When to start searching for Student Accommodation? Now or when you arrive?

If the question that keeps you awake is should I start searching for student accommodation before going to Australia or is it better to look for share accommodation once I arrive? Well, try to sleep instead and don’t get too anxious because the answer is really simple, so long as you have done your research and go through a reputable student accommodation provider or website, then either option is okay.

Student Accommodation

It is true that tens of thousands of international students arrive just before the beginning of semester looking for accommodation, and this can mean it is very competitive. Already it is very hard to find quality accommodation as there is a general shortage of, so some times it is better to book online, but only though a reputable provider.

Otherwise it is great if you arrive and can then beginning your search.  This is because only if you are here, you can check if the accommodation suits you, if the place is really “ten minutes distance” from the city as they put in the ad and, above all, if it looks like the pictures they posted.

If you search for the accommodation before leaving, you take a higher risk to find a totally different place, or different conditions, at your arrival.

The easy way to find a room is to check on the internet. Most Universities and schools have a dedicated University Student services to help you find accommodation and there are other public websites and forums where you can find thousands of ads every day, every week.

You can read ads also in the newspapers, like, among the others, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph or the Australian. Or simply check any traffic light post in the city, where other international students stick ads with few information about the room and the contact details. regarding this latter way to find a house, you should be very careful. Do you really want to take this riskier approach and find a room from someone who cannot afford a website, can not afford an ad or does not have a reputation to be listed on a Universities website?

The website is the most common, functional and easiest way to find a place to live.

It’s a first step to look how is the market, what are the average prices and how in general the rooms look like. The tenants can be other students, the owners themselves or other private individuals who are renting the whole unit or house. 

The average ad usually describes the room, the facilities, the costs included, the extra, the location and it shows some pictures of the place. It also contains the contact details of the tenant and offers the chance to visit the room.

Visit the place before deciding to rent is kind of a rule: you want to see the apartment or house, if you like it or not, if it’s really what it looks like in the pictures in internet, but above all you want to know the people with whom you will share the house. And they want to know you for the same reason. You are going to live together, so you should like each other.

The inspection usually last ten or fifteen minutes, so I guess what you are thinking now. “How can I know if I like these people after just ten minutes?”. Well, the first impression always counts, doesn’t it? So apply this principle also for the search of your accommodation and you’ll be just fine.

Share Accommodation in Sydney is very competitive and you should also be aware that as there are many other students looking for a room as well, the landlord and your future house mates are also deciding if they want you. So don’t take too long to let them know that you want the room, as it may go very fast

Above all, use the time as an adventure where you learn more about the area, the people of the area and the Australian culture.  Always remember to have fun, even if it seems challenging at times to live in student accommodation in Sydney

Student Accommodation