Last updated on February 1st, 2024
After more than a decade of relocations and moving to Australia myself, we have a great depth of experience to share with you. I’ve probably seen and done it all myself or helped other others overcome challenges, we can help you navigate your relocation more smoothly.
I will be sharing a few stories with you, some lighthearted and some that were probably not as lighthearted when they happened. I’m also going to share with you what the market is looking like at the moment in 2022 and what you need to do to prepare.
Unforgettable relocations
There is a lot of sing and dance about me completing 1000 relocations. Honestly, time flies! But it is heartwarming to look back and reflect on the families I have met, helped and watched their children grow and flourish in Australia too!
Vicky
One of my early relocations is Vicky. She and her husband arrived from New Zealand and was pregnant with their first child at the time. Vicky was very scared of spiders. Very very scared. She totally fell in love with a home that had no bath – being a first-time mum, she had not realised the importance of a bath with babies.
I am still in regular contact with Vicki. I’ve seen her two girls come into this world and thrive in Australia. She’s left Melbourne now and moved up to a warmer climate near Brisbane.
Leilani
Another, Leilani, arrived with four boys and a pasta pot! She phoned me one weekend and said, “I’m arriving next week. I have four boys and a pasta pot, what must I do next?”
I was just blown away! Out of all the things you could choose in your house, you chose a pasta pot. But with boys to feed, I get it.
UK family
We’ve had some pretty scary stories, such as when I had a UK relocation, who were returning Australians. Our airport car driver phoned me early the morning of their supposed arrival to say they weren’t on the flight. He couldn’t find them.
It later turned out that, unfortunately, one of the boys had fallen at Heathrow Airport and split open his head. So they had missed their flight and could only get on another flight 24 hours later. They weren’t able to stitch the child’s head, so they literally bandaged him up and sent him flying across the world. We rearranged their airport transfer to take them straight to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and their luggage to their home. All was well within a few days and the young boy was happily doing handstands when I dropped in to say hello.
Italian family
Another scary story is when I relocated an Italian family. The husband developed kidney stones the first evening that they arrived and luckily because we had prepared them, they knew how to call for an ambulance even though they’d been in the country just a few hours. He was able to get to the hospital and get some pain relief.
All in all, I have had some funny moments–some crazy stressful ones–but mostly it has been a rewarding and exciting field of work. And I thank everyone who supports me and my business in celebrating these 1000 relocations.
Top rental questions
“What do rental homes have in them?”
Now that might seem to some countries a silly question, but believe me, it’s not. I didn’t know to ask that question when I moved to France. And you’d be surprised to know that in France, landlords don’t necessarily provide you with kitchen cabinets. So when you move into a rental in France, you’ll find that the former tenants take kitchen cabinets with them. I didn’t know that. So there are just some things you don’t want to learn the hard way.
But here in Australia, I’m generalising but I’m going to say 90% of homes will have:
- a dishwasher (unless you’re looking at a really small apartment at a low price range)
- all the curtains and blinds
- a stove/cooktop and oven
- carpets or wooden floors (or something similar); you’re not going to have bare concrete
In some states, it is the law that there’s heating. So in Melbourne, Victoria, for example, there has to be heating and there also has to be a toilet on every level. It is always good to check though.
“If you find us a home what do we do about furniture?”
This is one I face fairly often because we’re finding homes for people before they arrive in Australia. Very often your container hasn’t arrived or maybe you’re not actually bringing furniture to Australia. So there are a couple of things we can help with there.
- You can rent furniture. We’ve got a couple of rental companies that we work with. Renting furniture might be foreign to some people but it’s very widely used here. It can be a costly expense – but still cheaper than being in a hotel. There’s a sort of a tipping point of when it becomes cost-effective and when it’s not. The longer you hire the furniture, the cheaper it gets, but there are also installation fees, so if you only a for a short period of time, it is not always worthwhile. We can work through it with you.
- Ask about our International starter pack. Personnel Relocations, in the last few months, started a service where once we found you home before you arrived, we order mattresses, and linen, do a pantry shop for you and have everything in the home for you on your arrival. So you go straight from the airport to your home and sleep. The idea is just to get you off the floor for the first night. We’ll also give you some guidance on where you can purchase other furniture items from.
- The third option, obviously, is to send a few and replace them when you’re here. If you book a consultation with us, we can discuss what you should bring and what you should leave behind. We’ve got websites that will guide you through everything that you need to do.
1000 relocations – how it helps you and what you need to know NOW
Our rental price knowledge
I think one of the biggest advantages you have of our service and how our experience can help you is we have seen such vast changes in the rental prices over the last few months – we are on the pulse of what is the right price to pay. It’s been incredible this year. In March and April of this year, the rental market went up 23 per cent! So when our local knowledge is there to help, you know when a house or rental price is worth its weight in gold or whether there are local issues that could influence the price down the track, such as roadworks or major construction.
When the rental prices are going up and down, it can be hard to monitor and understand the trend. Most of our relocations only have a few weeks to find a home, it is near impossible for you to stay on top of the changes. In March and April this year, there were some people offering $100 or $150 extra per week just to be able to secure a rental, and that’s never been heard of in all the years I’ve been doing business.
Our expertise is what you can rely on. We know if a home is worth the price and we will always advise you if we think it is worth negotiating up or down.
Our suburb knowledge and growth corridors
Our knowledge of travel congestion helps you. That could be congestion from build projects that are going on at the time. In Victoria, for example, we have a lot of work at the moment to change all the train level crossings 70 of them across the city and suburbs.
Sometimes, traffic work can have a positive impact on the rental price. This is often seen if the train or trams are affected. The rental prices actually decrease due to the lack of local infrastructure. It could be that you secure a great home at a good price and the work could be finished just a couple of months down the track. As always, we find that a rental price has been decreased due to construction next door to the rental, we are here to help you manage that expectation and negotiate on your behalf.
Related article: Where To Live in Melbourne: East, West or North?
Local school knowledge and zones
For those of you that are moving with school-aged children and you’re looking at government schools, our local knowledge can also help you. A lot of the government schools are zoned. So you have to find a rental home within the zone.
Highly ranked schools will attract families to the area and the rentals can be higher than you might find 100 metres down the street. We can help you to search in a wider area, where our local expertise know there are few neighbouring schools that are all great.
Once you found a house within the zone, the school is obliged to take your child. But that doesn’t mean that the school is necessarily going to entertain you and offer any school tours or anything prior to you moving into the area.
So again our local knowledge in understanding the local schools and the rentals in that area can give a holistic view. We can look at everything that you need in your relocation and help you make those decisions.
How do you choose a school in Australia?
There’s only so much you can do when you shortlisting schools on the internet. It really does need a bit of local knowledge and input. And most of all, fit it in with your lifestyle.
It’s all very well asking on social media what’s a good area to live with two kids, something safe. You might get 60 or 70 replies, which look wonderful. But I promise you they’re just going to be sending you all over the place.
We have refined our relocation process
The process that we’ve refined in moving people helps keep you focused and on the right path. We look at your entire relocation timeline and guide you on a solid path. It makes a much softer landing.
The longer you’re outside of your routine and the longer that you’re without a rental, the more unnecessary and hidden costs you’re going to incur. So having us find a house before you arrive, is going to save you thousands. Having us look at your furniture removals quotes is also going to save you thousands. Not having too much expense + Airbnb = more dollars saved!
Our relationships with alliances
You only move once, only one shot at trying out a removalist or a way to move your money. We have years of our clients using our alliances.
They rely on us for repeat business – we can phone them! We know them all!
In review, we’re not a relocation company that only provides support two or three days of the week. We work with you. We bend. We sway. We guide you. It’s never one box fits all. Out of all of those relocations, I have never had two relocations that are the same. So, it’s no good trying to compare on social media, trust me, because your family is very different to the next person’s family. You’re moving to different areas, you have different furniture, you have different lifestyles, you have different budgets.
Our job sounds easy, but trust me, the smallest slip-up could cause immense stress. We understand what things will help you and what might be an unnecessary expense then we can offer you alternatives that you might not know exist.
Personnel Relocations simplifies the process of relocation to make it comfortable and hassle-free at an affordable price. With excellent care and the right guidance, Personnel Relocations can help you make the right start in Australia.
We understand that every relocation is different and each one has different goals. To contribute to your settling in Australia, we have alliances with experts such as relocation mentors, life coaches, cross-culture trainers, baby equipment hire, business communication specialists, local and international furniture removals, interior designers, decluttering, unpacking and setting up trades services who can help with specific needs.
It is not unusual for Personnel Relocations to handle the full suite of relocation needs, all from just one call.
