Hi All

My partner and I will be moving to Toronto in August (initially for 1 year as I will do a post grad but hoping to stay permanently through finding jobs).

We are unsure of safe and affordable areas to live. We have a budget of about 1200 a month and need a 2 bedroom apartment/condo/flat. We need to be in easy access to Humber College and not more than 40min from downtown.

I would also like to know if you guys have any recommendation for estate agents. There are so many and we don't even know where to start.

Advice is much appreciated.

Many thanks

Good website for rental property: http://www.padmapper.com/

Which location will you be based at - Humber North Campus or Lakeshore?

I will be at the Humber North campus.

www.viewit.ca

Estate agents don't usually deal in rentals so you have to look at viewit, craigslist and kijjijj.

While this is largely true for Canada, we found that in Toronto things are different and real estate agents DO usually deal with rentals. So if you don't know where to begin, it may be an option to consider. However, you would have to pay a commission if you decide to use their services, so you may be better off just following dbd's advice and look for a flat yourself. It will not be that easy to arrange from abroad though... Is there any College housing available? That's in our experience the easiest way of securing a place to live without having to be in Canada.

If you go with the real estate agent option, you should look for one located in the area where you want to live, as they would know good from bad neighbourhoods.

Good luck!!

Humber North Campus is Etobicote.

There are many threads on here asking about Toronto Accommodation generally:http://britishexpats.com/forum/searc...archid=2857436

Other with general info on what each area or neighborhood is like: http://www.boldts.net/Toronto.shtml

This might be useful to see crime rates for each area: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/stati...crime_maps.php and also http://spotcrime.com/on/toronto



Edit - there are a couple of Real Estate Agents in the area who are on BE so perhaps one of them will be able to help.

I've had cause to be in that area with an hour to kill several times lately. It's awful. Don't live near it.

But, if you ever wondered where the fat black hookers you see on River or Jarvis get their clothes, or where to find flock pictures featuring someone other than Elvis, I can help with that.

Thanks to everyone else for the advice. I think we will just find a flat on our own through kijiji or one of the other sites. We actually found some nice looking places right at the edge of Missisauga on the other side of the 427. Places seem cheaper there. I am not that familiar with Massasauga so any experiences would be much appreciated.

@siouxie the links are really helpful! Many thanks.

@dbd33 thanks for the comment. When I visited Humber earlier this year I was not that impressed with the area either.

@Jo&Alex Unfortunately I would not be able to live in student accommodation cause I am bringing my cats with me

As you'll discover if you live there, the Massasauga typo is highly amusing.

It is, as you observed, a truly awful area. Will you have a car?

BTW another poster, YYZlover, is starting at Humber in September. You could PM her to see where she's been looking.

Haha Massassauga! "Damn you spell check!!!" *lol*

We are planning to have one car for my partner to commuter but hoped to live somewhere close enough to Humber for me to cycle. Which is why Mississauga seemed appealing. Is it just as bad as Humber area????

I will definitely contact YYZlover, thanks for this!

Cycling is not a year round possibility (for sane people). I suggested to YYZ that she might consider Yonge & Finch. Lots of apartments in your price range, a commute by public transport along Finch by bus to Humber is possible, (especially if, as a student, you can avoid rush hours) and you're on the northern end of the subway for easy access to downtown. I think young people sometimes go there for entertainment.

However, you would have to pay a commission if you decide to use their services, so you may be better off just following dbd's advice and look for a flat yourself.

Iv'e rented 4 properties and never paid commision. My realtor would claim half of the owners agents commission.

If you will be in Mississauga, you have to pay double fare for downtown TO (or anywhere in TO) commute through public transit. and west of 427 near humber is mostly industrial area plus yyz airport. so other than young-finch area you should consider condos and apartment near kipling and islington subway station.

Cycling most certainly is a year round possibility, even for sane people - e.g. me. Cycling straight after a snowfall is a problem but, otherwise, it's just a case of having the right kit: balaclava, mits (not gloves), waterproof trousers and a ski jacket work for me. I can count the days I've had to take the TTC to get to work in the last two years on the fingers of one hand (I still have all of them before you ask, the mits have warded off the frost bite so far...).

Just a warning, be careful when looking at Craiglist (or similar private adverts) for rentals. We found a really lovely house, looked great on google streetmap, included all utilities. Contacted the owner, who came back promptly. My OH just popped his name into google and he appeared on a scam alert website. This was our first enquiry......

We'll be googling all possible rentals in future too.