It’s been an incredibly busy time for our team looking for condo apartments and homes for lease for the last couple of months. Many international students are coming to Toronto to start school in September and many families are trying to find a home before the school year launches. It is quite challenging to find the right place in a great area, and you have to act fast as good places have higher requirements and 3-4 offers even before you go see it. So, our recommendation is HAVE ALL NECESSARY PAPERWORK READY before you even start looking for a lease.
Here is the list of what you will need to have for your potential lease application:
1. Letter of Employment
It is an official document from your employer, preferably on a letterhead, stating your position, salary, start date of your work and the contact person whom the landlord/real estate agent can call for verification. Ideally, you can submit the most recent pay stubs as well.
2. Credit Report
This document represents your history of payments to credit grantors like banks, finance companies, retail stores etc. It states your name, Social Insurance Number, indicates the items that may affect credit worthiness such as bankruptcies. Canadian credit scores are officially calculated by two major credit bureaus: Equifax and TransUnion. The credit scores generally range from 300-900. High scores indicate that you are less likely to default on payments if you take out a loan. When a landlord assesses the potential tenant, this document indicating a high score might play a huge role in the potential candidate selection.
2. Rental Application
It is a standard application that can be easily found on the web. It contains the contact info of all the applicants; previous places of residence, some financial obligations ( like car loan) and the names and contact information of those who can recommend you (references). Please make sure that people that you put on the list know you well and definitely can recommend you from a positive side. Previous landlords might also be contacted to confirm how clean, never late on payments and happy person you are :).
In the positive outcome, there is a Residential Tenancy Agreement signed between the Landlord and the Tenant which binds both parties. Once it is signed, within 24 hours the Tenant needs to submit a certified cheque or a bank draft for the first and last month rent. Sometimes, due to the lack of trust from landlord’s side due to absence of credit history/low credit score/international students’ status/new to country – one of the options might be offering to pay for a few months upfront to make your candidacy more appealing.
Here are the focal points if applying for lease. There are so much more details and nuances in this process. Don’t hesitate to contact a real estate agent who will make sure you get what you want within the time that you want.
-Trust the Expertise. Call the Nikolay and Tatiana Team today. 647-833-3287