around that?

Friends of mine just arrived (in Wellington, so might be slightly different but not massively I would have thought) and when they found an apartment they liked the look of they were told having no jobs might be a bit of a problem. But it's only for a 6 month contract which they reasoned they could just about cover off their savings alone. So they were straight up with the guy, told him how much savings they had but that they'd be looking for work too and got offered it a couple of days later. Personally I went with a house share and had no problem with that kind of thing.
Why can't you get a job without a permanent address? Just cos you can't receive post? I'd have thought most places would be contacting you by phone or email anyway. You can probably just put down the street address of the hostel (if you stay in one for a while) to begin with. I know that's all we had in Christchurch at the beginning. And ANZ let me open a bank account with that. (Actually, I know people have been recommending ANZ to you here - and they are fine - but Kiwibank are pretty handy cos they'll give you a Visa Debit card so you can stop using your Irish card for online stuff. But you probably don't have to worry about that for a while.)
It probably depends on the size hostel whether they actually let you use their physical address for mail though. But no harm in asking.
I haven't been to Auckland but I'm sure you'll settle in quickly. Enjoy!

cupthehand1

m*pp*t wrote: »

Kiwibank are pretty handy cos they'll give you a Visa Debit card so you can stop using your Irish card for online stuff. But you probably don't have to worry about that for a while

Are they a widespread bank, I don't want to be clocking up fee's using other banks atms. I emailed a few banks about a Visa Debit Card (so useful, we had em off ANZ in Australia). At the moment I am thinking about BNZ, the emailed me back saying a Visa Debit card would be no problem and they seem to have a widespread network of their own atms

kizzyf

Kiwibank are in all the postshops. I set up my accounts with BNZ they're everywhere and it worked out well with them. Do get an EFTPOS card as kiwis use them all the time. Not as into cash as we are over here. Enjoy.

Oh not sure about you getting a credit card - thought you had to be resident.