Even if you get to the application stage, you'll probably be outbid, despite the already extortionate asking rent (thank God that's going to be illegal soon).
So I was fearing the worst ahead of my move to Toronto, Canada's most populous and second-most expensive city. But I wasn't expecting the biggest challenge to be this...
Furnished? Think again.
Two months before making the move across the pond, I found a few apartments I liked the look of and arranged to view them virtually.
If I’d asked that of a London estate agent, they might have laughed in my face. Maybe it's the differences in the rental markets, or maybe it’s that famous Canadian friendliness, but the Toronto realtors were happy to oblige.
There was just one problem: none of the places I looked at had furniture.
In the UK, many rentals come fully furnished. I'd assumed it would be the same in Toronto, but move-in-ready places were few and far between — and much more expensive.
It wasn't ideal, considering I’d be arriving with just four suitcases between myself and my partner. But surely securing a place was the hardest part, and I’d managed to do that before I’d even landed. How difficult could furnishing it be?
Starting from scratch in a Canadian winter is not fun
A Toronto apartment.
My partner's family lent us an airbed, and our new place had garden furniture on the terrace that served as a temporary dining table and chairs.
Other than that, we arrived at a completely empty apartment.
With no jobs lined up yet, keeping costs down was essential. So I turned to Facebook Marketplace, which is always awash with moving-out sales.
I sent dozens of messages to people who insisted they needed items collected immediately, telling them I could pick up their unwanted furniture at the drop of a hat. Only to be left on read while their supposedly 'urgent' listings stayed up for weeks.
Oh, and remember the polar vortex? The one that dumped 40cm of snow on the city? This was all happening in the middle of that, which meant several days of cancelled collections and dragging furniture through the snow.
Our apartment turned icy from leaving the door open while we ferried a chest of drawers — one drawer at a time — followed by a sofa into the building.
With no free parking spots on our side of the street, we were forced to traipse back and forth through slush and over a snowbank with each soggy second-hand purchase.
Furniture finds and flops
Moving into a Toronto apartment.
With Facebook Marketplace proving to be less fruitful than I'd hoped, I also hit up the local thrift stores. Lamps, glassware and kitchen utensils were all purchased for just a few dollars (Value Village, you rock).
Still, things got so desperate that we spent more than one evening wandering the streets looking for free items. Yes, you read that right.
Having noticed some neighbours dumped unwanted furniture on the curb before bin collections, we started taking strategic evening walks.
Honestly, don't knock it until you try it — that's how we secured a T.V. stand and coffee table. Sure, they needed a good scrub, but otherwise they were good as new.
We're now six weeks in, and we've finally got the essentials. It's a blessing that neither of us had jobs, because furniture hunting became a full-time occupation in itself.
And yes, we could've done one or two IKEA orders along the way, but when I think about how many thousands of dollars we've probably saved, it feels worth it.
Plus, I love our little apartment now. It's a perfectly unique mishmash of items, and every piece of furniture has a story behind it. Like the time I stood in the middle of a road guarding the car (because, once again, there was nowhere to park), while my partner disappeared into a stranger's apartment, hoping to come out with a dining table.
But I still need a desk chair, so if anyone has one spare, let me know…
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca NetworkA ranking of the average rental prices in Canadian cities.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca NetworkAverage asking rent price for different unit types in September 2023.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca NetworkAverage asking rent prices for roommate rentals in September 2023.
Pool surrounded by trees.
Pool with floaty.
Pool and hot tub.Courtesy of Swimply