In between houses - short term rentals in Melb??

Hi folks
We are putting our house on the market very soon (next few weeks) and I dare say we won't manage to find another and settle on the same day. Hence we will need to find short term accommodation and I just want to start doing my research and putting my feelers out for options.
We don't want to take a full 12 month lease as we feel we would only need somewhere for anything from 4-12 weeks - and from what I gather, 12 month leases can be hard and expensive to get out of (is this right??. And I doubt any of the real estate agents/land lords would want to consider a shorter lease (or do they???)
I have heard of many people who are building and/or renovating and need somewhere to stay short term, so just wondering if anyone can start throwing any ideas of places they may know of - in Melb (preferably bayside area). Not sure if we could afford serviced apartments but any suggestions welcome.

Thanks, Ceebs

No one to stay with temparily?

What about "house sitting" someones house while they're on holidays? I dont know much about it, but apparently it happens (my cousins in Sydney have spoken about it anyway!) There might be a site or something about it?

Sorry, not too much help am I?

It's pretty common to see homes with 3 or 6 months lease, but they are usually dumps waiting to be demolished.

Hi Bam
Mum hasn't offered (yet) but she kind of mumbled something and I'm sure if we needed to we could stay with her. Only problem is, they have quite a small house and there is us and 1 toddler with a baby due about the time we will be moving. So not sure they want all four of us lobbing on their doorstep and them having to have sleepless nights with our new baby. And, my partner isn't too keen on staying with them either. But, yes, failing everything else, it is an option.

I was just wanting to put feelers out for other options of if anyone knew of short term rental places we could contact.

As for house-sitting, yep, def an option, if the timing worked out - told partner today to start keeping an ear out for anything along those line.

Thanks...
Ceebs

PS D&N, sorry, just saw your reply. Do you mean with agencies? Or where do you see them listed?

There are a few websites :

http://www.aussiehousesitters.com.au/?gclid=CIaDsdn1waECFRAbewodr3wD-g

http://melbourneexchange.com.au/classifieds/Housesitting-Melbourne-Find-Housesitter-/5013.html

http://www.housesitworld.com.au/sitmelb.htm

http://www.housecarers.com/house_sitting_in_melbourne.cfm

On the main sites like Domain and realestate.com.au

Here's a few... all short term and various cost & condition.
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -404520729
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -404514014
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -404502489
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -404498059
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -404497000

Thanks heaps Southies and d@n for those links.... will check them both out.

Ceebs

We demolished our old house to build the new one in November last year, and we've been housesitting ever since, almost continuously. If you're thinking of housesitting, you'll need to rent some storage for all your gear, as all you'll need are some clothes, and maybe a laptop computer. Not great if you want long term stability, as most housesits are 1-4 weeks, and can vary in location.

We've bagged housesits in preston, templestowe, camberwell, balwyn (currently housesitting in a $1.5m 4bed house opposite balwyn cinema for 3 months) and will be in box hill south next month, then macleod the month after. We've had to turn down some housesits because we've been booked up, and just cancelled our last housesit for September as we're hoping to be in our new house by then. We've only used happyhousesitters.com, plenty of housesits available, very reasonable membership fee, but you must be good with animals!

So, we're very happy with how things have turned out - we've got to stay in all different places from a 1940s 2 bed miners cottage, to a $3m, 65sq mansion in Camberwell and get to play with all kinds of cute cats & dogs. Saved thousands in rent along the way as well!

Housesitting isn't for everyone though, like I said before you mostly get short term sits and you can't be picky about location, plus the more attractive housesits have more competition for the tenancy, but for us it's worked out a dream!

T&T

I would just apply and state what you need. The house we got stated 12 month lease only and NO PETS and here we are with an 8 month lease and a dog.

Sometimes landlords and RE Agents need to be flexible if the quality of applicants isn't up there. Because our credit history was so good, had a good combined income and fantastic rental references they took us over those happy for a 12 month lease and no pets.