Renting

Also check that they are happy for you to "childproof" ie put locks on cabinets etc....we did this at our last place and obviously removed them all before we left, but still nice to ask. Also check that its okay to use any storage like the attic / under the house. After we moved into our place we discovered that the LL had locked the door to under the house and with no garden shed it means that we have nowhere to store things like lawnmowers / garden stuff etc.

i dont know what its like where you are but here in chch i avoid property agencys like the plague as i have only ever had negative experiances and i personally find going private to be alot cheaper and so much easier to contact if something goes wrong altho i guess it completly depends on the landlords you get , for example when i moved into my current house my bond was $1000- cheap as chips compared to a bond through an agency, my bond at the new rental im moving into next month is just $1400 and the rent is a hell of alot cheaper than other houses around the same same area too so i would suggest to have a look privately too (trademe or paper) as you may be able to find a wee gem and not have to pay as much to get in .  Im getting a 3 bedroomed warm , insulated brick house with a heat pump , nice modern kitchen with all new stainless steel apliances,near new carpet throughout with beautiful polished wooden floors in kitchen and dining , plus freshly painted nutral colours, massive fenced backyard plus a one roomed sleepout for $335 a week and anything else round the same through agencys is like $370-400 minumum . i guess its a game of luck too tho . My cousin recently moved to an area down the road and got a house not nearly as nice and alot smaller and her rent is $360 and her bond was $2500!  needless to say she was a bit miffed lol

also someone else mentioned the phone- thats a good one! i work for telecom and deal with all the new connections and moves and we are forever getting people that have rented a place and then find out afterwards that the phone has never been connected and this by law is actually something the landlord does not need to supply so we get people needing a brand new connection which ranges anywhere from $160-$600 (area dependant- rural is alot more than city) plus jackpoints installed if you need them .

another thing to do is make sure a house you are looking at is capable of getting broadband (if you need/want broadband) because there are still areas in nz that either cant get it or have a full exchange with no internet ports available and you will ussualy find that if one provider doesnt supply it then another wont be able to either as just about all providers now share the same network so its equal for all providers (im talking about standard fixed line broadband )