Finding a place to stay in the beginning is probably the hardest part. Luckily, the competition for a place is not as fierce as in some larger cities. You basically have three options: staying with a guest family (homestay), sharing a house with people (sharehouse/shareflat) or sharing a room with somebody. Be very aware that rent is calculated off a weekly rate!. To suit your taste, the best tactic is probably:

1. Stay in a hostel for the first days
2. Visit the most appealing offers from the following sites:
   • Brisbane Homestay
   • Homestayfinder
   • flatmates
   • gumtree
3. Upon signing, make sure you receive an RTA form for the bond. This will ensure, that you will receive it back.

Gumtree is a site that you can use to buy and sell used stuff. Most of the trades of this type take place here.

On homestays: Homestays are an easy way to have bed under a dry roof in Australia. Everything depends on the type of hostfamily you are with. Some may want you to be there for dinner at 7 p.m., while others don’t.

Toowong is a good are to live if you like going out and are a people person. This area offers reasonably cheap housing, a lively neighborhood, good connection to trains and CityCats, and is the suburb next to St. Lucia, where the University Of Queensland is located.