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2 bedroom rents up $41 per month

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Here’s a interesting tidbit: looking at craigslist you might get the impression rent in Vancouver has doubled over the last year or two with asking rents of $3400 for a one bedroom suite downtown. CMHC stats sees things differently with the average 2 bedroom rent going up over the year from $1045 to $1086 with the vacancy rate edging up .1 percent in that time.

I was at a party recently where the subject came up and was a bit staggered by some of the numbers thrown around – they were far lower than I expected. One couple was paying $850 for a 3 year old townhouse near Main street, another was paying $550 for a bachelor suite in Kits. I’m assuming these are better than average deals, but what are apartments and houses renting for in Vancouver? What is the expectation and what is the reality?

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Rodr!go

I'm searching for housing and, as you can see, I'm coming from abroad.

I have CAN$350 for rent in my (draft) budget. Would you think I might find something near 1380 Burrard Street? I'm aware that I might need roommates for that or is just way out of the question with that amount?

The basement suites sound like a really good option!

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Raino

Interesting, I'm not seeing too many people renting whole houses here. We're paying 1850 month for a 3/2 1800 square ft apt. above retail near Main. It took us 4 months to find this place. Looking for something that takes pets and is suitable for a family is *brutal*. Everyday for over 4 months. Most places gone by the time I called them. Lots of basement suites available, or Vancouver special duplexes..but I found the rental market really tight. A few houses we looked at in the $3000 range were in such bad shape that I thought the (exposed) wiring would start sparking as we walked through.

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Taz

Just walking and looking for For Rent signs is a good bet.

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Liz

Hey Everyone,

Since Craig's List is usually over-priced, what are the better resources, websites, methods, etc., to use when looking for an apartment (West End, Westside)?

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Anonymous

hey everyone, i rent a 1 bedroom directly across from kits beach for 900.00.

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rock

Strataman,

yes, that's what they're asking for. i don't know if the landlord can get that, but it's a pet friendly building. hard to come by in kits area i guess.

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Strataman

rock "today $1700" do you mean thats what they're asking or? Anyone who looks for more than a couple of days can find a two bedroom with in-suite laundry recreation facilities and be right downtown in a building no older than 5 years for 1800.00. For that age(1970's) you can find quite a few places in Kits right off the beach, for $1200.00. I would imagine the guy moving out who paid $1400.00 found out he was a sucker, and probably got a far better place a couple hundred cheaper.

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rock

fairview area, 1970s apartment building. main floor, !!!facing dumpster!!!! 6 months ago, for 2br, asking $1500, today $1700…. tenant moving out soon paid $1400.

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Kerrisdale

Digi-see this article:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.htm…

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Digi

Kerrisdale: I don't think anyone actually spends 70% of their gross income on housing, how would you eat? 10% is a very good ratio though, ours is about the same. 1100 west side two bedroom apt – that includes all the utilities etc, and sure makes it easier to save, travel and invest.

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Kerrisdale

that is a 2 bedroom…sorry.

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Kerrisdale

We live in a 850 sq foot bedroom, older building with a balcony in Kerrisdale.

We pay 1050 a month including parking.

We have 2 kids…it's smallish but we spend most of our time at work/school and are outdoors on the weekends.

We are saving money…maybe we will buy someday but certainly not now. We spend less than 10% of our gross income on "housing".

Can't imagine spending 70%!

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JJ

i did phone the rto about showing suite, and waited 45mins before someone answer my phone. She told me that open house would be too inconvenience for the tenants (unless tenant agrees), but showing for 10mins 15mins would be tough to refuse if they give you 24hr notice.

About 4 years ago, we live in an apartment owned by nacel properties and it was even worse. They demanded inspection every month to see if you're grow-op in their suites. The manager would come in and walk around for few seconds and leave.

I can say renting really do sucks 🙁

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Strataman

OH yeh!! I would also sue for the theft of a million dollars worth of diamonds that were missing after each visit! 🙂

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Strataman

jj "The showing part…. that’s totally unbearable. 2-3 times a week, ten, twenty people come in to your place and sniff around everywhere, opening closets, asking questions… TOTALLY SUCKS…" I wonder if this is even legal, anybody really familiar with the rental tenancy act? Seems to me a tenant should be able to refuse showings and anything other than a owner inspection once every three months would be considered undue harassment, unless it was previously agreed to in the rental contract. If that happened to me I would simply refuse access to anyone but the registered owner. Where is it written that a legal tenant has to do this? Input anyone?

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JJ

Drachenn,

The real hassle was the 24hrs notice that the Realtor gave to show the condo.

The showing part…. that's totally unbearable. 2-3 times a week, ten, twenty people come in to your place and sniff around everywhere, opening closets, asking questions… TOTALLY SUCKS…

At last, we moved out within 1 month, got all the deposit back, and the condo was sold in 3 weeks time, and we endured all that hassle. That was June 2007.

It's hard to even find the owner. He is a US investor, doing show business in Las Vegas and half the year he's in Germany. It would be near impossible to file for rents back when dealing with foreigner.

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think_first

First time poster, long time lurker!

Moved to Burnaby from Calgary 4.5 years ago. Took the first place I saw. Landlord is now 83 years old and has had tenants for past 20 years or so. Basement suite in a 60 year old place. Nothing fancy, but approx. 1100 sq ft. (Most of my living is done in about 650 sq ft though, but the extra storage space sure is nice.) Pay $525/month. All utilities including 'extra' cable are included in the rent plus I have unlimited access to washer/dryer. Only thing I pay is phone/internet. Couldn't be happier! 🙂

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Newcomer

4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, one finished room in the basement (rest of basement semi-finished) three-level house (60+ years old). OK condition, everything works, but nothing fancy. 5 minutes from Commercial and Broadway. $1600. Moved in a year an a half ago. No rent increase. Landlady tells me its worth 700K. City assessment is 600K, so she might be about right.

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andreas

Ultersman,

Eviction notice can't be issue other than for unpaid rents and miss behaviour where tenent is pain in the a$$ for other for peace,Your case is based on moving notice once you have accepted that's it.

If your case is other than the above still there is no otherway unless you get through rto.there is lots of paper work involved,some appointments mailing and delivering docoments, process can take atleast a month, then another month through lower court but your case is weak because you are out already.

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Andreas

Hey stop posting as me!

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andreas

lol… markets took huge hits, I wonder how many investors are panicking.

Right now I'm paying 700 a month living in richmond at the same place i've been living at for the past 7 years right now. I'm contemplating moving out since my bro is getting married, but I'll wait a bit and see how it works out with the housing market.

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paitentlywaiting

ulsterman,

Why do you prefer small claims court over the RTO?

Were opening and closing inspections done?

Is it more than fifteen days after you moved out?

With my former landlord, I simply reminded him that if I filed, he would have to pay double my damage deposit. Suddenly, he was in a hurry to get my money to me.

Oh yeah, I forgot to report him to the CRA. Gotta do that soon.

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dd

Mid $700s for approximately 900 sf 2 bdr basement suite in southeast Van, lots of windows, in-suite laundry & dishwasher, additional storage space. Nice enough and quite livable. This is comparable to rents of friends in cities across the country, where RE prices are not even close to those of Vancouver. Meanwhile we're socking away loads of money every month!

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ulsterman

Got evicted from my ground floor one bedroom a couple of block easr of Granville near 14th. A bunch of doctors bought it for about $5.5m – that's about 250k per one bed suite. My rent was 905 The new landlords gave 2 month's notice – i moved early because they started building and the hallways and outside areas became a mess. They were coverting all the 750 sqft one beds to 2 beds, adding the obligatory granite and stainless stuff. The tenants discovered (after many of us had moved) that they didn't have the permits to begin construction and therefore had no right to issue us evition notices. There is now an official STOP WORK notice (from the City of Vancouver) on the front door of the building. Given that they illegally issued me with 2-months notice, still haven't… Read more »

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skullboy

I started out on the East Coast and ended up here. I have to tell you in all my travels I have never, ever met a Canadian who wrote so badly. If that's the level of education you get in BC then it would explain everything about Krrish, including his appaling provincialism. If Krrish is representative of the local bulls it would also explain the RE market, come to think of it. I don't know anywhere else in Canada where this kind of irrationality exists. Even in Toronto, where there is a real "center of Canada, nobody else matters" mentality doesn't have as irrational a RE market as BC. Krrish, did you REALLY grow up here? No offense buddy but I figured you were had to be somewhere else. Still, we've passed the peak. All those headlines about the collapsing… Read more »

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