How to rent a flat in Auckland

[dearting]

Hi. I am begging every New Zealander, esp people from Auckland, to give me as much advice about flatting as you can.
I will arrive in Auckland on 26 Aug 2007 since my course will commence on 27 Aug. But after months of searching, I still fail to find an accommodation. All I hope is simple—to rent a flat within a walking distance to the University of Auckland (UOA). Being a female budget student, I find it extremely difficult to pick an affordable, safe and clean place. UOA does recommend me good web sites about renting a flat, including www.dbh.govt.nz/housing/tenancy/ and www.nzflatmates.co.nz. But I need ‘pay’ to read the landlord’s contact details for the latter one. So I keep searching another good web site. I even printed a lot of detailed map of Central Auckland so that I can check how far a flat is from UOA. And fortunately, I discovered a useful one which is similar to GeoExpat-- http://www.backpackerboard.co.nz/forum/index.php and it advises me a free flatting URL: http://www.flatfinder.co.nz/, which I appreciate so much. But the problem is that I do not know how to persuade a landlord to save me a bedroom from the date I arrive there. I did e-mail to a few landlords but none replied me yet. My budget is $90 - $150 NZ per week, is it possible that I can rent a decent bedroom near to UOA??? As I am in HK and I cannot come to view the apartment until 26 Aug, is it reasonable that I ask the landlord to e-mail me some photos of their flats? But the ultimate question is always this one: how can I guarantee a favourite room???
I decide to rent a flat among all options because I like to cook for myself and also, after comparing the costs, I believe flatting is the cheapest and safest one. Am I right???http://static.geoexpat.com/forum/images/icons/icon5.gif
Question
Please help me.

[sp1key]

try this http://www.princeton.co.nz/

its 2 minutes walk from UOA city campus. rooms are rather small but u've everything u need in that place with proper security and all. quite new too. not sure whats the price like now but they're open to offer you a lower price if you plan to stay mid-long term just email or call them up.

alternatively search slowly through www.trademe.co.nz (nz's ebay)

[dearting]

Thank you so much, sp1key. The two web sites are helpful, esp the latter one.