[01:08] a friend of mine is moving to Melbourne in october and is looking for a room in a shared flat [01:08] any ideas where to search or who to ask? [01:20] arnd: the new guys at the office here is from melbourne. He said try http://www.realestate.com.au [01:21] he said there was nothing really stood out as the best site for melbourne [01:22] thanks mikey [01:34] arnd: also http://www.domain.com.au/ is not bad [01:35] what would be a reasonable price for a student room? [01:43] it seems very hard to find a room for less than 100$ per week, I wonder if that only means I need to look harder, or that 100$ would be dirt cheap in Melbourne [01:44] it's roughly what I paid for my first room at university -- per month [01:46] arnd: where abouts in melbourne are you looking - inner city or suburbia? [01:47] mark: anywhere, I believe she will be at unimelb and not have a car, so it shouldn't be too far [01:48] arnd: I'd say that for something in the city (or surrounding suburbs) $100 would be a pretty good find but I've only ever looked for one bedroom apartments [01:49] ok, good to know [01:50] arnd: if it's anything to go buy studio apartments in the city centre seemed to start at about $170 and one bedroom places started at about $220 or so [01:51] i've only been to melbourne once, and that was 4 years ago, but I seem to remember things in walking distance from unimelb being fairly condo/townhome and not so much 'apartment' area [01:51] but since i'm a 'merkin I probably completely misunderstood the properties there :) [01:52] I stayed at a YHA hostel marked by this arrow: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=elizabeth+st+%26+queensberry,+melbourne+au&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=44.168076,48.955078&ie=UTF8&ll=-37.801375,144.961424&spn=0.019226,0.023904&z=15&om=1 [01:52] south of the uni there seemed like it would have been more affordable than the burb that is east of the uni [01:52] (CarltoN) [01:52] are the college dorms usually cheaper than shared flats? [01:53] i think the colleges are actually really expensive [01:53] because they provide in-house tutors and computer labs and the like [01:55] most people from interstate stay in the dorms for first year and then move out to a share house because it's just too expensive [01:56] ah, I see. she's only there for half a year I think, so that's not an option ;-) [01:58] is it common for shared houses to be furnished? there's not much point buying furniture I guess [01:59] that's true... most of them are furnished [01:59] ah, good [02:00] if she's around melbourne uni at the moment there are a noticeboards all over the faculties that usually have a fair few adds for rooms that are within walking distance from uni [02:00] mark: no, she'll arrive in october and need something right away [02:01] arnd: damn... [02:02] --> rusty has joined this channel (^rusty@203.213.241.221). [02:05] mark: is it right that australian rooms are usually rented out by a company, so the lodger applies there, instead of talking to the potential flatmates first? [02:07] that would at least make it easier to get a room at all. In Germany, it's near impossible to quickly get into a shared flat as a foreigner coming into the country [02:07] arnd: yeah - I've not heard complaints about it [02:08] and like you say - it speeds up the process a lot [02:10] arnd: you may have already seen it but here's a link from uni melb: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/housing/options/share.html [02:11] mark: no, haven't seen it yet -- looks very helpful [02:12] arnd: oh good - glad to help