How did you find your first place?

I am going to start contacting landlords and agents soon and was just wondering how others went about finding their first place. I know a lot of people had their work help them out or had family to stay with upon arrival. We are coming over for my wife to get her PhD and don't have the luxury of friends, family or employers. We are probably going to have to gamble on a place without actually being able to see it first. It has been suggested that we try to get a month-to-month and then look for a better place once there and that makes sense. I was just curious about others experiences.

When I moved over as a student, I found a flatshare listed on an accomodation page on my University's website. Perhaps your wife's Uni has an accomodation office that lists private rentals?

I have found subsequent flats through www.rightmove.co.uk. www.findaproperty.com and loot.co.uk would are two other good websites to look at.

We came over for the same reason (I'm the student). I used rightmove.co.uk and gumtree.com (it's like craigslist.org). If you're going to Scotland, there's also s1rental.com. Both of the flats we chose came from Right Move, and we had a better experience with a private landlord than with an agency.

we found our privately rented house through gumtree.

Before I moved I tried to find a flat and found that letting agents had no interest in helping from the US. At all. So, I found someone looking for a roommate. I forget the site...it was like easyroommate.co.uk or something like that. We had a hotel booked for when we first arrived, then I met the guy, we agreed about the room and I moved in a few days later. This gave me a place to stay while I looked for something more permanent. I lived with him for just over a month then I found a flat on rightmove.co.uk.

I know it's not ideal as a couple to move into a shared house, but it does give you time to get your feet on the ground, a chance to explore your town to determine where you would want to rent a flat, and an address so you can get a bank account which makes getting a lease a lot easier. It's also easier to find people willing to do short term in a shared house than someone willing to do a short term flat rental.

Thanks for the insights everyone!

Your uni might also have some limited married student accommodation available.

It has been suggested that we try to get a month-to-month and then look for a better place once there and that makes sense. I was just curious about others experiences.

I think this is a good idea.  We found a place on Gumtree that a guy was renting out for a few weeks while he was out of the country.  We stayed there and visited neighborhoods we liked, looking in the windows of estate agents to see what the price range was for rentals in the area.  When we saw things we liked, we'd go in ask to take a look.  It only took us 2 or 3 days to find something we liked.

Good luck!