So, I’m moving back to Halifax from out of province, and travelled three weekends in a row looking for an apartment. I set up appointments to view multiple places, filled out more applications than I can count, and… NOTHING.
I mean, I have heard absolutely nothing from any of the apartments I’ve applied for. Luckily for me, I went to see one that I ended up taking because of the fact there’s only a week left ’til I have to move, and it was an older couple who owns this little building, and he rented to me right away when I said, I’ll write you a cheque here and now.
I mean, I understand why people have to apply… kinda. But who is making these decisions? How do they decide who gets the apartment and who doesn’t? Is it an eenie meenie minie mo kinda thing?
If I hadn’t found a place that didn’t have an application, I’d find myself without a place to live, seeing as my lease is up in this province, and I HAVE to move. Shouldn’t these landlords call me, even if I don’t have the apartment. I hate all the guesswork. I’m signing a year’s lease now, on an apartment I really don’t want, but have no other choice. Oh well… I guess my situation could be worse. —Glad I’m Not Going to be Living on the Street
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.
I had the same problem when looking for a place! I thought it would be a fun time but it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. But landlords definitely don’t need to call you to tell you you didn’t get the apartment….that’s a little ridiculous. People don’t call you to tell you you didn’t get a job do they?
Luckily I did find a place that I love 🙂 I hope you can grow to like your place!
Although it’s difficult to do, avoid corporate owned places that have applications. I’ve never had to go through an application process at all for any of my places.
if you are a decent tenant, there are now a couple apartments across from me in fairview, that should be ready by end of nexr month. rent is 600.00 monthly for 2 b.r. and pay own utilities. parking, and laundry on site. security doors on all levals, main doors not locked, no need to. to find out more, mail me at gary_more@hotmail.com , i will give you name and number.
I had a terrible time finding an apartment when I moved to the HRM 10 years ago as well.
I couldn’t get anything done through applications since my boyfriends job is a musician and I had not started my job yet so everyone considered us both unemployed.
He had tax statements to prove income…he definitely makes enough money to support us, even if I WAS unemployed. And I had references from my upcoming job as well as my offer letter with salary as proof.
I was getting so pissed that making around $80,000 a year at the time couldn’t get us even a shitty apartment and that being a musician automatically means you don’t have a real job. How are you supposed to move here for a job when you can’t get an apartment unless you already have a job here?
I ended up renting a house from a relative because I couldn’t get anything through applications.
I feel your pain
please your a grown up now,act like one…shake your head,its up to YOU to call the landlord to see if your accepted or not,not the landlords….its this “me” generation that seems to think the world revolves around their problems…
I went through the same thing in January. I ended up finding a great place after going through about a gazillion shit holes. Though I had to convince my landlord to rent to me because there was another person looking at the place at the same time. It’s tough – but stay away from the corporate places if you can! They’re awful, I’m so glad I wasn’t stuck in one.
halifaxmentor… that’s what I was thinking… how many applicants would the guy be calling to tell them no?
real world answer… none. you call him to chase him on the decision.
I do believe though that it’s tough to get a place here without actually living here.
I had to stay on Dal campus for a summer to find a place.
couldn’t beat the rent for downtown (380/month-ish)… just sucked that it was a tiny, tiny room for a few months.
I find it funny that people fill out all these retarded applications. Just go to the property owner head office in Halifax in person and ask to speak with someone about finding a place asap. Paperwork is paperwork and will just sit on someone’s desk all summer…..save a tree.
You probably dodged a bullet. Most places that require applications are corporate-owned roach motels with bedbugs being the speciality du jour.
thanks for all the helpful posts, as i will be looking for a place in a year i guess. (i’m the one with the bitch). and i AM a grown adult, who has lived on my own for over a decade. i have just never been faced with this dilemna before. and for those who told me to grow up and call the landlords, i did that for multiple apartments, but the answer was standard…they would gather all the applications and make the decision. no time line, nothing. i’m well employed, so that was not a factor in my application. i guess when i move in a year, i’ll look for privately owned apartments or houses and not try to deal with the corporations. i really just posted this bitch, thinking that someone might have some insight on the situation, and something i didn’t think of. thanks everyone!
I found my place on kijiji. They get snapped up really quickly, so you kind of have to be ready to jump if something comes up. It’s a hard way to operate, but hopefully you’ll find something that suits you better for next year. Start looking now…
I looked at a lot of places before I found something that was a reasonable size for reasonable rent and cat friendly. Applied and was called back a couple days later. No problemo. However, had my bf applied without me, he likely wouldn’t have gotten it: he owned his own house before he moved to NS and hadn’t rented in years. It’s really difficult if you don’t have a good local reference.