A student's guide to finding a room in a shared house in Australia

With the current situation in Aus of overpopulation finding accommodation can take slightly longer than expected, especially in the main cities, even for locals! After the pandemic prices have risen and availability is scarce, but trust me, it is not impossible! Same way as there are people arriving and many people leaving. So at some point and with patience you will find something.

There are ways to optimise your search and that is what we want to show you how. 

But not too fast… 

Before renting a room in Australia there are a few things you need to know

Vocabulary that you need to rent a room

It is important that you know these words so you can understand announcements, publications of offers or read the contracts/ agreements before signing. 

• Flat: Apartamento

• Landlord: Dueño de la casa/ apartamento

• Tenant: Arrendatario 

• Payment: Método de pago

• Lease: Arrendamiento

• Pets: Mascotas

• Smoker: Fumador

• Signature: Firma

• Witness: Testigos

• Bond: Bono/ Depósito

• Real estate agent: Representante de la inmobiliaria

• Real estate: Inmobiliaria

• Furnished: Amoblado

• Unfurnished: Sin amoblar

• Laundry: Lavandería

• Bills: Los servicios (agua, luz, internet, gas). A veces los anuncios dicen "bills included", lo que significa que los servicios están incluidos en el precio que te están dando para pago semanal o mensual. 

Start searching by your preferred location 

Remember to value what is important to you. Normally rooms available to live in the city are small, shared, and expensive. However, you will have access to vibrant restaurants, bars, museums, and other monuments and gardens present in the city.  You would be able to walk to your study place but also you will have access to transport options from Flinders Train Station when you need to move somewhere else. 

Suburban houses have a bit more space and you can find a room for yourself, of good size but you will be sacrificing proximity to the city and also paying for transportation. Consider that paying for transport is not the end of the world. Yes, I know transport in Australia is not cheap, but even if you live in the city sometimes you will want to go to see some markets, or restaurants or even to the beach and those are not always exactly in the city so you will definitely need the transport card. 

Check our previous posts about living in the city or living in the suburbs to have an idea of which areas you should be looking at. 

Best time to start looking for a place

If after reading the previous point you are still unsure about where to live, the recommendation would be that you find a place to stay temporarily (let's say two weeks) and once you are in Australia, start to look for accommodation in the area that you like the most.

Here it is important to consider that times need to work out well. 

The time that you receive the new room should match with the time you are leaving your old room, otherwise if you finish in one place but still do not have the other then you need to make an arrangement for a place to live in the meantime.  

Who has the lease?

Sometimes there is one person that has the rental agreement with the real estate and that person decides to rent the rooms available to other people. You pay directly the rent to this person and also the bond. In many cases this happens verbally but it is important that things get through paper. 

The person also could be the owner of the house and rent rooms, and the rest will work exactly the same. 

Sometimes the lease of the house can be given to 3 people and each of the parties pay the rent directly to the real estate and all are in the same condition or are equals in the house. 

You need to pay a deposit to rent in Australia

In Australia, you will need to pay a deposit called "bond" to get a room or a house. Sometimes the bond is the same amount as the rent and you have to pay it only once and it is stored by a government entity if things are legal. Then you just pay the price of the rent. 

This is in case you break something or damage something in the property so they will deduct that price from the bond. 

Inspect the place

Do your inspections! I know that time is limited in Australia but always try to take time to visit the places and ask all the questions. 

I remembered when I was looking for rooms to rent that there was a room available in a very nice house but one of the people living there had a pet - a snake! I think snakes are not the sort of animal I would like to live around so I ended up passing on this one! 

This applies for other animals as well, you might be allergic to cats or dogs so be careful, on the contrary you might also love these animals so it should not be a problem.

Check if the room is furnished

Assess if you want a place with a bed and a mattress and a desk or a hairdresser. If the place does not have this, buying it new could be expensive. There are options to buy stuff second hand in Aus (Op shops) but consider the extra cost of the transport from the shop to your accommodation and also you would not like to have a second hand mattress. 

Ask if payments are weekly or fortnightly

If you are renting a room from someone that is sub renting it then ask how often they expect the rent and say that you prefer to pay the rent through a bank transaction. Paying in cash could turn into a misunderstanding as there is no probe that you are paying. 

Pick well your flatmates

Try to find a place where you have a good vibe from the people that live there. I know sometimes you will not have a choice or it will be difficult to know someone with just one chat but try to be aware of this aspect. Sharing a house with people from other nationalities will help you to practice your English, but also to know a bit more of other cultures (if you find this interesting). For example, Australians in general are very chill and easy going, they do not like drama and respect your space so definitely this could be an option!

Trust your instinct and ask questions

I always trust my gut feeling when I meet someone or visit a place. Take a deep look at the house and assess the aspects that are important to you. Does the house smell nice?  Is it clean? Who lives there? What do they do? Are they friendly? Ask them if it is possible to explain some of the house rules for example how often they clean the house, do they clean in shifts?How is the laundry situation? Do they bring other people to the house?Ask if they smoke or allow smoking inside the house. 

Remember that even if you think that your room is only for sleeping because you will be working and studying all day,  it is important that you feel comfortable because this will help your adaptation process. There might be days that you want to cook a meal or just sleep late so be sure that you can do those things in your new house. 

Check for the number of dwellers 

Some houses in some suburbs relatively close to the city are old houses with many rooms. Consider this, in case you do mind sharing the toilet and the kitchen with 3 or 4 other people. Also the level of noise could be higher as there are more people coming and going. 

I personally think that it is difficult to time the use of the toilet when there are so many people living in one place!

Rent your own place 

If you are tired of living with flatmates under their conditions or tired of sharing a room with someone that does not let you sleep then it might be time to consider applying for your own lease. You will need to show some documents such as bank statements, visa length, recommendations or perhaps some rental history before getting an approval. It could be an option when you are more established and have some work history in Australia and perhaps you would be able to rent the rooms to other students. 

Places to find a room in Australia

Flatmates

It is an App designed to help you to find shared accommodation in Australia. Many people use it for offering a place or looking for a place. 

I like that it has the option to create a profile where you can describe yourself  and also explain for how long you are looking for the accommodation. You can also see the profiles of people looking for someone to rent a room in their houses and contact them if you like the look of their profiles. 

Gumtree

It is a notice board similar to facebook marketplace for buying and selling products, you can also find jobs advertised and also rooms available in houses. 

I personally never had luck with searchers on Gumtree. From all the rooms or jobs that I applied for I always received dodgy responses that did not inspire any confidence. However, I have heard about people having success on this page, so maybe give it a go!

Facebook marketplace

The search engine for rooms works in the same way as if you were searching for any item. You type "room to rent" in the search bar, select the city, and you're done. If you want to be more specific, you can then enter the suburb.

Real estate companies 

In Australia there are many independent companies called real state agencies that work with people that want to sell or rent their houses. 

You could find one room through a real estate agency but it might be really expensive and you will be part of a lease agreement with a permanence clause, which means that you can not leave when you want and there is a defined time of stay in the contract. 

Community groups on social media 

Check these facebook groups for availability of a room or a shared room if that is what you are looking for. People leaving tend to advertise their rooms way in advance to find a person that can replace them in the house or apartment so you will have time to check a few properties. Be aware that probably living with people from your nationality does not contribute much to your English learning process and probably you would prefer to look for another option. 

I lived with a family of Colombians for 9 months in a suburb not that close to the city. At the beginning everything went well but after some time things started to turn a bit tense. The rules in the house were their rules because they owned the lease but they did not take me in consideration. They seemed to be aware of what I was doing around the house so as someone that values privacy I thought it was time to move on. 

Announcements 

Put announcements on a church or a place with high traffic of affluent people. Sometimes there are elderly people that would like to rent a room in their houses and have some company. Be careful here with the conditions and payments. 

I rented a room in a 60 year old lady's house, being the owner of the house. Someone from the church I used to go contacted both of us. I was looking for a room and she was looking for someone to have some company but also to receive some income for the room. We agreed on a certain amount that was not the cheapest but also not too expensive for the area.

I thought everything had been clear since the beginning but what I did not know was that she was expecting me to clean the whole house every week as a way to compensate the "discount" in the price of the room. There was nothing written so because of this misunderstanding I did not have a very pleasant experience there and I had to leave the place.  

Remember even if you know the people who are renting you try to put everything on paper. 

To finalise

Finding a room in Australia is a task that needs superpowers, but I am sure you as a Latin possess all of them. Remember feeling comfortable and having a place to sleep well, cook and study is really important so try your best to do your research, and do your inspections. 

Good luck on the journey.