Moving to Edmonton... How early do I go to look at houses?

Question

I am moving to Edmonton, AB from NW Ontario in mid-January. I need to figure out when is best to go and look at houses to rent.

I had originally though that going around December 10th would be good (about a month ahead) but now I'm wondering if that's too late... Do you think the first week of December is better? Or maybe the last week of November?

I just want to make sure I go early enough that houses are available for January 1st but not so early that none are set for January and only December. Please help.

Answer 1

homes.com

Answer 2

The last week in November.  The housing rental market is tight here as there haven't been many rentals built in the past 10 years or so and a lot have been converted to condos. As previous Answerer said not much movement in the winter months either.

Answer 3

There is no point in going before December 1 as many people don't give notice until the last minute.  December 10 might be a bit late; if others are looking for January too they might scoop you.  I would go within the first 5 days of December.

Answer 4

We just moved here in May and most houses are avalible within the month. they get posted and are ussually gone within a week. So I would get a list of potentialal rental online the last week of november then come out the first week of december to check them out and you should have no problem

Answer 5

This may be presumptuous of me but I'd really hate to see someone from my old hometown come here and be disillusioned - I've seen it happen too many times.

I know you've mentioned previously you were planning on moving in with friends here. Are you all planning on renting a house together or just yourself? Are your friends from here already or are they moving here with you? The reason I'm inquiring is because there is a big difference in the tenant's & landlords laws here compared to where you live. It might be a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with them first.

The other thing you should know is that to rent a house here is a LOT more expensive then where you live now (I keep up with the rental market back home still) The cost of the rental plus the added cost of utilities which are more here (especially power (hydro), water and phone) will shock you. What I've found with others who have moved here is that the cost of living doesn't make up for the higher wages and many return  home.  Hopefully you've already been offered a really good job here.

In no way do I want to discourage you from moving here because I can tell you are eager to try out your wings and move somewhere away from there. I can certainly understand why you would want to move here with all the hype about tons of jobs and high wages. That being said you might want to secure a house somewhere between Nov 27 because it's a Thurs and the last day of the month falls on a Sunday (many rental offices are closed on Sun) and Friday Dec. 5. It's not the ideal time for a lot of choices in the house rentals though.

I know I veered way off your question but I just felt that for someone from my hometown they should be aware of some of the pitfalls. Edmonton does welcome newcomers so hopefully it all works out for you. If you need anymore information about anything please feel free to email me and I would be more than happy to help.

Good Luck

Answer 6

The best time to find a place to rent is about (not earlier than) the 1st day of the preceding month. Most of tenants give notice about 1 month before vacating the place. I highly recommend you to come between around Nov. 27 - Dec. 3.

January is not a very hard time to find a place to rent, as no one really wants to move mid-winter and therefore, it is not that competitive. However, the market itself has been shown to be competitive during all seasons; January is just not as hard as other months like September, which is crazy.

Select at least a dozen of landlords and call them to schedule the appointments before you come to Edmonton, to speed up the process of finding your dream home.