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-   -   Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/toronto-can-i-find-rental-place-before-we-move-930322/)

Winterdiva Jan 12th 2020 10:49 am

Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
I was wondering if its possible to finalize rental while we are still in the UK? We'll be moving with kids. So it'll be a lot of relief to move straight into our home ! I have a cousin studying in toronto. He can go and have look at the place, meet landlord etc ( so we'll not just be renting based on pics). We sold our house here and have over 100k CAD in our bank accounts. We also have spotless credit histories here. Would this help?

dbd33 Jan 12th 2020 1:27 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
Yes, you can.

glendem4 Jan 12th 2020 4:05 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
Difficult but not impossible. We decided to rent an Airbnb for 2 months to give us time to find the right place. Another thing to consider is the time you move over to Canada. Most people do not move in winter, so the rental choices will be less. It will probably take 2-3 months for your goods to arrive from the UK. If you are buying all new furniture and find the ideal location, then go for it. Otherwise I would be careful.

Novocastrian Jan 12th 2020 5:26 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12788645)
I was wondering if its possible to finalize rental while we are still in the UK? We'll be moving with kids. So it'll be a lot of relief to move straight into our home ! I have a cousin studying in toronto. He can go and have look at the place, meet landlord etc ( so we'll not just be renting based on pics). We sold our house here and have over 100k CAD in our bank accounts. We also have spotless credit histories here. Would this help?

Generally speaking, no, it wouldn't. I've read however that if you have a record with AMEX, they might transfer that to Canada. I've never done it so someone who has can confirm or deny.
Another specific way is that if you're an HSBC premier account holder in the UK you can pre-arranged a credit card with the same limit that you already enjoy (or don't depending). I have done that in reverse.

Winterdiva Jan 12th 2020 7:08 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12788778)
Generally speaking, no, it wouldn't. I've read however that if you have a record with AMEX, they might transfer that to Canada. I've never done it so someone who has can confirm or deny.
Another specific way is that if you're an HSBC premier account holder in the UK you can pre-arranged a credit card with the same limit that you already enjoy (or don't depending). I have done that in reverse.

Would I need all this to just rent a place?

Winterdiva Jan 12th 2020 7:09 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
Please can someone list what all I’ll need to rent a place?

Hurlabrick Jan 12th 2020 7:54 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12788822)
Please can someone list what all I’ll need to rent a place?

Have you seen the wiki article on precisely this subject?

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

dbd33 Jan 12th 2020 7:56 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12788822)
Please can someone list what all I’ll need to rent a place?

Money in a Canadian bank account.

Admittedly it's a while since I rented a house but I found that all I really needed was proof of funds; lots of funds relative to the rent. The local account is so you can write cheques which is what the landlord will expect.

Siouxie Jan 12th 2020 9:15 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Renting-Canada

Winterdiva Jan 13th 2020 10:58 am

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Siouxie (Post 12788852)

Thank you.

Winterdiva Jan 13th 2020 10:59 am

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Siouxie (Post 12788852)

Thank you .

sharkus Jan 13th 2020 1:55 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
The wiki is a great place to start, It might also be worth having a read of this: https://www.ontario.ca/page/renting-ontario-your-rights and LTB: Contact the LTB | SJTO


Lichisadave Jan 14th 2020 12:15 am

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
Hi we moved over 18 months ago and had a place ready for 2 days after we landed. You need a good realtor and the key to success is communicating quick reply to emails etc. Our Realtor was amazing we transferred money from our UK account to the landlord direct all the paperwork was emailed to us we simply printed it off signed it and resent it via email. We needed my husbands Canadian employment contract as proof of earnings and a ref from our UK landlord and also 2 personal references. That was it I think, so it is doable, I was like you just wanted to not have to be moving around too much with 2 children and a dog in tow. Good Luck

HGerchikov Jan 14th 2020 10:37 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 
Short answer is yes you can.

Longer answer - I am not sure I would want to commit to living for a full year in a place I have never seen. Also if you are shipping your furniture over you won't have anything in the house until it arrives so why not take an Airbnb for a couple of weeks and actually have some say in where you end up more long term.
Landlords will want to see employment letter, references and credit report as a minimum. They may also want to see proof of status in Canada. If you don't have these things then possible alternates might include bank statement showing a large amount of funds.

Finally - if you do decide to rent ahead of time - be careful using sites like Craigslist and Kijiji- there are a huge number of scams on there.



Winterdiva Jan 15th 2020 6:18 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by HGerchikov (Post 12789780)
Short answer is yes you can.

Longer answer - I am not sure I would want to commit to living for a full year in a place I have never seen. Also if you are shipping your furniture over you won't have anything in the house until it arrives so why not take an Airbnb for a couple of weeks and actually have some say in where you end up more long term.
Landlords will want to see employment letter, references and credit report as a minimum. They may also want to see proof of status in Canada. If you don't have these things then possible alternates might include bank statement showing a large amount of funds.

Finally - if you do decide to rent ahead of time - be careful using sites like Craigslist and Kijiji- there are a huge number of scams on there.

thanks for your post. We’ve been to Canada before and explored the towns/areas we shortlisted. Air bnb for a few weeks is nice, but I’m worried we won’t be able find a decent place to move in and get stuck in temporary accommodation for months!

scilly Jan 15th 2020 9:18 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12790195)
thanks for your post. We’ve been to Canada before and explored the towns/areas we shortlisted. Air bnb for a few weeks is nice, but I’m worried we won’t be able find a decent place to move in and get stuck in temporary accommodation for months!

But the advice often given on here, often from personal experience, is that you are much more likely to get stuck in rented accommodation in an area that you really don't like after living there for several weeks.

Exploring a town as a visitor is very very different from actually living in a neighbourhood!

A couple of months in temporary accommodation might well be preferable to 12 months in unsuitable ...... and also the latter would been uprooting the whole family once again, and possibly changing schools for the children, not because of getting into a "better" school but because you've moved into a different feeder area.

HGerchikov Jan 15th 2020 10:48 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12790195)
thanks for your post. We’ve been to Canada before and explored the towns/areas we shortlisted. Air bnb for a few weeks is nice, but I’m worried we won’t be able find a decent place to move in and get stuck in temporary accommodation for months!

I understand your concerns and they aren't without merit. The rental market in the GTA has been fierce with multiple offers on the good properties (particularly at the more reasonable price points), with that in mind you are unlikely to be able to secure a place more than 2 months before you move, tenant notice to landlord is 2 months so the landlord will only know about the upcoming vacancy at that time - they won't accept an offer for occupancy in 3 month's time because they won't want the vacant month in the middle. If you trust your relative to make the decision (and that is putting a lot of responsibility on them) then it can definitely be done. I have known people find rentals within a day or so of arrival and others where it has taken weeks due to just missing out on multiple offers, landlord deciding not to rent after all etc.....

no good name Jan 19th 2020 8:35 pm

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12788645)
I was wondering if its possible to finalize rental while we are still in the UK?

You can yes. We did. But be careful. Website, photos looked decent.. We put down a deposit to secure it. When we went to view it on arrival, the landlord/building management or whatever they are called (it was an apartment) were just in the process of evicting the previous tenants.. Crack users allegedely.. The apartment was a sh**hole. The hallway carpets were manky.
It's fair to say I wasnt impressed or happy with having my kids live there. We lost our full deposit. Great start to our shiny new and improved, "better" life...

Siouxie Jan 20th 2020 5:20 am

Re: Toronto - Can I find a rental place before we move?
 

Originally Posted by Winterdiva (Post 12788645)
I was wondering if its possible to finalize rental while we are still in the UK? We'll be moving with kids. So it'll be a lot of relief to move straight into our home ! I have a cousin studying in toronto. He can go and have look at the place, meet landlord etc ( so we'll not just be renting based on pics). We sold our house here and have over 100k CAD in our bank accounts. We also have spotless credit histories here. Would this help?

Your credit history in the UK is pretty much worthless here. Do have a read of our wiki on renting :) https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Renting-Canada

A few websites with advice on scam rentals, just in case you aren't aware - there's a lot of it around. I would suggest getting a good Realtor who can look for a property for you to rent, negotiate with the landlord, hold the deposit - sign off on your behalf.

https://www.thespruce.com/apartment-...d-avoid-155640
https://www.rentboard.ca/renter/fraud_and_scams.aspx
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeP...ms/RentalScams



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