heidi40

Hi everyone

We are moving to Vancouver at the end of July and looking to rent a nice place with min two bedrooms from 1st of August. Obviously can't find anything available for August from now on line. how do I go about finding one and reduce the amount of stress about where I am going to live and what is going to happen to my little dog.
Please any help would be appreciated. looking for something max 1500 CND.

How did you find your first rental accommodation?

Many thanks x

Chookie

We hadn't arranged our rental accommodation in advance when we came over - we just booked 2 weeks in a motel and planned to find somewhere once we were here.

As it happened, we managed to find a nice house about 4 days after we arrived - we picked up a copy of the Calgary herald at the airport and found the ad for it in there...

Phoned up and made an appointment to look at the place, and arranged to rent it there and then.

We stayed in that house for 2 years and the only reason we moved out was because we wanted to buy something.

phat-dave

i used Rent It Furnished and didnt have any dramas at all.... albeit they are a bit amateurish but in their defence they are young girls running the show and i got what i paid for, a nice 1br apartment in yaletown!

they arent cheap but they are convenient

terese677

we got ours arranged from the uk from www.vrbo.com (vacation rentals ny owner) we stayed there the first month then found something on Craigslist. it was lovely accomodation and we had somewhere to go when we arrived.
Good luck

Alberta_Rose

We found ours in www.Homerent.ca

mcdavis

We used Kijiji whilst still in the UK and asked a friend in Halifax to visit those that looked like good options. We started the rental a few weeks before we travelled - it meant we could give the shippers a definite location (useful as the shipment only took 3 weeks from door to door) and Immigration an address for PR cards, etc.

One downside we found was that at least 70% of the info requests we sent never received a reply.

ga1lf

I waited until I arrived in Vancouver before I really started looking. Found a nice 1 bedroom place using Craigslist but if you walk around the area you are looking to live, you might notice signs up with possible renting options. Just the other day I saw around 4 between Beach and Bute. Good luck and by the way it only took me 4 days to find the right place for me.

snowbabe24

My husband and I found our dream rental from craigslist. We placed an ad and within 7days had been contacted by our new landlord, stayed for 1 night in the accomodation then met and agreed the terms - Happy Days Still in Scotland and due to arrive in Whistler BC in September to take up residency - woohoo!!!! Good-luck in your search

Flyingscottie

Similar question... I'm worried about committing to a location and signing a year lease, then potentially getting a job which is no where near / not commutable...

What are people's thoughts on this?

Thanks

Yelkcub

If you drive, anywhere is commutable; it is just a case of bearing with the journey. However (I have found that) Canadians think that more than 20 minutes is a major journey to work. In London that would be working on your doorstep!

SarahBC

We found our first place in rent in BC by looking like sad puppies in the Croatian bakers.

When we told the baker we'd turned up in town with nowhere to live, he phoned a man who was refurbishing an ocean-view bungalow ready to rent it out. We made an appointment and went and viewed it.

It was very nice and cost us $550* a month. We stayed there until we bought our first house.

Sometimes telling people what you need works. And looking pitiful.

Sarah

*Somewhat out of the greater Vancouver area.

Flyingscottie

No driving, we are planning to live in downtown Toronto, but worried that hubbie may get a job in Markham or Missisauga which are outside the city.

marclouis

Recommendation of an estate agent, they will do anything to keep you happy knowing they have a potential sale. Then again, maybe they are just just great people anyway.

We were very happy in our serviced appartment and went on to buy from the agent whos property we were renting. He was very flexible on leaving notice which i guess is your big issue.

david_oz

Kijiji

everyone in canada does everything on kijiji

Chookie

WE found that turning up with 4 pretty little girls, and looking pitiful worked for us...

Technically, the agent that showed us the house should not have rented it to us because there was nothing showing on our credit rating (not surprising really seeing as we had only landed a couple of days earlier!) and he was supposed to check that we had a good credit rating.

But he was an immigrant himself and felt sorry for us... and as I said, the 4 pretty girls helped a bunch as well!