I Lost $4K Apartment Hunting In Toronto & Here's Everything I Wish I Had Known Then

1. Make sure you actually see the apartment

When you are looking for an apartment in Toronto make sure to actually see it before bidding on it — physically check it out.

In my case, I didn't see the condo because the "landlord" told us that the building was still under construction and we weren't allowed to enter it just yet, but he said the building should be done by the time we moved in.

The building was located in the Entertainment District in Toronto, and at the time, it was, in fact, being built because we passed by it often, so we believed him. But the rule of thumb here is don't rent an apartment without seeing it first.

2. Working with a realtor is not a rip off

Back then, we believed using websites like Kijiji and Craigslist would give us the best bang for our buck because we were under the impression that realtors take your money.

The reality is they don't take anything from you. Realtors get paid directly by the landlord, varying from case to case. But hiring a realtor means you won't get scammed because they can check all the background information of many condos in Toronto.

In other words, hire a realtor. It'll give you peace of mind, trust me.

3. Don't give the landlord cash upfront

Usually, in bidding wars, people try to give more money upfront to secure a place. This is not uncommon in Toronto. Most recently, I've heard people pay a year's rent upfront. But there is a process to ensure you're actually going to live in the condo.

In my case, I didn't know anything about apartments, and I probably shouldn't have done what I'm about to tell you.

When we were going to sign the lease, the landlord convinced us to pay him cash to make it cheaper and not pay tax — But you don't pay tax on rent anyways, so this is something we should've known.

So we took out two months' worth of rent, placed it in an envelope and made our way to a Popeyes in Brampton to give him the money. I don't know how I'm still alive, tbh.

P.S. I sent my live location to everyone I knew, just in case. But what was I thinking?

4. You can always find out if they actually own the apartment

Initially, I thought it was quite a sketchy experience from the start.

He was too nice and no one was bidding on such a perfect Toronto condo.

So I asked the landlord to send me the deed. And he provided, but who am I to actually understand a deed? I had never seen one before, but he quickly sent one over.

I found out later on that anyone can get this piece of paper, but it takes time for the city to approve it, which is when the deed becomes legitimate. This was not legit.

5. You can find almost anything about a person online

Looking back at this story, he knew exactly what he was doing when I tell you what else happened.

On the day we were supposed to be meeting our landlord in Brampton to sign the contract, the landlord gave me a call to tell me about how our families were connected.

Yes, it gets weird.

Somehow he knew where my father had worked in the past and told me his father-in-law was colleagues with my dad.

When I called my parent to ask, he got so happy knowing that we were in good and trusted hands, which stopped me from looking into him further.

Keep in mind that I did not tell him anything about my family, but I guess a quick google search can give a person some information to work with.

The lesson here is that anything can be found online nowadays, so be careful.

6. You might not get any money back

On our move-in day, my roommate tried to contact the landlord to receive our keys for the unit, but his phone and email were deactivated.

My roommate and her mother at the time came across a picture of the landlord online and immediately filed a police report.

A detective informed us that he was scheduled to appear in court for sentencing after racking up 36 charges.

We weren't the only tenants who fell for the scam and were told he entered a guilty plea to the Crown where he ended up going to prison.

After the victims gave in their statements, the Crown was "seeking forfeiture of the cash and if that happens, it will be dispersed equally among all of the complainants."

Unfortunately, no one got any money back, but we definitely learned a lot from this experience.