Support NeoGAF

[buhdeh]

Hmm. I may have underestimated the prices in Toronto... thought they'd be lower than Vancouver but I guess the figures you guys are giving me means it's about the same. I'd probably be able to go up to $1100. I'll look into some 0BR places too since I don't absolutely NEED a bedroom.

 

[Dyno]

There's a new building going up at Bay and Dundas and it's going to be a rental.

I wonder how much they're asking?

 

[added_time]

There's a new building going up at Bay and Dundas and it's going to be a rental.

I wonder how much they're asking?

I'm curious about that too. It doesn't say on their website. In my opinion, the most overpriced apartments in Toronto are the condos along the waterfront that people rent out as apartments. Just an average place there can cost around 2000 for a one bedroom! The area is very stale at the moment too. It will take years to develop interesting retail around there (if it ever happens). There was a study about the people living in those buildings, that a lot of them move to them from the 905 region or from outside the country, so they may value the fact that the buildings are new and in good shape over character of the neighborhood.
(or who knows.. maybe they work in the financial district and like the idea of walking to work)

Anyways, I'm curious how the prices on a new rental building (they build very, very few new rental buildings these days) would compare to those units.

 

[scogoth]

There's a new building going up at Bay and Dundas and it's going to be a rental.

I wonder how much they're asking?

It's the same management company as the one on church and shuter so I'm go to ballpark $1100+ a month

 

[Willectro]

You'll be hard pressed to find a one bedroom for under $800, unless you are in some of the more undesirable neighbourhoods far outside of the core. Assuming you're going to be working downtown, you have a few options. Cluster of apartments at the foot of Forest Hill (Bathurst and St Clair) go for around $900. They're a short subway hop downtown. Apartments east along the Danforth run in the $850-$900 range (and much higher), quality varying by price of course. The Annex, around U of T (Spadina and Bloor, heading west) offers some of the cheaper apartments you'll find in a nicer neighbourhood, because of all the student housing. You'll probably be able to pull one in for around $900 on the lowest end of things, but most will run you more..

If you expand your budget into the $950 range, more places like Bloor Village West, the Beaches, Yonge and St Clair, as well as some apartment clusters downtown, open up to you. However if you really are pressed to stay under $800 per month, consider a bachelor, or renting a basement apartment. Basement apartments can go from terrible nightmares to incredibly nice new renos. A lot of course depends on the people you're renting from and respect for privacy.

My new 1 bedroom apartment is $1200 and most people say I got a steal with it. This is in the Annex (Dupont and Spadina).
You can get a bachelor for your price range in a nice area but a 1 bedroom in that price range would either require you to live in a bad area or an area that is far out from the city centre.

I agree with the above (besides basement apartments, try to avoid those if possible).

I'm paying $950 for a 1 bedroom around the west end of the Danforth, and I can honestly say I wouldn't want to see what apartments are like for any less money. I'm trying to save to purchase a house/condo in the future, so I have to take the good with the bad, but there are quite a few assholes in my building (and the building next to us especially). I had to sign that I wouldn't have pets or smoke in the apartment and it seems that I'm the only person in the building abiding by this (and apparently landlords don't have a lot of leverage to evict people for this).

Also (and others may disagree with me), you will get a better apartment for cheaper if you aren't on the subway line. Depending how you plan to get around this may not be a big deal, but personally I can't deal with buses/streetcars so being walking distance to a subway station was important for me.

This "Toronto Rent Heatmap" (xpost from www.reddit.com/r/toronto) gives you a general idea of prices I think: http://rentheatmap.com/toronto.html

 

[EvilMario]

I agree with the above (besides basement apartments, try to avoid those if possible).

I'm paying $950 for a 1 bedroom around the west end of the Danforth, and I can honestly say I wouldn't want to see what apartments are like for any less money. I'm trying to save to purchase a house/condo in the future, so I have to take the good with the bad, but there are quite a few assholes in my building (and the building next to us especially). I had to sign that I wouldn't have pets or smoke in the apartment and it seems that I'm the only person in the building abiding by this (and apparently landlords don't have a lot of leverage to evict people for this).

Also (and others may disagree with me), you will get a better apartment for cheaper if you aren't on the subway line. Depending how you plan to get around this may not be a big deal, but personally I can't deal with buses/streetcars so being walking distance to a subway station was important for me.

This "Toronto Rent Heatmap" (xpost from www.reddit.com/r/toronto) gives you a general idea of prices I think: http://rentheatmap.com/toronto.html

I'm not really advocating basement apartments as anything more than a last resort option. The odds of finding a great landlord who will actually respect your privacy, not want to share laundry machines in the basement and actually be up to code are slim. I've only rented one basement apartment when I first arrived and it was a true nightmare.

Apartment clusters around subway stations can be 'more expensive', but it's not always the case. Bloor West has access to multiple subway stations (Jane, Runnymede, High Park, Keele) and is cheaper than Roncesvalles, where you'll have to take the streetcar to the subway in most cases. Similar situation for buildings along the Danforth being cheaper than a lot of those units in the Beaches, which rely on streetcar and not subway. So really depends on the neighbourhoods in a lot of cases.

If you can, visit Toronto before the move and just walk around so prospective neighbourhoods. Not only will see you a butt load of FOR RENT signs out in front of buildings, but you'll get a better feel for the surroundings, amenities, etc.

 

[added_time]

FOR RENT signs out in front of buildings, but you'll get a better feel for the surroundings, amenities, etc.

Oh yeah! Every single apartment I've ever had, I got by calling after seeing a for rent sign. I looked at stuff I found online, but it was always overpriced or had 30 people looking at it so I would never get it because someone always had a better sounding job than me.
Thank fuck for the ever trusty "FOR RENT" sign.

 

[Azih]

Going by the rent heatmap are the East parts of the Danforth really that sketchy? GreekTown and areas seem fine to me on the rare occasions that I walk around there but rents seem to drop hard after Pape.

 

[EvilMario]

Going by the rent heatmap are the East parts of the Danforth really that sketchy? GreekTown and areas seem fine to me on the rare occasions that I walk around there but rents seem to drop hard after Pape.

The area around Victoria Park isn't terribad, but there are some auto shops and buildings that make it look a bit run down. The further toward Warden, the worse it becomes. But remember, you're also getting pretty far outside of downtown at that point. Definitely not as bad as Weston and Black Creek, which has similar results on the heat map.

edit: Funny that the map has my area of Swansea in the $1,200 plus range, but we rent a 1 br for $920 all inclusive. In fact, the apartments on Coe Hill don't go for much more than that, so I'm wondering where that number is coming from.

 

[krae_man]

Oh yeah! Every single apartment I've ever had, I got by calling after seeing a for rent sign. I looked at stuff I found online, but it was always overpriced or had 30 people looking at it so I would never get it because someone always had a better sounding job than me.
Thank fuck for the ever trusty "FOR RENT" sign.

I snagged mine because my landlord is older then dirt and put a text only add with no price or photos on Kijiji. I only called him because I just happened to check out a building down the street two days earlier and knew the street and location were nice and proper distances to everything I wanted. Otherwise like most people I would have completely ignored an ad with no pictures or price.

 

[Willectro]

I'm not really advocating basement apartments as anything more than a last resort option. The odds of finding a great landlord who will actually respect your privacy, not want to share laundry machines in the basement and actually be up to code are slim. I've only rented one basement apartment when I first arrived and it was a true nightmare.

Apartment clusters around subway stations can be 'more expensive', but it's not always the case. Bloor West has access to multiple subway stations (Jane, Runnymede, High Park, Keele) and is cheaper than Roncesvalles, where you'll have to take the streetcar to the subway in most cases. Similar situation for buildings along the Danforth being cheaper than a lot of those units in the Beaches, which rely on streetcar and not subway. So really depends on the neighbourhoods in a lot of cases.

If you can, visit Toronto before the move and just walk around so prospective neighbourhoods. Not only will see you a butt load of FOR RENT signs out in front of buildings, but you'll get a better feel for the surroundings, amenities, etc.

Haha, I had the same experience. Never again, under any circumstances.

Oh yeah! Every single apartment I've ever had, I got by calling after seeing a for rent sign. I looked at stuff I found online, but it was always overpriced or had 30 people looking at it so I would never get it because someone always had a better sounding job than me.
Thank fuck for the ever trusty "FOR RENT" sign.

This is a great tactic. Online is quite competitive it seems.

Going by the rent heatmap are the East parts of the Danforth really that sketchy? GreekTown and areas seem fine to me on the rare occasions that I walk around there but rents seem to drop hard after Pape.

The area around Victoria Park isn't terribad, but there are some auto shops and buildings that make it look a bit run down. The further toward Warden, the worse it becomes. But remember, you're also getting pretty far outside of downtown at that point. Definitely not as bad as Weston and Black Creek, which has similar results on the heat map.

edit: Funny that the map has my area of Swansea in the $1,200 plus range, but we rent a 1 br for $920 all inclusive. In fact, the apartments on Coe Hill don't go for much more than that, so I'm wondering where that number is coming from.

With very few exceptions, Danforth east of Pape is pretty rough. But yes, as EvilMario said, you are at that point getting to be quite far from the downtown anyway.

 

[added_time]

with very few exceptions, Danforth east of Pape is pretty rough.

My brother just bought a house at Danforth and Donlands and I visit him a lot and I think it's quite nice there. Although that is right next to Pape anyways. The furthest I think I could live is Greenwood. Ah fuck it, I could do Woodbine - I *am* from Scarborough after all.

 

[EvilMario]

Danforth is sort of like Bloor St on the west end. There are patches of good and bad. Lansdowne, Dundas West and Dufferin can be pretty sketchy neighbourhoods, but they're right next to Bloor West / High Park, the Junction, Roncesvalles and Ossington Village, which are some of the more highly sought after places to live. Just know your area before you move in and don't rent blind if you can help it.. which is why I recommend coming to the city first and seeing neighbourhoods first hand.

 

[Stage On]

So true...its pathetic.
I went last year...its exactly the same as it was 10 years ago.

One last question about the ROM, is that big T-Rex skeleton still there?

I also remember that dig site for kids, they'd give you brushes, and you could brush off the dirt that were on the "fossils"

You really think they are going to remove the most Iconic Dinosaur? T-rex is still there.

They still have a small dig site thing but it's been reduced in size

 

[Willectro]

My brother just bought a house at Danforth and Donlands and I visit him a lot and I think it's quite nice there. Although that is right next to Pape anyways. The furthest I think I could live is Greenwood. Ah fuck it, I could do Woodbine - I *am* from Scarborough after all.

Yea, I guess that's true of many neighborhoods. Scarborough even has a few nice areas, Guildwood for instance.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Haha, I had the same experience. Never again, under any circumstances.



This is a great tactic. Online is quite competitive it seems.





With very few exceptions, Danforth east of Pape is pretty rough. But yes, as EvilMario said, you are at that point getting to be quite far from the downtown anyway.

I live in Leslieville south of pape and am in the area a lot. Not sure what you mean by pretty rough.

 

[Kunohara]

I live in a basement apartment right now. $960 for a two bedroom. My wife and I have not had a problem living there. We have to share the washing machine, but it has never been a problem. I only have my neighbour above me, and it is just him and his dog, and is pretty quiet. We are in a nice neighbourhood also, and we are just around the corner from the 404.

We are pretty lucky, but we are saving up for a house as well. Basement appt's aren't as bad as you guys say.

 

[Divvy]

I live in a basement apartment right now. $960 for a two bedroom. My wife and I have not had a problem living there. We have to share the washing machine, but it has never been a problem. I only have my neighbour above me, and it is just him and his dog, and is pretty quiet. We are in a nice neighbourhood also, and we are just around the corner from the 404.

We are pretty lucky, but we are saving up for a house as well. Basement appt's aren't as bad as you guys say.

Is your ceiling higher than 6 feet? Do you get centipede infestations? Yeaaaa....

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Is your ceiling higher than 6 feet? Do you get centipede infestations? Yeaaaa....

Goddamm nobody is ever going to rent my basement apt. Its not bad

 

[Mr. F]

Living in a steal of a student house but starting to look around for when I graduate next year. Reading all this rent info makes me depressed, I'm going to be stuck in basement apartments for the rest of eternity if these prices hold true.

 

[Divvy]

Plus last time I lived in a basement, my landlord stole a whole chicken from our shared freezer! I can understand accidentally some pieces or something, but a whole chicken? It had my name on it too!

Fuck basements

 

[Roto13]

I've decided that I want to live in an apartment but I don't want to have any neighbours because all neighbours are terrible.

Now, how to make this happen? I'm leaning towards murder.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Plus last time I lived in a basement, my landlord stole a whole chicken from our shared freezer! I can understand accidentally some pieces or something, but a whole chicken? It had my name on it too!

Fuck basements

Really...it's not bad. You have your own fridge too...

 

[criesofthepast]

Oh, I have no idea! I suck at using forums. I don't post much on GAF though other than in this thread so I guess you could try to dig through my post history? Sorry, maybe someone else knows a better way to do it...

Thanks. There was one that had the CN Tower glowing red at night and a lot of gaffers commenting on how nice the photo was. Wasn't too long ago. I'll find it.

I'm saving up to move out myself. I'll probably be looking for September around U of T. I commute from Brampton so I'd be cutting out my transportation costs and commute time completely if I lived around campus. I've been scared to even check the prices though. :/

 

[Sober]

I've decided that I want to live in an apartment but I don't want to have any neighbours because all neighbours are terrible.

Now, how to make this happen? I'm leaning towards murder.

Well, I was going to say become stinking rich, buy out the entire building and live in it, but I guess murder is probably a bit easier.

 

[EvilMario]

I live in a basement apartment right now. $960 for a two bedroom. My wife and I have not had a problem living there. We have to share the washing machine, but it has never been a problem. I only have my neighbour above me, and it is just him and his dog, and is pretty quiet. We are in a nice neighbourhood also, and we are just around the corner from the 404.

We are pretty lucky, but we are saving up for a house as well. Basement appt's aren't as bad as you guys say.

Of the dozen, or so basement apartments I've seen and listening to the accounts of those that have lived in them, I feel comfortable in saying you're one of the lucky few to find a good basement apartment. You can find yourself in a shit hole regular apartment building too, but your odds of finding a good apartment are drastically reduced when looking at a basement.

 

[buhdeh]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll see if I can book a trip there to check it out after I figure out what's going on with work.

 

[Willectro]

I live in Leslieville south of pape and am in the area a lot. Not sure what you mean by pretty rough.

I guess I meant closer to Danforth, around Donlands. But I guess everyone has a different perspective of shitty. As EvilMario mentioned, its kinda like how Bloor West has shit patches.

I live in a basement apartment right now. $960 for a two bedroom. My wife and I have not had a problem living there. We have to share the washing machine, but it has never been a problem. I only have my neighbour above me, and it is just him and his dog, and is pretty quiet. We are in a nice neighbourhood also, and we are just around the corner from the 404.

We are pretty lucky, but we are saving up for a house as well. Basement appt's aren't as bad as you guys say.

Probably 1 in 1000 are good, so maybe you got lucky? It's definitely better if the landlord doesn't live there.

Plus last time I lived in a basement, my landlord stole a whole chicken from our shared freezer! I can understand accidentally some pieces or something, but a whole chicken? It had my name on it too!

Fuck basements

When I lived in a basement, the landlord lived upstairs with her husband and kid. The husband was cool and considerate, but the other 2 were anything but. They never went out and were stomping around from about 7:30am to midnight usually. The landlord had this idea in her head that any money they received from rent was pure profit and no money should be allocated for maintenance. The heat broke and we went without for 2 weeks (December 2011) while they tried to get numerous cheap contractors to fix the problem, which in turn made things much worse. They had the smallest bin for garbage, so that was always an issue. Shortly after moving in, we found out the landlord taught music lessons at the house. These are just a few of the many stories from this place. It was the best feeling in the world to move out. Now at least I live on the top floor of my apartment building.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

You really think they are going to remove the most Iconic Dinosaur? T-rex is still there.

They still have a small dig site thing but it's been reduced in size

Well thats good. I can get a before and after picture now!!!

Wow. Thats sad. Poor kids have no idea either

 

[Magnus]

1. Is it too late to make a dinner reservation somewhere for Valentine's Day?

2. Please stop laughing at me.

3. If the answer to #1 was No, please recommend an awesome spot, that also won't completely annihilate the bank. PLZ/TY!

 

[BladeWorker]

1. Is it too late to make a dinner reservation somewhere for Valentine's Day?

2. Please stop laughing at me.

3. If the answer to #1 was No, please recommend an awesome spot, that also won't completely annihilate the bank. PLZ/TY!

It's not too late, but I'd definitely get on that in the next couple of days. Right downtown will be harder than some of the areas outside the immediate core, though...so, what neighbourhood are you in?

Also, check out the restaurant guide in some of the earlier stages of TorontoGAF threads.

 

[added_time]

Instead of doing something nice for Valentines Day for my wife, I just skip that day and pick a completely random day in March to treat her as if it is Valentines Day. She loves it because she never sees it coming even though she knows I will do it eventually. It's more romantic to do something because you want to anyways, instead of just following orders to be romantic on a specific day.

 

[BladeWorker]

Well, it would be nice if we could always appreciate the other people in our lives, and in particular our significant others.

But we don't, and greeting card companies conveniently invented this special holiday to make it easier for people to show their appreciation.

Frankly, I appreciate being appreciated, even if there is a prescriptive element to it.

Let Valentine's day be the springboard for a lifetime of mutual appreciation and caring, I say.

 

[BigJonsson]

I'm using a groupon for v-day and pricelined a hotel

My GF thinks its hilarious how I always get deals on things, she likes it

 

[criesofthepast]

I got my girl a shit ton of Godiva chocolate (she of course don't like the cheap stuff) and a ring from Swarovski (not THAT type of ring lol). I'm broke after that so I'll be making her a nice dinner at home instead of going out.

Not a fan of this holiday. ~_~

 

[Flash]

1. Is it too late to make a dinner reservation somewhere for Valentine's Day?

2. Please stop laughing at me.

3. If the answer to #1 was No, please recommend an awesome spot, that also won't completely annihilate the bank. PLZ/TY!

most places will have a special valentine day menu with set 3 course meals. Last year I went to an Italian restaurant in Little Italy. I think it was Grappa...or maybe it was Side Car. lol, I remember getting reservations pretty late.

My GF and I probably won't be going anywhere on vday... we'll just do dinner during the weekend or something when prices aren't unnecessarily high.

 

[Hieberrr]

Sigh my girlfriend is too caught up with school, work, and extracurricular stuff to bother with Valentine's (or this whole semester). So, I'm not even going to bother doing anything.

 

[whitehawk]

Any rumours about upcoming Wind Mobile promotions/deals? My Nexus 4 is coming tomorrow, but I'd rather sign up when they have one of those awesome $29 for everything sales.

 

[added_time]

source

Do you get centipede infestations?

Not a fan of these beautiful creatures?

 

[Divvy]

KILL IT WITH FIRE

 

[Kave_Man]

Winter gaf is out for blood. Rumours of 15cm of snow through thursday and friday.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Bah screw you whiners! My wife's bday is Feb 12...
so it's Xmas, nye, mom bday (jan31), wife bday(feb12), vday, anniversary (mar1)

All of you can get your balls frozen!

 

[Roto13]

source

Rob Ford fiddles while Toronto burns.

 

[PalaceBrother]

Bah screw you whiners! My wife's bday is Feb 12...
so it's Xmas, nye, mom bday (jan31), wife bday(feb12), vday, anniversary (mar1)

All of you can get your balls frozen!

We are the same person. Daughter Bday->Xmas->NYE->My bday->Wife Bday->Vday->Anniversary. All in about 2.5 months.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Winter gaf is out for blood. Rumours of 15cm of snow through thursday and friday.

YES!!!!!

 

[Kunohara]

No bugs for us either. I had no idea basement appts were apparently bad and we are lucky. Funny thing is my wife just found the posting for our apt on craigslist of all places.

I can't wait to have a house. Can't wait for all that space. Although I'm not looking forward to the maintenance. It's nice right now when something breaks, and I just have to call my landlord, and he comes and fixes it.

 

[Willectro]

Mayor Rob Ford proclaims February 6 to be Bob Marley Day!

 

[Simon Belmont]

I can't wait to have a house. Can't wait for all that space. Although I'm not looking forward to the maintenance. It's nice right now when something breaks, and I just have to call my landlord, and he comes and fixes it.

The first thing I did this morning was to remove the trap from my sink because the wife dropped her engagement ring down the drain. Owning is nice 90% of the time, but when it sucks it sucks hard!

 

[Kave_Man]

Mayor Rob Ford proclaims February 6 to be Bob Marley Day!

This I like.

edit: I'm curious, what exactly brought this on by Ford?

 

[Quick]

Mayor Rob Ford proclaims February 6 to be Bob Marley Day!

Respek, bossman!