ExKiwilass

I have had a few friends looking to rent in Van, north burnaby, east van lately and here is what they've said about the rental market:

1 friend found a studio (that means no bedroom) for under $1000 per month on the west side. When she went to see it, there were 100 other people there lined up to view it at the same time.

1 friend has given up trying to find a house in east van to rent even a part of. too much competition. She's staying put in north burnaby.

1 family has ended up paying more in rent for a whole house in North burnaby than they expected - same issue, too much competition, not enough choice

1 friend, new to the city, looking in the $3,000 to $4,000 per month range for a house in burnaby/north van/vancouver is struggling to find anything decent. Again, lots of competition.

The rental market sounds very very tight for anything decent.

beckiwoo

I found an amazing room on Kijiji earlier - well I say room - it was basically a single mattress inside a cupboard/built in wardrobe. I mean there was space to hang your clothes up but when you get up in the morning I'm guessing you would be pushing through to get out the 'room' - all this for $600 a month

ExKiwilass

wow, Beckiwoo! I'd snap that up.

hahahaha. oh dear.

ExKiwilass

Barbara Yaffe: Vancouver’s high house costs heat up rental market

scrubbedexpat091

Sounds about right. When we were looking for a place in June there was nearly nothing in our price range which didn't help since the max we could pay was 1,000 and that would have been a hardship financially, doable but hard.

We looked mostly in So. Vancouver as its the only area with a reasonable commute to the airport, but also looked in E. Vancouver which was worse and more demand.

One place we looked at was 800 a month, 1 bedroom, and it was a total dump, was like walking into 1970, and i am not kidding, original shag carpet in the hallways, original elevator, a membership sticker for some landlord association from 1980, so really not a nice place. The unit was even worse, mold on the ceiling in the bathroom, a pink tub that had so much scum on it, I am not even sure it could be cleaned. We walked out so fast.

We did find one nice place, and it was clean, pretty much everything we wanted, but there were many applicants, we did apply, but we were not chosen, we can't compete financially with renters in Vancouver.

We are really stuck in a high rent hell as I call it.

We stay put in Squamish, only logical option even though this place sucks..lol

scrubbedexpat091

Sounds like where I was living...lol

I had a twin bed, a chair, a TV, and a small dresser. Paid 450 a month, oh and only 1 tiny window there was no way I'd fit through in a fire, so I am pretty sure its about as illegal a suite as you could get, but its Vancouver, cheap housing isn't usually the safest housing.

beckiwoo

Yeah but you still got a chair and a dresser...and a window!!!!

compared to this place it sounds like luxury and less of a fire risk - your stuck in a cupboard with clothes hanging up and a fire breaks out...

So would you say the most sort after areas (apart from downtown) are East van and West van? I have been browsing on Craiglist as well but I'm a bit suspicious of the adverts especially those that want 'female lodgers ONLY'

JonboyE

West Vancouver is a separate city on the North Shore. Vancouver is divided by Quebec Street. (For the anally retentive people like me the divide should really be Main Street, one block away, but Quebec it is.) East of Quebec is East Vancouver. West of Quebec and south of False Creek is The Westside. West of Quebec and north of False Creek is Downtown and the West End. Within The Westside and East Vancouver there are distinct neighborhoods but this is all of the City of Vancouver.

ExKiwilass

Yes. West side and east side van more sought after.

withabix

Competition is pretty fierce out in Langley/Aldergrove/Abbotsford as well, especially if you want a single family home. I assume Maple Ridge/Mission are bad too, given the access to West Coast Express.

You will however pay half what you would in Vancouver.

Depending on how long you are willing to commute for, Langley and further out could make sense. Petrol errr Gas is 15c/litre cheaper east of 252 Street too!

When I have to, I can drive from west Abbotsford to downtown in an hour at peak time, pay $11 to park all day plus 2 x toll. Takes an hour going back too.

Fortunately my normal workplace is near Golden Ears bridge, which is 25 minutes door-to-door.

scrubbedexpat091

If you have the income to justify and support a commute, Fraser Valley is the way to go if you can't find something in Vancouver region that isn't crap.

But without a high income, add in gas, parking, tolls and it makes no economic sense, what you save in rent, you pay for in gas, time, tolls, and parking.

scrubbedexpat091

Yes true I did have a bit more in my room.....

Those female only ads are odd, I can say from when I was single and being male, it was very difficult to find a place to live.

withabix

Typo - 272 Street. Most of you probably knew that anyway.

felixtrebor

I'm about to start my search for permanent accommodation in Vancouver. It's just me and I have a budget of $2500 so I'm hopeful of finding something decent but it needs to be furnished.

I've looked a lot on craiglist but are there any other good sites to look on?

withabix

http://www.kijiji.ca/h-british-columbia/9007


Slightly fewer scam adverts than Craigslist...