apartment hunting tips

[beautiful liar]

have any?
i haven't really had to apartment hunt before, and this is difficult because i'm in Winnipeg, looking to rent in Calgary . . . which means I'll probably have to rent sight unseen.
Any tips on what to ask? What to avoid? What to look for?
Any good/bad renting experiences you want to share?

I would appreciate it!!

[half jill]

i don't really have any tips, as this is my first time renting and i'm learning as i go, but when me and kristen were looking for a third roommate, we got some interesting replies. i could amuse you with a few of those! all of the ads we posted clearly indicated that we were looking for a female student, but um, people can't read apparently. my faves:

1) Hi.
I found your house on the internet.
I'm interested in your house.
I have some questions.
Is lundry included?
Are utilities not included?
Where is the nearest subway station?
I want to go to see your house, is it pissible?

I'm waiting for your reply.

Thank you,


2) Hi

I am interested in the place you have for rent. . How far is it from the subway. & are you accepting males. how big is the room size Send me the exact location & postal code.

Thanks,

Caesar


3) Hi my name is Michael. I am a 41 yr old prof. security person. I am neat/tidy and respectful and in a relationship with a lady (not looking for that). I am looking for a room for Aug.01. PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT _____


4) Hello there, if the room you posted on craigslist is still available, I would be veryinterested. I'm from and still in Germany, so communicationvia e-mail is easier than telephone. Anyway, my landline is +49-69-24445797. A few words about me: My name is Felix, I'm a new Ph.D Political Science studentat York University. I'll be 27 by August and I grew up in Frankfurt, Germany.I've been living in shared flats for the past 6 years or so, therefore I thinkof myself as a nice, open-minded and experienced roommate. I studied PoliticalScience at Goethe University in Frankfurt and graduated in 2007. My researchinterests are in the field of political economy and gender studies. I'm looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much!

Best,Felix Hauf


5) Hi
I am interested in sharing this house. The location is perfect for me and sounds like the house may be as well. My name is Paul White and am a working precessional. I have been with the same company for over 9 years, so you can rest assured that my finances are stable. I am separated and the house I am renting now will not be available soon. Although I work in Markham, I am looking for a place to share in Scarborough. I would appreciate it if I could come look at it and also if you could let me know the move-in date.
I am also assuming that the utilities are shared extra.

With thanks.
Paul


6) Hi
I am Mexican, 32 years old, Civil Engineer and English student in Canada for 3 o 4 months……may be more, depend my improving. I am interested……I don’t have telephone. If still available room, let me know address. I am not good speaker by phone yet; I prefer an appointment-interview, if you want to see me. I would like to see the room too.
I am respectful gay, friendly, responsible, clean, no drugs and honest. I like to cook too. I am looking for a good place, friendly plac……
Let me know if you are interested. I need to move in August 1st.
Many thanks


I have more, but I think you get the point. haha. I guess, just don't be creepy I don't know what these people were thinking. And yes, I saved all of the e-mails I received, because 95% of them were totally crazy and hilarious.

[beautiful liar]

well is it pissible??

[Random Name]

The best advice I have is to find out what areas are good and which places suck. Even if you are super close to public transport and a grocery store or something, being in a neighborhood with neighbors that will keep you up all night or will break into your house eventually... yeah not ideal.

[Bandalero]

be weary of online reviews. most are other complexes giving poor reviews or the complex making itself look better.

[beautiful liar]

i never thought of that, but it makes sense. thanks.

[beautiful liar]

we wound up taking a place, unseen (which makes me nervous) but it's from a management company and i've managed to establish that the company is legit, so hopefully it works out. although the one rep i've been mainly dealing with seems a bit ... i dunno, spacey? misinformed? clueless? ... the others seem alright.

hopefully everything turns out as advertised, because i'm pretty screwed if it's not.

[Henrietta]

Renting is scary and especially if you've never seen it! I've had good experiences and bad. Here are two bad, just to give you an idea.

Best friend and I are roommates already and we want to live together, but never solidify our plans for the fall until most places have been taken up. So we find one place in our complex that has enough spaces for both of us. We instantly take it without thinking about the person already living there. Long story made short: she turned out to be insane with an insane friend. She accused me of eatiner her cookie dough for her handicapped friends! She yelled at me when I didn't talk to her (mainly because she talked so long I couldn't chance taking up a conversation with her for fear of never getting to leave, even to use the bathroom!). She even wrote me letters about how I was spiritual enough for our house. Oh and she wouldn't let me watch her movies even though she used my tv. Sad part, that roommate actually died in February. I felt bad but it really was a horrible experience.

Also, hubby and I rented this place that was downtown and close to both our school and our work. We figured we could handle the small space. We ended up hating it because it was in such a bad neighborhood and the radiant heat was so loud he couldn't sleep. We also couldn't control the heat because...well who knows why. We ended up selling the contract and moving into a house. We like it muuuuuch better.

When do you move?

[beautiful liar]

I'm traveling July 1st, moving into the place on the 2nd. I'm nervous - I have a feeling space is going to be an issue, because I doubt there's room for two desks, and Blair has painting stuff and I have school stuff, so we'll have to figure something out. Hopefully noise isn't too bad, but it is on a busy road too. Nice thing is that I can walk to school from the place.

Sorry to hear about your roommate; that seems like a weird and uncomfortable experience all round.

[Lando]

I was just in winnipeg for four days! Went to see Sam Roberts and 54-40 at the exhibition!

[beautiful liar]

:O

my parents live outside the range of public transportation. which means since i've been in winnipeg, i've seen nothing, really. except some baby ducks and some deer wandering around.

[laurel]

we saw a baby rabbit while there.

and lots of homeless people.

[Lando]

laurel was one of them

[laurel]

my home was back in saskatchewan

[Johnny]

You two are hilarious.

[Lando]

my home was back in saskatchewan

i meant a baby rabbit.

or so you thought.

shouldn't have taken the dare to drink all that anti-freeze.

[gravity]

when apartment hunting... it is important to use a big gun.