Choosing a place to live in Toronto is a complicated process. Where do you search? There are old standbys such as Craigslist and Kijiji, but there are also other good options, like PadMapper. The mapping-based design helps when your apartment search is neighbourhood-driven.
PadMapper
PadMapper is an intuitive map-based site that helps you find your ideal apartment. With the ability to filter by the number of rooms, price and accommodation type this site will be a great resource when your neighbourhood selection drives your search.
Toronto Rentals
Toronto is a city of diverse neighbourhoods, and with such a large variety of housing available, it’s no wonder why so many people call this place home. Toronto Rentals can help you find your perfect new rental by sorting listings by price range, property type, bedroom count, whether the unit is furnished or unfurnished and even pet-friendliness. The site has hundreds of units in list or map format for those who are looking to browse through their options.
Walk Score
Walk Score is an application that provides information on the commute time and walkability of a certain area. For example, if you are looking for apartments in Toronto, you can search by commute times or how close they are to public transit. This is useful because it lets people know if they will be able to get around without driving and helps them find the neighbourhood with the best combination of affordability and convenience.
Rent Seeker
Rent Seeker is an app that makes it easy to find apartments in Toronto. You can search for the type of unit you’re looking for and then view three property details about each one, including floor plans and photos. Alongside the average rent price, this app also shows how much space you’ll get with a specific unit size.
An innovative new way to find apartments in Toronto is through Rent Seeker! This amazing free service allows users to easily browse apartment listings by location, the number of bedrooms or bathrooms desired, and other specifications such as whether there are pets allowed on-site or not. With pictures and floorplans included alongside the average rental price per month, finding your next place has never been easier!
4Rent
Great for first-time renters. You can search by unit type, price range, and neighbourhood to find the perfect rental. If you’re not sure about the area a property is in, read through their tenant tips before deciding to make an offer!
Rentals.ca
Search for thousands of apartments with pet-friendly regulations, amenities, and features that suit your needs from coast to coast. From there you can filter rent, number of beds, even square footage to find the perfect fit in less than a minute.
View It
The website is perfect for apartment seekers who are looking to find an affordable rental in their preferred location. The site has listings and photos, so you can easily go through all of them before making your decision. You can also save queries and get email notifications once there’s a new listing!
Casalova
If you’re looking for your next Toronto condo, Casalova has everything from budget to size and availability date. Find the perfect Toronto condo today!
Condos.ca
If you’re looking to rent a condo, this website can help narrow down your search by letting you draw the area in which you want to live and then search for rental condos within that location. You can filter your search with Condos.ca by drawing the desired area and using it to find rental units within that space. The site is free as long as you sign up and are willing to browse around; sometimes this leads people into finding a great place they never would have found otherwise!
The site has all sorts of filters, letting you narrow down your search by things like whether or not the building offers parking, if it includes a locker, and what buildings are available. You can even sort by age of the building! The website also has some helpful analytics on every listing so that you know how many apartments are currently available in each location.
Realtors
If you’re looking for a condo, chances are your realtor has been guiding you to this website. Search for your dream home by narrowing down your search with preferences of budget, bedrooms, bathrooms and number of days on the market.
RentWell.ca
Toronto is a huge city, and finding an apartment or house for rent can be difficult. Toronto has one of the lowest vacancy rates in Canada, so you might need to expand your search to find what you’re looking for. Luckily, there are many great websites that make it easier than ever before! You can narrow your search based on size, number of locations or other features – just sign up and go from there.
Gottarent.com
GottaRent is a website created by the same company that owns Toronto.com and Toronto star to help you find your very own personal space in one of Canada’s most populous cities. You can search for rentals based on price, bedrooms, property type and much more. If you’re looking for something near amenities such as schools or parks, Gotta Rent will do their best to find it!
ApartmentLove.com
This website is your go-to for finding a place to live near any location, workplace, school or point of interest. You can filter the search results by bedrooms, price, whether a property is pet-friendly or smoking/non-smoking.
Kijiji.ca
As a well-known and recognized classified site that helps you sell everything from pets to second-hand cars, Kijiji has been making conscious efforts in recent times to make the site easier to use. However, as it is not a specialized rental website, many independent landlords list their apartments on Kijiji as well.
However, as it is not a specialized rental website, you may not find the advanced search tools that other websites offer. Also, you should read through the listings carefully to avoid any scams.
Look beyond the newest condos.
Check out older buildings.
The condo listings in Toronto are not only numerous, but they also come with a variety of perks. Condos built before 1991 have rent control and offer lower initial rental rates than their more modern counterparts. The condos that were built after 1991 don’t have any type of rent control, which could lead to higher costs or price hikes later on. To get the most bang for your buck when looking for a place to live, it’s worth considering an older building instead!
As well, older homes and apartment buildings are often owned by “career landlords” who take are active in maintaing the building.
Or try almost-finished ones.
On the flip side, renting a unit from a brand new building that’s not even finished yet could also lead to a deal.
Toronto renter Ben Singer has found a way to get under-market rent for his “pretty nice place” thanks to the fact that he moved in before the condo had its promised amenities and retail outlets.
“When I moved in, it was not exactly all finished — there was no LCBO, there was no Longo’s — but I’m currently paying the early move-in rent and have the amenities one would be paying a lot more for,” he says.
Singer pays $1,400 a month for his one-bedroom – on the higher end of what other apartments in the building cost. When he first moved into this apartment, rents were at an average of $1,700 but have been continually increasing.
“It was worth putting up with a fair bit of construction,” he adds.
Use a real estate agent.
Singer also swears by the real estate agent who did all the legwork. And he didn’t have to pay a penny for the service — the fees are paid by whoever is trying to rent out their unit.
“(Real estate agents) have the capacity to filter out a lot of stuff and save you a lot of time,” Singer says.
Ana Yavari, who is also renting right now in Toronto, takes a slightly different approach: Rather than using one agent, she finds it helpful to scour websites like Condos.ca and reach out to the agent of a specific place that catches her eye. She has found this strategy especially useful for places in the downtown area where there are so many listings.
“Your chances of snagging the unit before anyone else are much, much better,” she explains.
Cast a wide net
As a newcomer to the city, finding an affordable apartment is difficult. Luckily, there’s no shortage of resources for Toronto renters. Whether you’re searching for apartments in your neighbourhood or checking out listings across the city, make sure to explore as many options as possible.
Some websites offer expert advice on renting tips and tricks while others provide helpful tools like email notifications (from ViewIt or Condos.ca) that let you know when someone posts a listing that matches your criteria- be it price range, number of bedrooms/baths, specific location (ie., downtown), etc. Others cater to specific needs, like roommate-finding service Apartmate.
Come prepared to viewings.
When do you find your dream apartment, it can be competitive — so it helps to come prepared to viewings with all the possible documents and references a landlord might want.
These are the big three you’ll need at most viewings:
- References (personal, professional, past landlords). References can be anybody who knows you, outside of your family.
- Proof of employment letter (should include the contact information for your employer, when you started, and current salary)
- Credit Report is a must-have for tenants hoping to rent in Toronto. This should be the full report, including score and details.
It doesn’t hurt to have a chequebook handy, too, in case you can sign off on the lease and provide cheques for first and last month’s rent on the spot.
(However, if a landlord is asking for cold hard cash upfront, you might want to steer clear — as a Radio-Canada investigation recently revealed, buildings across the city are using tactics that violate provincial tenancy laws.)
If your credit score is low (below 650), there are ways to raise it over time. Also, see if the landlord will accept a co-signer as some will.
Be flexible
It’s good to keep in mind your apartment deal-breakers and neighbourhood preferences. But if you’re on a budget, Klaas encourages keeping an open mind.
“Our secret was being flexible with what we wanted,” she says. “We don’t need a shoebox apartment in the young, trendy areas of the city.”
Links:
- https://www.blogto.com/city/2015/08/the_top_5_apartment_rental_websites_in_toronto/
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/how-to-find-an-apartment-in-toronto-1.4004591
- https://www.rentwell.ca/blog/top-10-websites-for-apartment-rentals-in-toronto
- https://www.torontorentals.com/blog/best-apartment-rental-websites-in-toronto
Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash
