Finding an Apartment

[fredr123]

Okay, here's the deal. I'm done University (finally) in a month or so. The wife and I are looking for a nice quiet apartment/condo/townhouse/basement suite for a year or so until I get a decent job and we can look at buying a house. How do you guys go about finding such a place? Is there any particular source (eg. newspaper ads, rental mags) that you have found work in the past?

And how would you deal with a situation like this: We're in a month to month lease at the moment. If we give notice on March 1 the soonest we can end the lease is March 31 which really means we need a place for April 1. A lot of the places we've been looking at want someone for March 1 and aren't willing to wait until April 1. Should we just give notice to end the tenancy and cross our fingers something nice comes up in a couple weeks or wait until we find something nice and then deal with the timing issues later?

Real estate in Calgary, whether it's renting or buying, is a bitch to get into...

[ratech]

I have a nice condo that I rent in Christie Park, but it won't be available to June. The people in there now are waiting for their house to be completed. Let me know if you can wait that long.

[ken0042]

Sites that I used when I was a renter:

http://www.rentfaster.ca/
http://www.lowcostrent.org/

I think I have more links in my favourites at work. I can check on Monday.

As for moving out, is there an option of taking a place for March 16? That way you can look now, decide on a place, and give your notice before the 1st. It's been 2 years sice I was last looking for a place to rent, but I found that with the housing boom it was really a renter's market; especially for people like me that were looking for a little bit of higher end places.

[FireFly]

You have to give your notice usually before you find a place, and it is worrisome, but you can usually find a place as everyone gives notice on the same day.

[BlackArcher101]

After moving 9 times in 4 years, I found the best way to find an apartment is to drive around. Many times renters put a Vacancy sign with a phone number on the property and don't place an ad anywhere. Whenever I tried the paper, either the suite would already be gone, or the renter leaves an ad running without removing it.

[ricosuave]

pm sent

[fredr123]

Thanks for the replies guys. The wife and I aren't in a super rush to find a new place and would actually prefer to take some time and find someplace nice so we can setup and stay awhile.

ratech: PM sent

ken0042: Thanks for the tips, I would appreciate it if you could pass along any other links you might have. One of the places we went to was willing to start our tenancy on the 15th or 16th so that doesn't seem to be as big a problem as I thought. It's just giving notice to end the tenancy without having a new place to move into still kinda worries me...

BlackArcher101: You mean I can't just use the internet for everything? Man, getting out into the real world sucks!

[Eddie Bronze]

All the ads from the Herald are listed in the classified section, on their website. I'm not going to expand on this further, but I do agree, renting is a pain in the ass and something I hope I'm done with very, very soon.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by fredr123

BlackArcher101: You mean I can't just use the internet for everything? Man, getting out into the real world sucks!

Not saying it doesn't work, just more often than not it doesn't. Actually, my last move I found the place online and put a deposit on it, all without even looking at it. I lucked out I guess.

[ken0042]

Here's the other links I have:

http://www.homebase.ca/
http://www.calgaryhomesforrent.com/index.cfm

And another article talking about how renting isn't always a bad thing:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/...ide/P37627.asp

[Bobblehead]

Has anyone tried Craiglist?
http://calgary.craigslist.org/

It isn't mentioned too much in Canada, but it is big in other places.

[ken0042]

Just had a quick look at Craigslist. One of the ads made me laugh out loud.
Pleasant surprise

I'm not sure I want to have any surprises when looking for a place to live.

[fredr123]

Thanks for all the links. The search continues...

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just had a quick look at Craigslist. One of the ads made me laugh out loud.
Pleasant surprise

I'm not sure I want to have any surprises when looking for a place to live.

Bwahaha

That reminds me of a movie from a few years ago, Duplex.

[flamingchina]

I wish craigslist was used more...
but then again, i am an internet addict who needs to find more outlets so I can spend more time online...
(damn you facebook!!)

If you want to rent a nicer place, driving around probably won't find you a great one, but if you don't care that much about quality, you can usually get the best deals doing that. (try and go for cash with your landlord, and get emm to bump down rent by 50$ or so..)

[V]

(try and go for cash with your landlord, and get emm to bump down rent by 50$ or so..)

Discount Renting.

It's the way to go, I think. As a guy that's possibly about to be a landlord, I think this is a fantastic idea. Promise the rentor that you'll take 50 bucks off of the rent if it is collected no later than the 1st of the month. That's what I'll be doing when I pick up my first place.