“I recently worked with Rebecca on finding a rental condo in Toronto. I live about 2 hours away so searching on my own wasn’t very fruitful. I was also new to this market so I was a bit lost. I spent weeks scouring Craigslist and Padmapper but when you are trying to rent in Toronto, all the different options can be completely paralyzing.
Someone told me I should contact a realtor because they will help renters for free (they get their cut from the landlord). This was music to my ears. I found Rebecca after a couple Google searches and am so happy I did!
I reached out to her via email and she responded quickly with some questions about my preferences and needs. I sent her back a list of must haves, neighbourhoods I liked and other preferences. I also let her know about some potential issues I may have finding a space. Notably – I have a dog, and all my income is self-employed dividend income. The latter can be tricky because it means I don’t have a traditional employment letter, and with dividends I don’t even have a T4!
She reassured me about my worries re: the dog and income and quickly sent me an MLS list of places matching my requirements.
She also answered a lot of my questions about the neighbourhoods these buildings were in (i.e. how busy, demographics, noise) and she had a ton of knowledge about the buildings themselves. Basically all the questions I had in my head when I was looking on my own – she knew. She set me up to get daily email update of new MLS listings that match my requirements. She set up all the viewings I was interested in (setting up 4-5 in one day to limit how much I had to travel downtown), drove me around to each place, she handled all of the communication with landlord/property management.
She was super upbeat, positive and friendly!
When I found a place I liked, she wrote up the lease (including a pet clause that put landlords at ease re: my dog), negotiated with with landlord on terms, collected the paperwork she needed for me, and was the perfect go between the landlord and I. On top of that, being someone from out of town, we were able to handle this all through email (even the signing of documents).
BTW – the area/condo I ended up in was in an area I never even thought of, but after learning my personality and likes/dislikes, she recommended it. I instantly fell in love with both the area and building!
I would highly recommend Rebecca to anyone – renter, buyer, seller, et al.”