July 8, 2010

Hey guys!

We’ve got two shiny new guesthouses – number 5 and number 7, Oatley road, Paddington – on the market! Have a look at this neat little walk-through of number 5:

Enjoy!

February 3, 2010

We know it is frustrating to apartment hunt, and especially when you don’t get good photos on the Internet beforehand. Furnished Property is in the process of creating walk-through videos for all of our properties around Sydney so that you get the best idea you can about a place before getting to our office. Have a quick peek at this furnished Bondi apartment, and let us know what you think!

January 18, 2010

Students searching for Sydney flats or student style accommodation can find numerous options with Furnished Property. We know how bloody difficult it is to search for a decent place to stay in the city, especially for international students, so our services have been tailored in order to make this process as simple as possible!

Our Sydney student accommodation is available in all the major student suburbs, such as Annandale, Bondi Beach, Coogee, Darlinghurst, Edgecliff, Glebe, Potts Point, Pyrmont, Surry Hills, Newtown, and of course – Sydney City. Live right in the heart of Sydney’s hottest locations – in an environment of other likeminded individuals – while you further your education.

Furnished Property offers various types of short-term apartments that work as student accommodation options in Sydney, but for the total experience, our Sydney guest houses are the best value. Our guest houses provide private living spaces (singles, doubles or triples) with common living areas that are perfect for socialising and making new friends from all over the world.

With Furnished Property, you can view and book a property online, on our website, and you’re good as gold when you arrive.

Or, you can come into the office and request a tour of our currently available properties! If you like it, you can sign and move in literally the next day! How easy is that?!

But – It gets EASIER! As our name suggests, our properties are fully furnished! That means you get the beds, the tv’s, the tables, the chairs, the dishes and the cups all included! Now that definitely makes getting a student apartment or room in Sydney truly simple.

January 11, 2010

Like most international students and travellers, it is hard to imagine Sydney without picturing its amazing coastline with gorgeous beaches. And just like that, it is no surprise that our Bondi Beach and Coogee properties are hot items during the Australian summer!

Imagine yourself coming back from work, grabbing your sunscreen and beach towel and running off to the beach for a relaxing evening. This could be every night (weather permitting of course) if you should choose a beach apartment location for a Sydney summer stay.

Right now, Furnished Property has numerous Coogee Beach apartments ready for renting.

Our cosy two-bedroom units are large enough to room up to 4 friends or two couples quite comfortably.

If interested in learning more about this Coogee Beach apartment, or one similar, be sure to give our office a call to book a tour. With a fully furnished beach flat, life in Sydney just doesn’t get much better.

December 7, 2009

The Christmas season is just around the corner, and many of our Furnished Property tenants might not be noticing since there is a lack of winter holidays atmosphere here in the Sydney summer. While Aussies are quite used to hearing strange “White Christmas” type songs when it is a blazing 40 degrees outside, some tenants are caught off guard when December 25th actually rolls around and they realise they haven’t even sent their families a simple holiday card.

Without those cooling weather cues, it can just be hard for working holiday visa holders to get into the Christmas mood. So, for those who haven’t yet realised, it is time to start that gift shopping, especially if planning to send them to family overseas.

I’ve compiled a little help guide here in case anyone living with Furnished Property needs some tips for sending their families some Aussie Christmas cheer!

1) Christmas Cards – Some tenants might be a bit strapped for cash and just can’t afford much more than a card. But, who can really imagine sending a traditional card with snowmen and burning fireplaces when Christmas in Australia is the exact opposite?! So family and friends back home can get a real taste, try sending them Australian Christmas themed cards, such as this one with Santa surfing. Aldi has packs for under $5.

2) Fun Gifts – Sydney shops are filled with heaps of typical souvenirs that loved ones might enjoy back home, but for those looking for a more ecclectic gift, there is always the opportunity to send a real piece of Australian wildlife. Kangaroo scrotum keychain, anyone?

3) Thoughtful Gifts – Since our tenants are primarily working travellers or international students, families back home will be missing their presence at holiday events. What mother wouldn’t love to receive a framed photo of their child as a present? To accomplish this task, tenants can find a particularly nice photo of themselves in Australia, upload it to a local (based in their family’s area) photo printing shop, and have it sent out in time for the holidays.

Postage

When choosing to send a package from Australia to home, allow sufficient time for shipping. It is the holiday season, afterall, and it is always nice to be punctual with gifts. Besides this, there are a couple other things to be aware of:

1) Customs – Be as honest as possible with the customs declaration form. Otherwise, the item could be delayed, or not make it at all.

2) Know What You Can Send – It is a good idea to investigate if there might be any restrictions on any items being shipped. There are different regulations for different countries.

Hopefully, this gives the temporary Australia resident, working holiday visa holder, international student, or any other Furnished Property tenant a little bit of guidance when it comes to preparing for the fast approaching holidays.

October 23, 2009

photo credit: Jessica Rabbit’s Flickr

We know that your Glebe shared accommodation and your furnished Surry Hills studio make for relaxing weekend hangouts, but why not have an adventure and take a weekend to the Blue Mountains instead?

The Blue Mountains is only a short train ride away from the bustling city of Sydney and provides a range of activities from cave exploring, viewing the famous Three Sisters formation, 4WD off road tours, abseiling and plenty more. The area is a beautiful getaway that is better known in more than a day, but if a day is all you got, it is definitely still worth the trip.

The Blue Mountains gets its name because the range takes on a blue tone at times, which is actually caused by the ultraviolet rays hitting particles in the air.

If you decide to spend a night or two, there’s a great YHA hostel to book into, which you can get a glimpse of in this video that they provided on the area and typical backpacker activities. Have a look and imagine yourself here for short term accommodation instead of in a furnished property of ours. I know its hard, but it’s only for a weekend, and sometimes you just got to step out of your comfort zone and see what the Sydney area has to offer!

Getting there and around has never been easier. CityRail provides an ExplorerLink Ticket which is good for one day of return travel to Katoomba, as well as an all-day pass on the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus which gives access to 30 Blue Mountains attractions.

For a long weekend out, there is also a 3 day Blue Mountains ExplorerLink ticket which provides the Explorer Bus pass for the 3 days.

October 6, 2009

Claire is a native Dubliner that has been in Sydney, and Australia for that matter, for just 5 months. Unsure of what she wants to go back to university for in Ireland, this 21 year old thought it was just a good time to experience life down under. I recently set up a time so that I could learn a bit more about her adventures here as a foreigner. It was particularly interesting to hear about her work endeavours because, unlike our last month’s interview, Claire has found it anything but easy to find a job in this bustling city.

“When I was getting desperate for a job, I had an interview at KFC. The guy asked me what kind of visa I had, and I said it was a working holiday. He immediately said, ‘No, sorry. We don’t take backpackers.’ It was shocking. I’m not a backpacker. I want to work. I live in Sydney.”

Many jobs around Sydney are currently looking for residents of Australia instead of those that can only be hired on a temporary basis.

When talking to Claire about this hot issue for those on working holidays, she responded, “Residents could just as well leave in 2 months whereas another working holiday person could still work for up to 6 months.”

Claire’s frustrations on the matter are not unwarranted. It took her a long 3 months, numerous applications, and 4 previous interviews before finally getting a job at Wicked Campers. The funny part of this story is that getting that job involved no flaming hoops whatsoever.

“I applied to an ad on Gumtree, and a week later she called me and asked when I could come in. It was really laid back.”

Knowing a little bit about Wicked Campers already, I just had to ask her about the infamous Naked Special they offer customers. Claire laughed and explained, “A couple of people have come in naked that I’ve seen. We have to take a picture of it, too. This woman came in naked and was like “hi” – I was a bit shocked. Last week a couple of guys came in and one asked, ‘If I come in naked, I get a day off, right?’ He went outside and took his clothes off and came back in.”

“It’s a really good job, really. It’s really laid back and friendly.”

Even though Claire really enjoys her job with Wicked Campers, she does work 6 full days every week. She knows it’s not optimal, but compared to other people, she’s doing pretty good.

“I don’t get much time off, but if I had more, I’d love to go to Coogee Beach.”

“If I never had to work, I’d be out in the sun all the time – at the beach or in the park. I love it. The weather is so nice.”

As for jobs in general, I would say Claire has been quite lucky in her life. She has never had to flip burgers or dress up in a funny costume for children and low pay. When asking if she has ever had a horrible job, she replied without hesitation, “Not really. I’ve only worked at three places.”

After a bit more thought, she then added, “…but I guess when I worked at the bookies (a betting place), it was bad. A lot of long hours… Got a lot of drunken people in there. The all day shifts – you have no life. You work, sleep, and work.”

Before leaving, I asked Claire if she had any advice for Furnished Property tenants still looking for jobs in Sydney.

“Try Gumtree. Before, I was looking on Seek and other job sites. The job sites are more awkward. A lot of jobs are commission-based and say you can make lots of money, but it’s basically impossible to make money. Gumtree is more down to earth.”

Claire is planning on sticking around Sydney for a while to work and save more money. She hopes to make it to Melbourne and Brisbane, and possibly stay in Australia for a 2nd year. Thanks, again, Claire for meeting with me, and I hope you enjoyed your dinner voucher for Wagamama’s!

October 2, 2009

Can you imagine yourself hanging out in this awesome 2 bedroom apartment right on Bondi Road? Would you like to wake up and be able to look out the window at the ocean? If so, this contemporary two bedroom apartment is just the one for you!

This property is tiled throughout with a comfortable living area, eat in kitchen and laundry facilities on-site. The bedrooms are good sized (some have ocean views!). It is literally on a TWO MINUTE walk to Bondi Beach!

Features:

* Tiled throughout
* Close to bus stops for the city and Bondi Junction
* Ocean views
* Laundry facilities
* 2 minutes walk to Bondi Beach
* Close to Bondi Road cafes, shops and restaurants
* Good sized rooms
* Comfortable living area

Apartment Includes

* Full Lounge Room Fitout
* Full Kitchen Fitout
* TV/DVD or VCR
* Dining Set
* Laundry Facilities
* Views
* Bus access to Bondi Junction
* Bus Access to City
* Walk to Bondi Beach

This top-level 2 bedroom apartment has funky furnishings and a relaxed atmosphere in one of the world’s best beach locations – Bondi Beach! Apartment is available starting 13/10/09, so call or email the Furnished Property office if you would like to set up an inspection!

September 9, 2009

Would you consider yourself a Twitter-lover or a Twitter-hater? For most, its either one side or the other in this vicious battle between being productive and being worthless. Twitter is constantly being bad-mouthed on the news, TV and in the paper, but those people, I feel, just don’t understand all the great advantages there are to putting out your daily Tweets. So, to help them understand this little misunderstood tool a bit better, I have put together a list of ways you can use Twitter!

photo credit: respres

Communicate with Friends: Think of Twitter as a big chatroom, where you can only see the updates (Tweets) on your home screen of the people you follow. And, the people that follow you will see your updates on their home screen. You can choose to single people out by using the @ symbol before their name in order to create conversations. It’s easy to see what people are up to, where they’re heading tonight, etc. without having to wade through all the other junk that might be on Facebook.

Communicate with Businesses: If you have a business, or work for a business, that needs to find other companies to work with on a project or other dealing, Twitter can be an easy place to turn to. Search for companies and put out Tweets to see what happens!

Get Jobs: You would be surprised how many people are using Twitter to find jobs! Companies will often put vacancies up through a Tweet, so if there is a company you would like to work for – start following them now! Also, many individuals are showcasing their skills and networking capabilities on Twitter to attract work. For example, a freelance journalist might put out a Tweet that they are travelling to Mongolia and looking for a writing assignment. If a company is looking for writers, they might do a search on Twitter and find this journalist!

Get Apartments: Just today I ran a search for “Sydney apartment” to find a number of individuals looking for places in the city. I quickly sent them a message to let them know of our services, which could really help them out! Think about how handy this could be when returning home after your stay in Sydney. You could use Twitter to help find shared accommodation, guest houses, apartments and flatmates!

Get News: Many Twitter-ers use Twitter to relay interesting information and news stories on various subjects. If you like to keep up with great travel bloggers or travel companies, you can follow them to see what stories they are tweeting about. Since Tweets are so short (140 characters or less), it is extremely easy to skim through loads of content before having to click on a single item. It’s a very easy way to get targeted search results.

Get Discounts: Some shops and other businesses put discount codes and sale notices up on Twitter. Get to the deals before everyone else does!

Get Your Funny Tweets: You might find yourself cracking up at the funny little things that Twitter-ers Tweet about. Here’s a list of actual Tweets:

• Everytime I get a nice check for something my mom hits me up for money. I think she got my phone tapped and crib wired.
• Free advice: Never wear flip-flops around a busy urinal.
• Good morning sunshine! Please don’t give me skin cancer!
• Got a pizza in the oven. NOT a euphemism for being a pregnant Italian.
• Looking to purchase a gun, nothing too fancy or complicated, just a simple point and shoot gun.
• What nobody tells you is that, with a little chlorine, your bath water can last all summer.
• No level-headed person ever wore a flattop.
• I forgot how Brokeback Mountain ended, the gay guy turned out to be a cowboy right?

There are plenty of other reasons to use Twitter, but I think I’ll let you figure them out on your own. So, if you’re not on Twitter already, go on and make an account. It’s free and fun, and you can always follow us – @FurnishedPrprty. Be sure to send us a Tweet to let us know you are a Furnished Property tenant!