New Domestic/International Students to Wollongong

New students, either international or from areas away from Wollongong that need to find accommodation should be aware of a couple of things prior to their arrival to Wollongong.

Importantly, please be aware that scammers are about and there have been recent reports of students who have fallen victim to scammers! See below:

Do not pay any money for any property that you have not physically inspected.
Do not sign contracts for accommodation you have not inspected .
Do not provide bank account details and always get a receipt for your money.
There have been fraudulent scams reported that involve people being asked to place money in a bank account before they have seen the property. Students have lost thousands of dollars. They are very sophisticated and can even provide you an address and photos of the property. These are scams. Please do not pay anyone any money prior to inspecting the property. If you need further advice, please contact the Housing Officer. More information about scams can be found at the Department of Fair Trading : Report a Scam website.
You will need to make arrangements for temporary accommodation when you arrive so that you will be able to search for a suitable property. Please, do not arrange for permanent private accommodation prior to physically inspecting the property. If you can, arrange to stay with friends for a week or book into the temporary accommodation that is available through the properties found at the Temporary Accommodation web site.
As previously stated, you will need to actually inspect any property that you may be interested in. You cannot expect other people to inspect a property on your behalf as it will be you that is living there, you need to see the property yourself. It is business practice to inspect a property prior to moving in, be wary of people that will accept your request without meeting you.
You should only contact the people that are advertising, only when you are in Wollongong and ready to look at the property. If you should have any specific questions about the property then you can ask these questions either over the phone or via e-mail. The reason why it is so important to view the property and meet your prospective flat mates is that you will be making a decision to live at the property and you will need to physically inspect the property to make sure that you are happy with the premises. There are a lot of different types of houses in Wollongong and they vary between being very old and very new. You will need to make sure that you are happy with the condition of the property. Most people will not conduct business with you unless they have met you in person.
If you do not have the ability to be able to come to Wollongong to look for a rental property, you should arrange for temporary accommodation for when you arrive. There is information available on the Accommodation Services web site in relation to Temporary Accommodation. You should make a reservation for at least 2 weeks, as this will give you time to arrive, adjust to the time if you are from overseas and also organise to make appointments to see properties.
You should contact Accommodation Services with any questions that you may have regarding finding private rental accommodation in Wollongong. They are there to assist you with information about how to search and what to be careful of when looking for rental properties in Wollongong.
To find out more information about rental accommodation in Wollongong please go to the rental information website. If you are after shared accommodation in Wollongong please go to the share accommodation website.