Rentals and real estate
After just a week in Sydney, I am excited to report that I have found a place to live! While I won't be able to move in until 22 April, I am pleased how quickly things worked out; I had expected it to take at least a few weeks to find something.
The real estate (and rental) landscape in Sydney is very, very different from that in Atlanta. I'll try to explain the difference here, at least from my limited understanding. In the future, if you have questions about things in Australian life, feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer. Here it goes...
In Atlanta (and much of the United States) the seemingly endless development of urban high-rise residential is dominated by rental apartment options. Once the building is built, the developer continues to own the units, electing to rent them out through a management arm. Thus, it's easy to find information on the 100s of units in each building. There's consistency, buildings compete on amenities and incentives packages, and a quick internet search nets dozens of new building options. That also means that the development and management companies rake in money.
But in Sydney (and presumably other Australian cities) when new buildings are built, the units are sold immediately to individual owners, like a condo in the US. Those owners then turn around and rent them out though agents, making the rental landscape a nearly un-navigable mess. Each unit has to be found individually, through any number of websites.
I think the arrangement has helped contribute to astronomical rent prices in the heart of the city as foreign investors have scooped up high-priced units for pure investment potential, leaving them empty or renting them for sky-high prices.
However, the setup also means that many Australians own a second property to be used for generating rental income, so that's cool. And the trend is hardly relegated to high-rise towers and full units. In fact, the building I will be living in is just three stories and has nine units. It's also not uncommon to rent out a room or two in the house the owner lives in. Overall, it is an interesting system which is fundamentally different from the US and reflects cultural differences as well.
I'm excited about the location, the unit, and who I will be living with. Once I have settled in in a few weeks, I will update everyone!
The real estate (and rental) landscape in Sydney is very, very different from that in Atlanta. I'll try to explain the difference here, at least from my limited understanding. In the future, if you have questions about things in Australian life, feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer. Here it goes...
In Atlanta (and much of the United States) the seemingly endless development of urban high-rise residential is dominated by rental apartment options. Once the building is built, the developer continues to own the units, electing to rent them out through a management arm. Thus, it's easy to find information on the 100s of units in each building. There's consistency, buildings compete on amenities and incentives packages, and a quick internet search nets dozens of new building options. That also means that the development and management companies rake in money.
But in Sydney (and presumably other Australian cities) when new buildings are built, the units are sold immediately to individual owners, like a condo in the US. Those owners then turn around and rent them out though agents, making the rental landscape a nearly un-navigable mess. Each unit has to be found individually, through any number of websites.
I think the arrangement has helped contribute to astronomical rent prices in the heart of the city as foreign investors have scooped up high-priced units for pure investment potential, leaving them empty or renting them for sky-high prices.
However, the setup also means that many Australians own a second property to be used for generating rental income, so that's cool. And the trend is hardly relegated to high-rise towers and full units. In fact, the building I will be living in is just three stories and has nine units. It's also not uncommon to rent out a room or two in the house the owner lives in. Overall, it is an interesting system which is fundamentally different from the US and reflects cultural differences as well.
I'm excited about the location, the unit, and who I will be living with. Once I have settled in in a few weeks, I will update everyone!
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