How did you actually look for an apartment?

[buliwyf]

Of course there's the internet, but many people say they actually landed first and "manually" looked for an apartment.

Did you just walk around looking for "for rent" signs and started calling the phone numbers? Are there classifieds papers that are more useful than craigslist/kijiji/etc?

 

[steaky]

You can take note of how this member manually looked for an apartment:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t120819.0.html

 

[buliwyf]

Thanks steaky. You're very helpful, as always.

 

[mic8400]

Personally I found a lot of good sites, but if you're looking just to get a good idea of the market, you can check Craigslist and Kajiji. But if you're almost ready to make the move, you might want to just find a locator in the area you want to move. They know the area better (most likely) and can point you in the right direction instead of stumbling around blind.

 

[mic8400]

Steaky coming through like a champ! That was a perfect thread! ;D

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Another online tool to use to find an apartment for rent of a house to buy is:

http://www.realtor.ca/splash.aspx

 

[steaky]

Many property owners prey on newcomers like you, often charging you higher rent and raising the rent every year, which is a part of the game called the Canadian immigration ponzi scheme.

It is legal for home owners to raise the rent every year. If you don't like it, you can move elsewhere. No one is forcing you to accept. Instead, this is a part of the game called "Free Market".

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

It is legal for home owners to raise the rent every year. If you don't like it, you can move elsewhere. No one is forcing you to accept. Instead, this is a part of the game called "Free Market".

This is absolutely correct. I would like to add that each province will have regulations as to how much any legal landlord can raise the rent every 12 months. It would be a good idea for anyone to Google the landlord/tenant rules for their province.

 

[mic8400]

Really? Ponzi scheme? Get out of here with that non-sense. Either you come from a 3rd world country that operates completely differently, or you are the most pesemistic person I have ever heard of. It's exactly as mentioned before, FREE MARKET. And they do that in most major countries, so either move to Ethiopia, or get over it. :-*

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Looks like Cocosyr made a new account.

 

[mic8400]

LMAO, God I hope not. I see enough negative people on a daily basis. I don't need another one trying to crap on my dreams lol.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

LMAO, God I hope not. I see enough negative people on a daily basis. I don't need another one trying to crap on my dreams lol.

LOL. I'm ok with negativity so long as they have the right info in the first place. My own experience with CIC has left me with a very negative view,

 

[mic8400]

there's negative and then there's just downright nasty.... lol

 

[scylla]

My landlord raises our rent almost every year, sometimes twice a year. The other native-born Canadian tenants in my building didn't have the same rental increase we had, but only the immigrants. I found many immigrant friends of mine having the same issue. A free market? Yeah it seems it's a free market specifically designed to prey on immigrants like us.

Your argument is illogical and demonstrate a lack of understanding / research.

Your argument would only hold water if the landlord / tenant act supported different policies for new immigrants vs. established Canadians. This isn't the case. The rules are the same for everyone. What you're describing is a bad landlord who is raising rents more frequently than allowed because those he's victimizing don't know the rules and he's taking advantage of them. It would be very easy to report this issue to the rental board and the landlord would have to retract any illegal rental increases.

My husband (American) spent 15 years living in the middle east and faced the same problems. Landlords would always try to charge him far more than the going rate for rentals because he wasn't from there. After being tricked a few times into paying more, he educated himself about the process and going rates and started negotiating the rates down to the market rate.

This happens everywhere in the world. It's not unique to Canada. It's up to the individual to educate themselves about the process. And if a landlord is doing something illegal - report them. Canada has VERY strong tenant protection acts.

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Nobody's making an argument, and you don't seem to get the problem here either. Sad for you to compare Canada with the backward Middle East, probably the most racist parts of the world. At least we know where you are coming from now. No, this does NOT happen everywhere, especially in a civilized country, and this is one of the many reasons why many people consider Canada as a third-world country where such abuse of tenants is quite common. The main housing problem in Canada is the demand for apts is more than supply, which is created by admitting a massive number of immigrants every year. Think about where all these immigrants end up. We are at the mercy of these uneducated and greedy landlords without any moral standards who exploit every loophole of the primitive Canadian Landlord and Tenant Law. Potential immigrants, be warned about these savage Canadian landlords.

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