Renting with Ali
By Ali | 10 Mar, 2008
OK, so you’ve just moved into your new flat, lectures have started and you drank yourself sick last week before any assignments were due. Now maybe you feel it might be time to knuckle down, as the first of the three hour labs start, and you’ve stopped shaking enough to actually do a successful titration. More
By Ali | 25 Feb, 2008
Welcome to another year of potentially shitty flats, shifty landlords and the odd flatmate who is a total emo. Since this is my first one for the year you have caught me reminiscing – what were Ali’s first flats like, I hear you ask yourself?
Well, my first flat in New Zealand (Herne Bay, Auckland) had 4 other flatmates, all guys. They wanted a girl to ‘even things out’ – I so should have seen it coming, but I was only 19. Rob was a dude and was gorgeous and actually quite a regular guy, but he was totally eclipsed by Pete, who was the quintessential wingeing Pom, who used to wrestle with Colin in the middle of the lounge floor late at night, and STILL denied he was even a little gay! More
By Ali | 15 Oct, 2007
Well, here we are, practically at the end of the year. Exams and finishing of Honours projects beckon, nearly everyone is stressed, and they hate most of their friends. This also goes for flatmates - but if you can suffer living with them now, you may decide to flat with them again next year. However, an equal number of you will want to leave your flat, and if you never see your flatmates again, it will be too soon. This column is for you: how to leave gracefully. More
By Ali | 1 Oct, 2007
I sit here on a gorgeous Saturday morning when I should be bursting with energy after my usual three cups of coffee – but for ONE thing. Last night the people next to me decided to have a party. Not a particularly depraved or degenerate party, but when they decided to go out on the deck and serenade me with trumpet at 2.30am, it was the last straw. It was also obvious that there was a couple trying to do something intimate out there, because one of the female party-goers kept shouting “OW! Not there!” I can only pity her incredibly inept partner. More
By Ali | 17 Sep, 2007
I don’t know who first said “Revenge is a dish best served cold”, but so it is when you need your landlord to pull their finger out of their arse and actually fix something around your place.
Like I said last time, things which MUST be fixed urgently are blocked toilets, no hot water and anything which compromises your safety or health, like a live power point or rotten stairs that your foot goes through. More
By Ali | 3 Sep, 2007
I mentioned in a column a few months ago that most landlords will try to get away with as much as they can, in terms of how little money they spend on rental properties. Many houses that they are renting out have not had basic maintenance done on them for years.
More
By Ali | 13 Aug, 2007
-Are you sick of sitting on the loo in the middle of the night and jumping up from the shock to your privates?
-Have you had it with finding that the only warm place to study is under two duvets in bed?
-Do you find yourself sleeping with people you don’t fancy just to stay warm?
More
By Ali | 30 Jul, 2007
What kind of people are your flatmates? Below is a list of things which are likely to drive any reasonable (or not stoned) person up the wall:
Doesn’t pay the rent or bills on time, or pays them late. More
By Ali | 9 Jul, 2007
Ten Things You Need to Know About Landlords:
1. They want to make money.
2. They don’t want to spend money.
3. They will charge the top rental on a property that they think someone will pay. More
By Ali | 28 May, 2007
Welcome to this new fortnightly column on life as a renter in Wellington. I am a post-grad student here at Vic, and have been renting and flatting for 24 years throughout the North Island. During this time, I have had one or two good landlords and loads of abysmal ones. I have been to the Tenancy Tribunal twice, and the District Court once on matters related to renting. I’m writing this column because I am sick of getting shat on by greedy landlords and the courts. I want all students to get through the renting process without going through it, too. More
