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Old 06-03-2012, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Florida
5 posts, read 6,835 times
Reputation: 10

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My partner and I have received our approval for Permanent Residency in Canada and will be immigrating from the US to Toronto around Nov. 1, 2012. We are planning an apartment scouting trip in late July to narrow down some areas of town. At this point we are concentrating on areas south of Eglinton, between Don Valley Parkway and High Park area with a budget of $1200 -$1500 per month. We will have a car but want to use TTC as much as possible. Our cat and small dog will also be coming with us so that may narrow down our choices. We are long term homeowners in the US and have been landlords in the past – so I would think we would be pretty good tenants.

After spending hours looking at rental web sites we seem to be drawn to older low-mid rise buildings with a mix of commercial and residential surroundings. We are not oposed to high rises but the more affordable options do not look very appealing. We have looked at some private rentals online but most of them have pet restrictions and/or are basements rentals.

We have been reading the posts here and have gotten some great ideas but have a few questions for the forum.

1)Does our budget seem reasonable based on our criteria?
2)Any neighborhoods within this area that you would highly recommend or avoid?
3)Any recommendations for Property Managers, Realtors, etc. who specialize in apartments in this area?
4)If you know someone who might have an apartment for rent starting around this time let me know.
5)Any other apartment hunting strategies that worked for you in the past?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.
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Old 06-03-2012, 11:21 AM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,651,270 times
Reputation: 7872
Welcome to Toronto!

1) If you are not looking for something very big, I think a budget of 1200-1500 is enough for your criteria. You only need to find landlords who don't mind pets.

2) You might want to avoid area on Dundas east of Church st west of DVP. Anywhere near Sherbourne between college and Queen st in downtown is pretty sketchy. I am not aware of anything risky else in the area you mentioned.

3) I don't think you need realtors. I have tried before. usually you don't pay much attention to clients with average budget. There is plenty of information online.

5) I recommend not renting an apartment before you see and walk around it, unless you know someone local who recommends it to you. Fly in first, spend a couple of weeks and do it by yourself. walk in your preferred neighbourhoods and find "for rent" signs - there are a lot of them.

keep in mind that properties near the main Yonge subway line tend to be pricier. You have more bang on your buck if you stay away from it a little bit if you don't mind. If you stay by Yonge st, chances are you can only afford a one-bedroom. but if you live away from it, $1500 is enough for a two bedroom in many areas outside downtown.

Another suggestion is that since you consider anything south of Eglinton, there is no need to restrict yourself west of the don valley. The area on Danforth, or Broadview is pretty nice, and not overpriced I suppose.

Feel free to ask about any neighbourhoods in Toronto. I know it can be pretty daunting if you have never lived here before!
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Old 06-03-2012, 02:07 PM
 
1,726 posts, read 5,844,630 times
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Landlords in Ontario can no longer legally prohibit pets from their rental properties. I am not sure of the exact details of this, but I know this law exists.
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Old 06-03-2012, 06:54 PM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,651,270 times
Reputation: 7872
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarp View Post
Landlords in Ontario can no longer legally prohibit pets from their rental properties. I am not sure of the exact details of this, but I know this law exists.
of course they can.

Pets do have an impact on property value (smelt, hair, allergy related issues), and landlords should have the right not to rent to pet owners. Actually landlords especially condo/house owners can refuse to rent to you for any random arbitrary reason, for example, for not liking the university you graduated from, or the fact you have blue eyes.
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Old 06-03-2012, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Florida
5 posts, read 6,835 times
Reputation: 10
botticelli – great advice and thanks for the details on areas to avoid and areas to consider. That is just what I needed. I will take a look at Danforth also . Another area that looked good was Yonge and Lawrence (even though it was north of Eglinton). We were hoping to have several weeks to scout out a place but it looks like a 4-5 day trip in July will have to work. We plan on staying in our preferred area and doing lots of walking and talking. Glad to hear there are lots of For Rent signs – lots of choices and maybe some eager landlords. Thanks again for the help!
tarp – thanks for the heads up. I checked and it is called RTA (Residential Tenancies Act) and it does offer some protection to tenants, however there appear to be lots of loopholes that allow landlords to get around the issue. I will have to do more research but it seems like the private landlords renting basements and condos can be more restrictive that property managers of large complexes.

Looking forward to the move and the chance to pull out some winter clothes!
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Old 06-04-2012, 03:27 AM
 
3,059 posts, read 8,255,644 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
of course they can.

Pets do have an impact on property value (smelt, hair, allergy related issues), and landlords should have the right not to rent to pet owners. Actually landlords especially condo/house owners can refuse to rent to you for any random arbitrary reason, for example, for not liking the university you graduated from, or the fact you have blue eyes.
It's a bit of a grey area - they can say "no pets" and not rent to you if they know you have one, but once you are in, they can't actually evict you if you have a pet and it is not causing problems: Information - How a Landlord Can Evict a Tenant

Can a landlord evict a tenant for having a pet?

"A tenant can be evicted for having a pet in their unit only if:

the pet is making too much noise, damaging the unit, or causing an allergic reaction, or
the animal or species is considered to be inherently dangerous.
Even if the tenancy agreement has a ‘no pets’ rule in it, the tenant cannot be evicted just for having a pet unless the Board decides in an order that the pet is causing a problem, or that the pet is inherently dangerous."
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Old 06-04-2012, 08:19 AM
 
325 posts, read 1,034,067 times
Reputation: 192
My advice would be to stay on the subway line, yonge or bloor. Some bus routes aren't so bad, some are death and you can't tell by a map, only experience.
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Old 06-04-2012, 08:49 AM
 
242 posts, read 508,918 times
Reputation: 233
Toronto is a great city. I'm sure you and your partner will love it here. Rental prices in Toronto are all over the map. Like people have already mentioned, the closer you are to the subway the more expensive the condo's will be. In your budget there will be some options but probably only 1 bedrooms near the subway. I am a Realtor with Royal LePage and my best advice is to keep an eye online: Kijiji is a great site for rentals, as well as Craigslist but there are many more.There are sometimes ads in the newspaper as well. I can search the Toronto MLS for you and send you an email of some rentals in Toronto, I know there are several in our system.

Good luck on your search!
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Old 06-04-2012, 11:35 AM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,651,270 times
Reputation: 7872
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlsoNotMe View Post
My advice would be to stay on the subway line, yonge or bloor. Some bus routes aren't so bad, some are death and you can't tell by a map, only experience.
subways are not exactly that reliable with the constant problems.

remember this Thursday, 2.4cm (an inch) of rain and the subways has to close from Osgood all the way to Bloor, during rush hours. Never understood how Union station was "flooded" with one inch rainfall, and why so many stations had to be closed.
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Old 06-04-2012, 04:36 PM
 
Location: Verde Valley
4,374 posts, read 11,188,247 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarp View Post
Landlords in Ontario can no longer legally prohibit pets from their rental properties. I am not sure of the exact details of this, but I know this law exists.
This is now the law in Ontario regardless of what other posters say to the contrary.

PS OP, the exact url you will need is kijiji.ca
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