Relocating to GTA in Jan 07: need advise from RFders

[addicted2it]

Hi Guys....turning to RFDers for help and advise....
Received an offer from an IT firm in Markham last week....The firm is located at the intersection of 14th Ave and Warden Rd. I needed some guidance from you guys in regards to renting a place( a bachelors/studio/1 bedroom apt) close to the work place as I do not have a car yet, or at least on bus route.
I dont know how and where do I start.
I am actually thinking of coming down for the next weekend to see if i can find something. Markham is abt 4 hrs drive from where i currenlty reside.
Can someone suggest any good websites where I can get an idea of the going rate for apartments and get a few contact numbers of landlords and get in touch with them b4 i go next weekend. Would it be wise if i rent a place with a 1 year agreement? Is it a good idea to rent a room in a house to save money? My budget is about 700. please advise guys:|

[wilson_wu]

Your transit options near your work are VIVA Green, YRT 2A, and TTC 68B.

If you're going to rent in York Region and not have a car, try to rent near a VIVA stop. The service is 15 minutes frequency or less, Monday-Sunday, 6AM-Midnight, on all routes and they connect to the TTC Subway.

VIVA Green
http://yrt.ca/GIF/viva_routemap_complete.gif

TTC 68A Extra fare if you ride into Toronto's boundary
http://yrt.ca/GIF/route68b.gif

YRT 2A
http://yrt.ca/GIF/route2a.gif

[addicted2it]

Thnk you very much for your help wilson_wu. Can you suggest me some websites where i can search for Apartments to Rent. I am currently living in windsor, ON and will be moving to markham in January 2007. It would be of great help if you can suggest certain regions/localities close to 14th ave and warden, or localities a little further away but easy to commute from my work place where I can look around when i come to markham next weekend.

[hooch]

http://www.viewit.ca/

http://www.renters.ca/

http://www.rentersnews.ca/

I'd give more details, but I'm on my way out to run a few errands. I'll try and post a follow up for you tonight. Congrats on the new job!

[hooch]

Wilson_wu's got the routes pretty much pat down. Some things you'll need to be aware of though:
1) Fare is $2.50 each way. (There's an exception if you're going north of 16th I believe, but I don't think you'll have to worry about that.) If you buy books of ten for $22.00. They also have monthly passes at $80.00. Be sure to budget accordingly.
2) At $700/mo for budget of a place (I'm assuming that that's what it covers, not everything, like food, transit, etc.) you're probably going to end up with a room, maybe a bachelors. Try the links I referred above. There's also a weekly magazine that's pretty thick these days, RentersNews, but I don't know if you'll be able to get it where you are. The website isn't too bad.
3) If you have a choice between YRT and Viva, I personally would suggest Viva. It's a much nicer ride. :)

Hope this helps!

[Icedawn]

further websites

toronto.craigslist.com

www.livedeal.ca

[addicted2it]

Thnk u so much hooch and icedawn.....now i atleast know where to start from...I'll look at all the websites you have suggested and try and get in touch with the landlords to schedule an appointment for the coming weeekend...

Hooch...i'll try and get hold of the magazine you have suggested and you are spot on when u spoke of the commuting expenses....i'll have to factor that too ..since this will be my first job i will try and minimise my expenses for the first 6 months atleast so that i can save a bit to buy a car next spring....it would be awesome if i can find a bachelors/ basemnt apt within my budget...thnks again guys for ur help..

[keanefan]

more housing ads:

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/f-housing-W0QQCatIdZ34

:arrowu:

[HerbertM]

Housing can be difficult in Toronto. A lot of the landlords are inatentive; they get all of their checks up front, they don't really want to take care of any problems. Remember, you are not renting just an apartment, but a landlord as well. Finally, never pay more than first and last month's rent. That is not only a bad idea, but it is illegal for landlords to do this in some cases.

One site that I like for apartment rentals is:

http://www.mojacity.com

You can limit by other options like parking and outdoor space.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!