Wellington renters reveal desperate measures to try to get flats

There are already reports of queues out the door and flats being rented in minutes in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Those desperate to secure a roof over their heads in Wellington are resorting to making 'flat CVs' and posting pictures of themselves and baking on social media as a selling point.

Reports of queues out the door and flats being rented in minutes have already started to emerge as Wellington enters the silly season of renting.

If you want to find a flat in the capital's red hot market, be prepared to get nifty.

Most rental leases come up for renewal around this time of year and students are heading back to university.

If you're looking for a flat with a group, you best get together your flat CV, that's what the students will be doing, and young professionals are missing out to students.

A flat CV is sort of like what you would attach to a job application. In this case the job description is the ideal tenant.

Prospective tenants are printing out a page with photos of themselves and information about their achievements and hobbies to hand to property managers as they walk through the door at viewings.

Sarah Chung has found success doing this when she was looking for a flat as a student.

"At first, making a flat CV sounded ridiculous, but after the first viewing where more than 30 groups turned up, it was clear that we needed something extra to make an impression.

"We had a large group, so it seemed easier to put all of our details and life achievements onto a piece of paper for someone to read through instead of greasing up a landlord, who likely wouldn't even remember us anyway."

Camera shy? Get over it.

If you're an individual hoping to secure a room in a pre-existing flat, a popular option is to trawl through buy and sell Facebook pages.

But posting a pleading message on these forums no longer cuts the mustard; people are starting to post pictures of themselves too.

Dainya Turton and his partner live in Queenstown and are starting the Wellington flat hunt from the South Island.

They found it a bit strange how other hopefuls were posting pictures of themselves.

"It's sort of like putting an advert up for yourself and it's all fine on your own Facebook where you have your friends, but it's different putting it up on a buy sell page sort of like 'hey here's what I look like can I live at your house'?", Turton said.

But the pair changed their minds pretty quickly on second thought.

"I think it makes the advert a little more personal seeming we don't live in Wellington yet and can't come to viewings readily. I think it helps our chance rather a paragraph with no face at all."

Meg Wolmarans stepped the idea up a notch by posting a picture of cake and cookies saying "I also love baking and cooking, and frequently provide delicious baked treats".

She told the Herald- "I've been told by a lot of friends if you don't post a picture with it people usually just skip past it, but adding a picture of yourself or something meaningful to the post helps catch people's eye".

Regardless of what you do to try and get ahead, nothing changes the fact that applications for properties need to be filed at the speed of light.

If 50 groups have all viewed the same flat, an agent will probably need to draw the line somewhere.

That flat you viewed on a Saturday morning and really liked? If you left it until the same afternoon to apply for the property, you're probably already too late.

That's if the viewings ever happen- some properties are rented before you even get a look in.