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Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: tania on 05 Jul 2010, 16:27

Title: remote renting
Post by: tania on 05 Jul 2010, 16:27
does anyone here have any experience with renting an apartment in a city you are about to move to while living in another city that is very far away? as i have already mentioned about a billion times (sorry, i know it is probably getting annoying), i am making a big move this august from toronto to vancouver and i need a place to live. i was hoping for a place with a lease beginning august 1st, which means i would pay for it before actually moving in; the alternative is finding a place with a lease beginning september 1st but then i arrive in vancouver with all my junk and about two weeks to find a place to live and i desperately want to avoid this route. i have contacted a few landlords already, but so far they have all said that they absolutely cannot rent to anybody without an appointment to meet them in person first and that most landlords in the area do the same, and therefore i probably won't have much luck trying to continue this way. residences at the university i will be attending are available, but i will probably apply only as a last resort because they are very, very expensive. i don't have much experience in this area, but i know people make big moves all the time so there must be some way to do this. what should i do, qc?
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Melodic on 05 Jul 2010, 16:32
just bring yr shit down. worst case scenario is you stay in a hostel for two weeks, which is way more than enough time to find a decent place.
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Metope on 05 Jul 2010, 16:48
Hey, this is exactly what my situation was up until last week! I'm moving from Oslo to Glasgow in September which means no viewings, meeting potential landlords or flatmates before the move in day. I looked for ages on various sites with no luck, and I was determined to not move without having a place to live, and I refuse to live in student housing seeing how that would have been a nightmare for me (living with a bunch of 18 year olds who just moved out for the first time? Kill me instead). Anyway, I contacted both landlords and private people with ads for rooms, but as soon as they found out I couldn't come see in person they didn't even bother replying. I found my flat because I put up an ad myself, where I listed how much i'd be willing to pay per month, my interests, that I'm clean and tidy (hey, I promise I will be by the time I move, don't judge), a couple of pictures and a few sentences about that I was unable to come see in person, and that I was terribly sorry about that, but that's just how the situation was. I got 5 replies during the first 24 hours, and now I have an amazing room in a great area of town for really cheap! Seriously, posting your own ad is the way to go. Good luck!
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: tania on 05 Jul 2010, 17:02
i just did that! it's on craigslist. i hope i don't die.
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Metope on 05 Jul 2010, 17:12
I posted mine on Gumtree which apparently is sort of the UK version of Craigslist? I don't know if that's true, I just found it randomly. I tried looking on the Glasgow Craigslist as well, but there were only 14 ads there in total for flats, so I assume it's not as popular outside of North America. It worked out great for me, although I did get a couple of strange responses. It's easy to ignore the weird people though, so I'm sure you'll be fine!
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Lunchbox on 05 Jul 2010, 17:30
You guys have Gumtree? I figured that was an Australian thing.
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: tania on 05 Jul 2010, 18:37
i got a response already! you were right kris, this is the way to go.
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Ballard on 05 Jul 2010, 20:52
The internet: not just for webcest anymore but for solving life problems woo

In all sincerity, awesome job guys!
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: Melodic on 05 Jul 2010, 23:48
solving life problems so that we may commit webcest
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: JD on 05 Jul 2010, 23:50
how singleminded
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: scarred on 05 Jul 2010, 23:51
i think you mean efficient
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: David_Dovey on 06 Jul 2010, 05:32
i think you mean hurr sex
Title: Re: remote renting
Post by: tania on 07 Jul 2010, 16:12
okay, so i did the private ad thing, i i got a bunch of responses and now i have narrowed it down to three rooms that will hopefully be just one by the end of the week. my other question to anybody who has experience renting this way is, how do you avoid scams? now that i am pretty close to securing an apartment and landlords and private owners are talking about deposits i am a little worried about who exactly i am giving my money to. the last lady who i called basically just takes cheques on a month to month basis and doesn't even have a lease, i am really tempted by her offer because she has the nicest place so far but i also desperately don't want to send my money to anyone and then find out that i don't actually have a place to live. what should i be looking out for?