Moving houses- your first time in Australia and what to expect.

So you have done almost all the paperwork, paid the bond, had your interviews and mainly got yourself a place. But now here's the other part: you need to move in. But what do you need to do to settle into your new place?

1) The legalities between you and your landlord.
1a) The condition report- this is a legal document which the landlord must hand you and you fill this out and return it to them. Answer everything truthfully or otherwise later on they might claim that you damaged their stuff when you did not (it was there in the first place). Its a good idea to take photographs of everything as this will assist you in filling out the report.

1b) The renters guide and the house keys. The landlord must give you these or otherwise there is a $500 fine if you didn't receive it from them. The renters guide explains your rights and responsibilities as a tenant

2) Meet up with your flatmates.
You could go out for coffee somewhere. The idea for this meeting is to have a friendly chat about them and you. You get to see what they are really like.
Some questions to ask them are:
1) What is your study habits like?
2) What sort of a person are you?
3) What are the house rules?
4) How are the bills paid?
5) What sort of things apart from clothes do I need to bring?
6) Are the meals shared? Or do I just cook my own?
7) Is there a house kitty where people contribute for items like milk and bread and cleaning things?

Tell them a bit about yourself too (if you can).

3) What to bring
Bring your clothes, passport (and other documents that you need), study materials (not textbooks but stationery), calendar, sheets, towels, shoes, personal things and maybe things for the kitchen (if you need them- but just check first).

4) Connecting utilities
 A good question to ask your flatmates is: are the utilities connected? If not you'll have to arrange to have them connected. The water, gas, electricity and telephone companies all charge a fee to have the utilities connected. This can take days for it to be connected.

I hope that this article helps. Good luck in moving into a house for the first time in Melbourne.