VishUK2Canada

Hi All,

First and foremost, I hope you all are well and keeping safe in these absolutely unprecedented times.

So, depending on Covid-19 and air travel restriction is lifted. I am hoping to move to Ottawa in the 1st/2nd week of August from the UK.

We are a family of 4, i.e. 2 adults and 2 kids

I will be working near the parliament and have been lucky enough to be in the job during the pandemic.

We have the below requirements for these areas – Glebe – Dows Lake, Centre Town (Byward Market, Sandy Hill, and New Edinburgh), West Boro, Nepean, and Becean Hill North

· 2+ or 3-bedroom House/Condo

· 1.5-2 bathrooms

· Walking distance elementary schools, shops for grocery, daycare and public transport

· All inclusive of utilities

· 6 months – 1-year lease

· Laundry within the condo/apartment

· Plenty of storage facilities

· Our budget for this is $ 2300

My questions are

· is this budget for monthly rent ok? Especially inclusive of utilities?

· and are these areas ok for family, schooling, any more suggestions for areas?

· Suggestions for good reliable rental agencies, please

· Also, from overall budgeting purposes, I have roughly estimated approximately $ 4700 month for a family of four. I understand this depends on family to family but if someone can let me know if I need to consider anything more than the below for the monthly costs please and if the rough estimate for a monthly budget is ok?

· Utility bills

· Rental/Home Insurance

· Rent/Mortgage

· Mobile

· Property tax

· Car costs including fuel

· Broadband

· Takeaway/Restaurant

· Grocery

· School costs

Thanks for all your help.

Regards,

Vish

Partially discharged

Hi Vish..$2300 a month won't cut it. Have you looked online for any listings.. Many of the rentals in those areas are 1 or 2 bedroom units in triplex buildings at $2500 + a month in rent. Nepean is big area and more suburban than all but Beacon Hill North.

Hull is a lot cheaper and within walking distance of Parliament..it is a bit grittier.

Have you got in contact with any property management/rental agencies for your search

VishUK2Canada

Firstly thanks for the reply, I have only used the usual search engines (rentals.ca, Kijiji, zumper, points2home) and I am getting some success but not as many. I haven't as such contacted property management/rental agencies directly, as I don't know many. Please can you kindly recommend, I have literally started researching about this?

I am in touch with some developers having flats/condo's e.g. CLV group, gemstone corp, Minto, etc.

My issue with anything across the river as I understand I can't have my kid's education in English due to the rules.

Partially discharged

Have you tried Padmapper? https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/ottawa-on

If you get any good leads or apartments that seem promising send me a PM with the address and I'll let you know what the area is like, pros and cons. I've lived in the west end of Ottawa for 20+ years.

VishUK2Canada

Thanks a lot for your help, will certainly do. As soon as I get a list ready, I'll PM you. Really appreciate it.

Also, if I may request, the budget that I have mentioned, roughly is that ok from your perspective, I understand it depends from family to family but would you include anything else to the list and the overall budget seems tight or ok or more? just a comment would be great for me to reflect

Partially discharged

So, I gather if you can afford $2300 a month in rent you have $2400 left over for the other items. Keep in mind on a rental you won't pay property tax as the landlord pays that but believe me you end up paying.

Utility bills if not included (typically electricity (called hydro), water, heat/ac) would probably be about $150/month on average. Mobile...very dependent on how much you want in terms of minutes/data. Go with a low cost provider and for 2 you can probably get by on $100 a month especially if you bring your own devices. Negotiate, negotiate those costs and play each provider off on another. If the provider also has tv and internet service you can bundle things. Don't believe the posted prices.

Car costs..depends on what you want. $350 a month including insurance may get you a basic mode of transport....car companies are hurting so deals may be possible. As well insurance companies need your business but I gather UK drivers have a hard time with transferring a good driving record.

Food - $500-$600 a month for 4? Not many restaurant options open these days.

Hope this helps.

Oakvillian

I don't know Ottawa, but from the perspective of looking for a family home for more than the short term, rather than looking at kijiji and the like I'd take a good look at realtor.ca - this is the multiple listing service (MLS) that the vast majority of properties for sale are listed on; it's also a good place to look for rentals. The rental filter is not well publicized on the main page, but if you pull up the detailed filter categories, you can choose for sale/to rent as well as all the usual budget/bedrooms/bathrooms etc choices. From a super-quick search, there seem to be some properties under your budget, but your choice (and the quality of accommodation) looks pretty limited unless you come up a couple hundred bucks.

Partially discharged

Good point...I'm 20 + years out of the rental market for myself in Ottawa but your tips are good. In my line of work I deal with different neighbourhoods of Ottawa a lot.

Hull and Gatineau are a lot cheaper places to rent but the schooling could be an issue in english. Kids are like sponges though and they can quickly pick up french. However as per this web posting

https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/comm...iving_in_hull/ some people don't think Hull looks too nice..akin to Belgium after the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educat...age_in_schools

Siouxie

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Renting-Canada

VishUK2Canada

Thanks a lot for this, it helps a lot

VishUK2Canada

I have just had a quick look and I see what you saying about another extra $ 200-300 and it makes a slight difference. Thanks once again for your input and direction

VishUK2Canada

Perfect as always.

I'll keep everyone posted, how I get on, and post my experiences when dealing with estate agents and developers.

Siouxie

With regards to vehicle insurance, get a copy of your record of no accidents from each insurance company you have used, together with a print of your drivers extract - they will help you in getting a cheaper deal. We have a wiki for that too https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...Canada#Ontario

If you are hoping to buy a property at some point then start collecting evidence of your credit history now - you won't have a credit history in Canada yet but there's a thing called 'Newcomer Mortgage' which requires a lower level of evidence - read the info on the Genworth link about what type of evidence you can provide instead of Credit Rating in Canada https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Mortgages-Canada

abner

And, Quebec's provincial taxation regime might prove more onerous, depending on your circumstances.

***

Re: education in English. It's a complicated and politically-fraught issue on both sides of the river, and I've been gone far too long from the area to usefully comment on the details of how to navigate it.

But I will make a general observation on the subject: Ottawa is a "company town"; its dominant industry is the federal government, and these days it's pretty much essential to be fluently bilingual (English/French) to get ahead within the federal civil service, or within the innumerable private-sector career-paths that deal with the government as a client.

Assuming you source a high-quality school, giving your child a bilingual or French-immersion education is quite worthwhile, if you intend for the family to 'settle' in Ottawa.

VishUK2Canada

hi Siouxie, thanks for the info regarding the insurance piece, I think, I can max go back up to 6-7 years of evidence from the UK, I am not sure if I'll be able to trace all of my 13 years of driving within the UK. Point noted it would be useful to collate as much evidence so that I can at least try or else the insurance is going to be HEAVY.

Also, thanks a lot regarding the mortgage piece as well, I am hoping to be in a position to buy something in 2 - 3 years time. I would have some deposit but do I jump in straight away after the first 12 months and buy or not, It is something I am working on at the moment. Also, I would want to physically live and explore different areas to see what can I afford ($ 400-475k). I understand this budget would limit me to condo's and maybe outskirts homes. Again, once I am there, maybe I'll get a better picture.