Posts Under Personal Finance Category

So, as some may know – the boy and I are planning on moving in together (and downtown) by April. We started looking for apartments, and gosh is this a lot harder than I remember it being.

I’m quickly learning being a “grown up” with a big girl job and looking for a real apartment (aka not a student house or random apartment-above-landlords-5-minutes-from-campus) is an entirely different ball game (and frustrating as hell).

Finding an affordable apartment that isn’t a shoebox and isn’t in a location that will likely get me shot (Hi Jane&Finch!) seems next to impossible.

Pretty much, it goes like this:

Affordable. Decent size for two people. Not a basement. Good location. No bugs. Pick three.

And yes, before you ask – we’re still looking. Hopefully not for too much longer, but, you know.

Here’s ten nifty things I’ve learned so far.

"for rent abstract" by jerebu on Flickr.

1. Location is more important that you might think.

Part of the reason I’m moving out (and justifying it) is to be closer to downtown, making it MUCH easier for me to continue my freelance side projects, spend less time commuting to work, etc – but as I quickly discovered, location IS important. My boyfriend was all about location – he wanted to be close to a subway line, somewhat central, etc; but I was all like “whatever, I have a car! wheeee!”. Until I realized one of the areas I considered “awesome” in the west end would be an hour and a half TTC commute to work or, with traffic, STILL a 45 minute drive. Kind of defeats the purpose of “less time spent commuting”. Midtown and east end, here we come.

2. Balconies are expensive.

The Boy’s a smoker, and that’s something I’ve just come to accept. We have our ground rules about it (aka he can’t do it inside, or in his car when I’m in it, and never in my car); but as a smoker he wants a balcony – and I get that. I really do. But a place with a balcony seems to jump $150, if not more, a month in rent – and when you have other “needs” in a place (like, uh, affordable parking for two cars – more on that below) things like a balcony take a back seat. And a dishwasher, which he also wanted. Ha! Dishwasher. The compromise is if we don’t have a balcony, we’re hoping to be on a low floor of a high-rise or in a low-rise, so it’s easy for him to go downstairs and outside to smoke.

3. Finding “affordable” parking in Toronto is like finding a magic lamp.

Sometimes, you get lucky and find a building with parking for $50-$60 a month. It’s usually outdoors, and the buildings usually suck. Usually, outdoor parking averages around $60-70 a month, and indoors is even worse (I’m talking $85/mth and up). There go my dreams of never again scraping my windshield. I recognize many people are probably thinking “but you don’t need a car in Toronto!” and well, no, I don’t NEED one; but I already own one and a monthly metro pass is only a little less than my monthly insurance, so it just makes sense to keep it. I like being able to get groceries without hauling them down the street, or visiting out-of-town friends at my leisure. One building I’m in love with wants $125/mth for parking. Yeah, that knocked that building out of the running pretty quickly (tear).

4. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. That’s ok.

Because sometimes, the place disappears before you even get your viewing, and sometimes they rent it to that blasted 35-year-old single lawyer who makes 8 times your salary who was also at the open house – you can’t get discouraged, even though apartment hunting may be the bane of your existance.

5. It’s a lot of work.

I used to think actually MOVING was bad – the packing, unpacking, carrying couches – well, after moving 17 times in 6 years (I kid you not), I’m a pro at that part. I’ve got bubble wrapping dishes down to a science. But this looking for available places? It’s exhausting. We’ve only looked at a handful or two of places, and I scour the listings daily – but it feels like an eternity. And all the calling (on my lunch, because of course rental offices aren’t open after 5 and I work until 6) sucks. Not to mention all the landlords/supers who only want to show the apartment Monday-Friday between 9-5… uh… don’t you want someone who, I don’t know, works for a living to rent from you? This weekend we’re going to do a drive-by of the area we want to live in (first choice: Yonge & Eglinton) and look for availabilities, on recommendation of my co-worker. I do need to give a shout-out to my two new fav sites for listings though – PadMapper and MapItAt, both which let you search multiple listing sites by a number of parameters, and show results on a handy dandy map. Because really? Who knew that Fsdsoakdooewap Rd. was near Avenue and St. Clair?

6. Check your credit rating.

I didn’t do this right away – after our first “sorry, thanks but no thanks” I panicked and thought it must be my credit. It wasn’t. But checking my credit rating (which, according to Equifax is “excellent”) first would have saved me an afternoon of hyperventilating and overreacting. Yeah, I can be an “assume-the-worst-first” person sometimes. And if it ends up being “worst case” and you have less-than-stellar credit, you’ll know in advance and can approach the landlords about it in advance of an application, work to raise your credit, and avoid unnecessary panic attacks later on down the line.

7. Decide early on what’s most important (your “must-haves”) and what “would-be-nice”.

Affordable parking for one car (preferably two) nearby (street parking is fine) is a must-have for us, as is being a reasonable distance from my work (and from the downtown core). A balcony is a would-be-nice, as is an eat-in-kitchen. Good closet space is a must-have (or enough space for extra wardrobes/dressers comfortably) is a must-have, as is an actual bathtub in the bathroom. A dishwasher and L-shaped living/dining room is a “would be nice”. A non-basement apartment is a must-have (1. because of my need, literally, for lots of natural light and windows, and 2. because of my allergies and crappy immune system). No reports of bedbugs or cockroaches is a must have (uh, obviously). You get the idea. It’s really helped us narrow things down when we’re looking at apartments and keep a level head. When in doubt, refer to checklist.

8. Make and set a budget. Stick to it.

When we first started looking, I set a willy-nilly budget based on a random guess at my spending habits. When I actually sat down and made a REAL budget, I realized I had over shot by a few hundred a month… and forgotten to account for extra expenses like hydro, parking, and a landline if it’s an intercom system. Even still, I see apartments and think “oh, but it’s only xyz amount more a month…” and that’s bad, because when I add in the hydro being extra (if it is), the parking, etc; it ends up being way out of budget. So now I make sure every time I see a place I like, I divide the rent by two and add in all my extra expenses (parking, utilities, laundry, cable, etc) and make sure it’s still within my price range BEFORE even picking up the phone or emailing about the place.

9. Don’t settle, and don’t rush it.

We applied for the third apartment we saw (it got rented to someone else). At first, I was really disappointed – but then I started to remember the negative things about it. The hallways were icky (though the apartment was pristine). The on-site parking was tight and involved parallel parking (yeah, I suck at that) and for a second spot we’d have to rent from a building across the street and down. The bathroom was tiny. There was only one sink in the kitchen (not a double one). Sure, none of these things are major or deal-breakers - but we panicked (surprise, surprise) due to our bad luck of getting “sorry, we just rented it” calls before a scheduled viewing and applied right away. I was actually second guessing the decision before we were told it was rented to someone else, so in the end, I was a bit relieved. I’m not happy to have to keep looking, but hey – maybe the next awesome one will let us rent two parking spaces on-site AND have a double sink.

10. Don’t be too picky.

I know that sounds like a total contradiction of the previous one – but it’s true, especially if you’re trying to stick to a (fairly) tight budget. You have to accept that you might have to give up certain things (like an L-shaped living room) for other things (like two closets in the bedroom). Or you might have to trade a balcony for your perfect location. Even our deal breakers and “must-haves” are, to some extent, flexible if “otherwise” the place is PERFECT or we just have an amazing vibe about it. The only thing I CAN’T bend about, really, is my budget – so I have to be willing to be a little flexible. Where I’m not willing to be flexible? If the place has bed bug reports or really bad reviews by tenants online. Or if it’s owned by CapReit.

And if all else fails? Quit your job and move out west.

(Kidding, mom!)

If you have any advice, comments, or experience with the apartment hunt in Toronto – I’d love to hear it!