Absolutely not what was meant.

I found the same until i signed up for a Yahoo.ca email address.....using this for Kijiji did the trick and I got responses.

Cheers

JB

I know, I think I was just feeling a bit down last night when I posted that to be honest.

We've been trying to get as many things sorted out in advance as possible but we have already ran into a fair amount of prejudice and we haven't even arrived in the country yet.

I know, it's a lot to take on and a lot to organize.

I would seriously doubt that you will encounter prejudice when it comes to apartment renting though. No one will care in Toronto, there are people here from what seems like every country on earth. Being an immigrant in this city is the norm! What matters is money and ability to pay the bills. You need to have a job and a boss who is willing to give you a reference. Not looking like someone who boils small creatures for fun helps too.

FWIW, I do have a nugget of positivity to share on the matter. When I rented my first place in Toronto I turned up with the cash readily available and a job that was a few minutes walk away. I had no references whatsoever as I had newly arrived in the country a month or so earlier and owned my own place back home. I got the apartment with no hassle and moved in a week later. It can be done! I think it comes down to personality, myself and the landlord hit it off.

The other thing is to make yourself more attractive than other applicants ( I'm not talking make up and stuff here )

We knew we would have difficulty because we didn't have jobs , so we offered a years rent upfront.

It took us two weeks to find somewhere.

Thanks, it could just be that I'm worrying unnecassarily I suppose. I do have a fair amount of cash readily available but was hoping to find a place to live before I really started serious job hunting. Do you know if that will really make a difference or will a landlord generally just shun an unemployed person regardless of funds?

If the job prospects aren't too terrible there then I could possibly do something like that I suppose.

In all honesty, I only really selected Toronto for our first point of call since I thought it would be easier to find work there.

We purposely moved over without jobs, so don't take our situation as any statement on the job market.

We had a bit of cash and figured we deserved a break

No that's OK. I was supposed to finish work in the UK before Christmas and then take a month off but I was asked at the last minute if I would stay for a few more weeks so I'm not in any massive hurry to find work when I get there and would sooner take a couple of weeks out to get my bearings and sort out a place to live first.

I haven't even bothered to try to find work from over here because of all of the horror stories about it but I didn't think that the landlords there would be as choosy as the employers.

I suppose I can only give my take on this and you have to know that all landlords are different. Some will be very throrough in screening their tenants, some will rent to anyone who wanders in their door. I would not want to live in a building where that happens.

I own a property back home which is rented to tenants and I sub-letted my apartment in Toronto as I was leaving before the lease term ended. I would not consider renting to anyone who is not employed, unless they were on benefits and in receipt of housing benefit (or whatever the Canadian equivilent may be). Even then they would not be my 1st choice. Then there is the type of job they do, is it a stable job with regular income or do they work for commission selling ice to eskimos?

I turned one guy away because he was an 'actor'. He was very nice and was dying to get the apartment but at the end of the day his employment was erratic and he was likely to move out before the end of the 12 month lease. The apartment went to someone who has a middle management office job, came nicely dressed, left a business card, followed up with a thank you email and showed a genuine desire to live in the unit and the area. They came with work and tenant references, a bank statement and a cheque book at the ready.

Unless the person has serious funds and is willing to put down some, if not all, of the rent for the term of the lease, then I don't know that they would be top of any landlord's list. That said, there are plenty of places out there and every building will have it's own take on things. If you can meet the person who actually owns the building then you can state your case and make an impression.

Rather than staying in a hotel for the first few weeks why not consider a holiday apartment rental? I mean something like the below is just over £1000 a month and is fully furnished:

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p349988

I think that's a bit out of our price range to be honest. Ideally I would certainly like to pay no more £750.

Personally speaking i would wait until you are over and can get a look at the areas you want, get a good agent and get them to help you.
It's no good looking on the internet as some places can look good in pictures, plus the normal here is a years lease, you do not want to be tied into something for a year and find it's not what you wanted.
Good luck

I was lucky enough to get in touch with couple of real estate agents near Toronto and the suggestion is to have a short term rental or a motel and look for a place where one wants to live.
Hope this helps.

...Geek

Yea sure, I just meant it might work out cheaper to stay in a "holiday rental" for a few weeks than a hotel to use as a base to explore and find more permanent accomodation.