Neillybhoy

Hi Folks,

Into the last few months before our move to Ontario in May and now im swinging between moments of pure elation and panic attacks.

One thing i didnt take into consideration was how long it would take from viewing a rental property to being able to move in, can anyone shed some light on the timescales? as one realtor has told us it could be 30-90 days from signing a lease until gaining possession.

Our plan was to land early May and have 20-30 properties lined up to view in the Oakville/Burlington/Milton area then find one that fits the bill asap and hopefully be moved in within 2-4 weeks. Was i being completely unrealistic with this timeline as I may have to re-visit the goodwill of relatives or find some temp accommodation to tide us over.

thanks again for the advice!!

N.

snowcandy

We were in a hotel in Calgary for a month when we arrived last year. We arranged to view about 8 properties within the first week, having first driven around and looked at the outside and the areas etc. We viewed during the second week and then had a couple of second viewings. Signed the paperwork at the beginning of week 3 and moved in a week later.

I guess it depends on whether the property is vacant at the time of advertising. some we viewed were ready to move straight into, others were available a couple of weeks later.

In the end it was a lot less complicated than we anticipated.

Good Luck

LucyLovelock

Not sure if out east is that different but we moved over and stayed with friends for the first 10 days....after day three we viewed a couple of rentals in town, chose the second one and had the keys within 48 hours!!!
Just be wary of the realtor painting a bad picture of renting and pushing you towards buying!!have heard that story way too many times!!!

Geordie Lass

Phew.... I read your post and my heart started beating a bit faster then! Glad of the good replies so far.

90 days to get into a rental?? my letting agent here says she needs 3 days from us moving out to someone coming in. That's more like it!

ireland2canada

90 days sounds a bit much, but 60 would not be unreasonable or unheard of (in Toronto anyway). As someone has already said, it depends if the rental is vacant or not. If it is, then you can be in there as soon as the deal is done, the money has changed hands and the references have been checked out. If the place is occupied, then a 60 day notice period for the current tenant to leave would be normal.

Neillybhoy

Thanks folks, puts my mind at ease! I suppose we just have to be prepared with credit checks etc and have all the info listed on the wiki and we should sorted quickly

Cheers!

113 days to go!

YYZlover

In November last year, I went to see a couple of rental apartments/condos. As the rental manager now has met me, we can settle things via post, should I chose to live there. That would mean I can land, get there, pick up the key, walk in, drop my bags. Turn around, get a van, go to IKEA (or any other chosen furniture shop) buy what I need and once I have everything in start putting them together. Alternatively, I can let them know when a delivery of furniture will happen, they will let the delivery in, I land, get my key, drop bags and start assembling furniture.

To settle contracts I need to show proof of funds. A copy of a bank statement (preferably a Canadian bank) was sufficient.

Chookie

When we moved to Calgary, we hadn't arranged anywhere to live at all, we had booked 2 weeks in a motel with the intention that if we hadn't found anywhere to live in those 2 weeks we would extend it.

On the way out of the airport, Mr Chookie picked up a copy of the Calgary Herald, and he found several rental properties advertized in there... he called one, we went to look at it on our second day and arranged to rent it (it was in a nice area - Varsity, was big enough for our family and available immediately - quite a nice house all in all, even if it could have done with a good coat of paint inside).

We got the contract signed, the first months rent and a damage deposit paid and moved in once our motel rental was up - and I got the impression that we could have had it almost immediately as there was no one in the house - the only reason it took 2 weeks was that we had booked 2 weeks in the motel and couldn't see any reason to waste it.

Our landlord wanted a credit check (which of course showed absolutely nothing as we had only been in the country a handful of days), a months rent in advance and a damage deposit of a months rent.

And because we hadn't had any furniture shipped (no point shipping cheak ikea furniture to a city where there is an Ikea!) we then headed to Ikea, bought everything we needed to furnish the house and arranged for it to be delivered on the day we moved in.

And then we spent ages with a borrowed drill and screwdriver bit (thanks to the people next door!) putting it all together...

lmartin999

Is sitting in an IKEA furnished house in Burlington considered achieving one's dream?

Novocastrian

Probably not, but it's a first step on the golden path to becoming <gasp> Canadian.

Chookie

Not necessarily - but it was an easy, quick and cheap way of getting everything we needed in one fell swoop.

And when you have young kids, you want the kind of furniture that you are not going to worry about when they accidentally colour off the edge of the paper and all over the dining table, or when they scoot cars across the floor, knocking chunks out of the chair legs.

As far as I am concerned, the time to get decent furniture is once the kids are older.

Siouxie

If the OP is coming to Ontario, they should be aware that security/damage deposits are not allowed. They will be required to pay the 1st and last months' rent, the last months' rent the landlord must pay interest on to you.

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/reh...h/fash_009.cfm

Walsh Clan

Landed on Sunday, looked at houses all day Monday, bought on Monday evening, moved in 30 days later. Very clean!

Dashie

Maybe tell your realtor that you're only prepared to look at properties available immediately?

Also, you could look at property management companies for condos/apartments.

YYZlover

I offered one rental agent for Del that I would be willing to pay 1 year upfront and was told it is illegal for the landlord to take one year rent upfront so the offer was declined. First and last and that's it.