3. FIND AN APARTMENT YOURSELF USING THESE TECHNIQUES

Hit up your employer or school

A good place to begin your search is by asking your employer if the company has any real estate services or contacts; some larger corporations hold apartments for employees or have good contacts in the rental market. By the same token, if you have any local school affiliations, either past or present, contact your school and inquire as to whether it has any apartment bulletin boards or online listings. These openings are generally more affordable and safer than something you could find on your own, and many are open to people affiliated with the university.

Also check out schools in Toronto, even if you don't have an affiliation with them, including University of Toronto, York University, George Brown College, and Ryerson Polytechnic University. Toronto has many institutions for higher education and personal improvement, and some of those kids have great houses or apartments that they have to get rid of after senior year. You can also easily find an apartment to sublet during the summer, which would give you time to find your more permanent lodgings by fall. Look in the campus newspapers, on bulletin boards in the pizza joints or laundromats, or even in the lobbies of on-campus dorms. You will often see ads posted looking for roommates, sublets, or even a permanent place to call your own.

Go online

There are lots of sites you can sniff out with the help of any online search engine, such as www.altavista.com, www.yahoo.com, or www.google.com. We have also listed some specific sites which would be worthwhile checking out:

Newspapers and magazines

Daily papers and weekly magazines can also be a good source of apartment listings, both in print and online. The benefit of the Internet is that you can search many sources quickly and you don't have to wait for the weekly delivery of the paper, but you can go straight to sites like move.com.

  • The Toronto Star: The classifieds section includes listings of rentals in all areas, including the surrounding cities and towns. It's a daily paper, but the Saturday edition has the most real estate related listings.

  • NOW Magazine: Toronto's free weekly alternative arts and entertainment newspaper. If you can find your way through the huge personals and escorts for hire section, you'll find a good selection of apartment listing.

  • The Toronto Sun: The Sun (one of these papers with scantily-clad women on the third page) is a daily tabloid with a good selection of listings, again chiefly on Saturday.
  • Broker

    There are several advantages to using a broker; they will find apartments and make appointments to fit your schedule. A broker would probably be invaluable to someone who is moving in from out of town or can't take time off work to look at places. They also have access to apartments not available to the general public. If you do decide to use a broker, there are several ways to find one. Look for their brightly-colored ads in the newspapers, yellow pages, or online classifieds. The biggest Real Estate broker chain in Toronto is Re/Max. Their website refers you to specific brokers if needed.

    Drive around

    Aside from familiarizing yourself with the various neighborhoods, driving around can also uncover potential leads. People often post flyers offering nearby apartment sublets and rentals at grocery stores, recreation centers, gyms, telephone poles, and churches in the neighborhood. You might even see the odd "For Rent" sign, or at least see "Vacancy" signs with a phone number. In the very popular areas, people will often not bother to advertise at all, as they can get enough of a response just by putting up a sign.