If you’re planning on making the move to Toronto and finding a rental, you will soon be faced with the reality of navigating Toronto’s competitive rental market. Luckily, as an experienced Toronto rental agent, I’ve put together my list of 7 tips for renting in Toronto.
But, before we get into the tips, we need to understand how competitive Toronto’s rental market is and why it is so competitive.
Let’s begin.
Toronto Rental Market Overview
If you have already started your search for a Toronto rental, you probably found out quite early the Toronto rental market is a competitive market right now. If you have not started your search, you will soon find this out quite quickly. When determining the competitiveness of a rental market, there are a few important factors we look at to determine how competitive it is.
- How fast are units being leased?
- How much are units being leased for?
- What is the volume of transactions?
Although we have seen a decrease in the number of units being leased year-over-year, rental prices in Toronto are continuing to rise. We are seeing this drive in competition primarily driven by the interest rate hikes of 2022. As interest rates continue to increase, buyers who were ready to buy are now unable to qualify. For some, it makes more sense to rent now than it does to buy. This has created a backlog of renters in the Toronto real estate market.
As interest rates rise, the carrying costs of properties have also increased for landlords. This means landlords are taking full advantage of rent increases to cover costs. If their rental unit is rent protected, when it becomes vacant again and they put it on the market for lease, you’ll notice the rent price is much higher than it once was.
Now that we know why the rental market is so competitive in Toronto, let’s go over my best 7 tips when it comes to renting in Toronto. If you follow these tips, I’m confident your rental process will go a lot smoother.
1 - Use A Real Estate Agent
The first tip I can offer is you should use a real estate agent to help you find a rental in Toronto. Getting the help of an experienced REALTOR® such as Marco Pedri, Broker with Shoreline Realty Corp., Brokerage, will give you access to years of knowledge and negotiating experience at no additional cost. Using a leasing agent will benefit you greatly when looking for an apartment in Toronto. Those benefits are:
- It’s free
- It saves you time
- They will know the local market
- They are expert negotiators
- They will know what is and isn’t allowed
- You will gain access to more rental units
- They will legally work in your best interest
- They know the red flags to look out for in a rental unit
Real estate agents have plenty of knowledge and help they can offer to prospective tenants. They know all the right questions to ask when looking to rent a home and most of your questions, concerns and pain points can be resolved with the help of a real estate agent.
2 - Familiarize Yourself With The Standard Lease
In Ontario, there is a standard lease form to use for all residential leases. The Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease) is the standard form for all Ontario leases to be completed on. This helps create a streamlined process for documentation which helps mitigate confusion from different landlords. Before you make an offer on any property, consider reading over the standard lease agreement since this is the form your lease will be built on. You can read the different sections at your leisure and there is even an Appendix filled with answers to your most common questions.
3 - Manage Expectations
Depending where you’re looking, it is important to manage expectations with what type of rental you will find as it relates to your budget for monthly rent. If this is your first time renting a condo in downtown Toronto, you will find the additional amenities come at a premium.
For example, if you are looking for a parking spot with your rental unit in downtown Toronto, you can expect to pay anywhere from $100 – $200 above the average monthly rent. Parking is becoming rarer and rarer as newer buildings tend to provide less parking space compared to the number of units. Usually, parking is commonly found for units with more than one bedroom. If you are looking for a one-bedroom condo with parking, expect to pay a premium.
Toronto is also an old city and old buildings are no strangers. Luckily, these older buildings usually have a good property manager and board of directors keeping the building updated. Although it might not look aesthetically pleasing from the outside, these apartments are still great places to call home.
4 - Create A Gameplan
The Toronto rental market moves fast. If you are working with an experienced REALTOR® such as Marco Pedri, you will develop a game plan before you begin searching. I have seen condos leased in less than 24 hours! I always wondered how it was possible but I have formulated my own game plan with clients and it works perfectly.
Each day I will look at the available apartments for rent that just hit the market earlier in the morning. By 2 p.m., I would send my clients a list of those 3 – 5 condos and ask them to pick approximately 2 to view later in the evening. I would arrange viewings for those condos around 6 p.m. and we would go for our showing. If they liked a unit, I would be able to put together an offer, send it in the same night, and let the listing agent present the offer the following morning. If all goes well, they will be accepted and the unit will be leased in less than 24 hours. A game plan like this needs the cooperation of both the real estate agent and the tenant. Not everyone has the luxury of having such flexible schedules.
5 - Have All Supporting Documentation Ready
With the Toronto rental market moving fast, you need to make sure you have everything ready so when the dream home comes along, you can act on it and beat out the competition. You can put yourself in a better position by making sure you have all supporting documents ready. This may include:
- Rental application
- Letter of employment
- Credit check
- Pay stubs
- Photo I.D.
- References
These are the most common documents tenants typically provide a prospective landlord to help support their offer.
6 - Do Not Get Discouraged
One of the most important factors of being successful in Toronto’s rental market is to not get discouraged. Trying to rent in Toronto may seem impossible at times, but trust me, it isn’t. Be prepared to not have your offer accepted the first time around. You may need to submit multiple offers on multiple rentals. I strongly believe the perfect home will come when the time is right and if you lose out on an offer, it wasn’t meant to be. As long as you are persistent and do not give up, you will find an apartment to rent in Toronto.
7 - Give Yourself Time
This leads me to my final tip. Give yourself plenty of time.
I would strongly recommend giving yourself approximately 60 – 90 days to find an apartment to rent in Toronto. Giving yourself plenty of time to find the right space has its benefits. It gives you time to decide on the right location and space, helps you negotiate to be flexible with the date, and allows you time to research. You do not want to find yourself in a pinch where you need to figure out your living situation immediately leaving you to sign a lease in a bad neighbourhood.
If you are ready to find an apartment or loft in Toronto, connect with real estate broker Marco Pedri who can offer concierge services for your rental needs. Marco Pedri has nearly a decade’s worth of experience helping many landlords and prospective tenants with their renting needs.
