My Tips for Renting in Toronto

Hey all,

I'm a realtor working in Toronto and thought I would share some tips that I share with clients of mine when they're starting their rental search. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here and I'll also do my best to answer them :)

1. Start your search no more than 8 weeks before you plan on moving. Any earlier than that and you won't have very much luck. Why? Because 60 days notice for terminating a lease is standard, so that's about the earliest Landlords are re-listing their property. That being said, you can pretty easily find something a month or even two weeks before you move. A lot of the active listings you'll see on the market are for immediate/near immediate occupancy.

2. Have your employment letter, credit report and past landlord references on hand. It's a competitive rental market, and having these documents ready to go can really give you the upper hand if you need to quickly put an offer on a place. For Credit Reports, I find that the preferred credit bureau of Landlords is Equifax. You can purchase a report with the score through their website directly, or you can use a service like Borrowell that gives you one for free.

3. You may need more than just First and Last - keep this in mind when budgeting. While this is the standard deposit, Tenant's insurance and a Key/FOB deposit could also be a requirement for the unit you are renting. Also, Ikea.

4. When you're a tenant, using a Realtor is free because we get paid by our commission by the Landlord's side. Along with sending you listings and showing showing you homes, it's my job to guide you through the process and paperwork. Read your lease and any accompanying documents carefully before you sign! Which leads me to my next point...

5. If it feels like a scam, it's probably a scam. It's unfortunate that this is such a problem, but always do your due diligence when renting privately or from ads on Kijiji/Craigslist/ViewIt etc. Not saying that everyone is trying to steal your money, but it happens frequently enough that we should all be careful.

Like I said, if you have any specific questions or need help in your search, feel free to post here or shoot me a DM. Hope this helps :) Feel free to check me out on Facebook here or on Instagram here