One man’s story of trying to rent in Vancouver as city hits record low vacancy rate

By

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver’s rental vacancy rate is at a record low, and now university students are flooding into the city to look for a place for September, making the hunt for digs especially challenging.

Here’s one man’s story of the ordeal he went through to find a place.

Anthony Falls scoured social media rental sites daily and it still took him weeks to find something.     “You would spend so much time submitting your request to look at the space, and for me it was just frustrating to know that even if I went to the open house, I had to be there with eight to 10 people, and it was just so competitive. And when you did finally find a place that you would want, you just had to submit so much personal information, and… if it was available you had to make a decision within minutes of it being available, and that was just something I wasn’t used to.”

Falls recently moved here from Edmonton and was sharing a place in the downtown core. He decided to start looking for a place of his own and that’s where the challenges started.

“I started looking in May, spent two months looking for an apartment in the West End, and that really meant that I was daily checking the online sites. It was really rushed, the whole process, whereas in Edmonton you had some time to think it over, it wasn’t as competitive as it was in the West End here in Vancouver.”

His story ends well, but he credits that to being ready to make a decision.

“I happened to submit an inquiry on Craigslist to a landlord. He had posted a few minutes before, and he contacted me and said, ‘Yeah, I actually just happen to be here right now. If you’re interested I’m going to do an open house tomorrow.’ So I went over there, it was just myself, saw the place, and having learned very quickly that when you see something you like you have to put in your application. I submitted my application and put in a deposit within 10 minutes of seeing the place, and then was contacted in 48 hours and had the apartment. You just about have to have your deposit cheque ready after the open house, and you have to have all of that information pre-done.”

Anthony has some tips for anyone looking for a rental unit in this market. “Be constantly looking on social media, the different online sites, and really as soon as you find something, to get on it right away. It really is every man for himself and be wary that there are a lot of people out there trying to take advantage of the situation, and posting fraudulent posts as well. Very quickly you get to know what the fraudulent ones are but it took me a couple to realize that ‘this isn’t right’ and ‘this is just people wanting money up front.'”

The City of Vancouver has a Rental Standards Database to help find something half decent. You can research rental buildings for fire safety, building safety, and general maintenance issues. Mukhtar Latief, the city’s Chief Housing Officer, says since the database launched, by-law infractions have dropped 80 per cent.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today