Tempted to sign a year lease before arriving so it's sorted — but part of me thinks I should land in a short-term place first and learn the neighbourhoods. What did you do and would you do it again?
Short-term first, every time. I nearly locked into a "great" area that turned out to be a 45-minute commute from everything I actually do. A month on the ground taught me more than any map.
We did a month in an aparthotel and used it to view long-term places in person. Signing a year lease sight-unseen from abroad is how you end up above a nightclub.
Counterpoint: in a super-tight market, a decent long lease in hand beats arriving into a scramble. If the rental market's brutal, "sorted but imperfect" can beat "flexible but homeless". Depends on the city.
We compromised — short-term for six weeks, but started the long-term search before we flew so we hit the ground running. Best of both.
Sounds like it's "short-term first, unless the market's savage". That's a useful rule. Thanks all.