We all human beings are the same…

When we look to buy something , be it a LCD TV,  a vacation trip or find an apartment for rent, we strive to find the best deal out there.

We base our decision to select this or that product mainly on 2 points: quality and  price.

Can  a higher price be an indicator for the high quality product?

Yes…….. not always though….. but in most of the cases  we tend to pay slightly more for the good brand name in order to get the quality we expect and avoid disappointments after purchase, of course.

How many times did we catch ourselves in the situation when we found a  product  with a very low price tag?

First ideas that came to our mind:

Is something wrong with this product?  There must be a catch somewhere…. It is too good to be true…..

Then we, either do our due diligence to make sure that paying less for the product will not cause us troubles and unpleasant consequences.

Or, we buy into a surprisingly low price and can not resist  temptation to become the owner of this a to-good-to-be-true steal.

Today, I would like to share with you the real life story which has happened to  my clients a few days ago.

As we all know , a today’s landlord has high standard requirements towards tenants and this is absolutely normal.

Most  look for AAA tenants with a steady income, no smokers, not pets and etc….

Landlords try to find the most immaculate person or family in order to avoid future problems with paying rent and unit upkeep and I completely understand it.

After an intensive 2 week of searching for a rental condo in North York area with my clients, we started to face the difficulty of  finding a landlord who will consider my clients (students of York University with great references and financially backed-up coassignors) as potential tenants.

One day, I receive a call from one of my clients stating that finally they had found a lovely place through kijiji.ca (free local classified website) .  It seemed like their dream came true!  They were so enthusiastic describing to me how superb their unit was, what a great deal they were offered and how fast they signed the lease papers and paid the deposit.

I was so happy for them, wished them luck and told to stay in touch if they need any help.

On the closing day Dec 1, 2011, the moving truck came and they were very excited to get the keys from the landlord.

Then unforeseen events started to unfold. The security was unaware about anyone moving out and moving in from the unit they signed the lease for.

Then, they found out from the security that the previous tenants are still living there and there must be a mistake with the move in date.  Security guard decided to check and find out the name of the landlord ( the unit owner ) and inquire about the new tenants waiting in the lobby.

In 15 minutes, the landlord rushed into the lobby of the condominium and my clients were shocked to see a completely different person from  that they signed the lease with and paid deposit to.

To make the long story short…..it turned out that while the landlord is in the process of eviction of current tenants for constant non-payment,  they decided to make some money by illegally leasing the unit  they reside in to other people.They put the ad on the kijiji.ca and started to fish for a good catch attracting tenants by a below market rent price.  The bait was so appealing that it did not take long to find people to buy into it.

Now, poor young people have to rent a temporary basement until the new place is found and fight  scammers in the civil court for their money they paid as a deposit.

Is there a quarantee that they get their money? … Hopefully, they will.

The moral of the story is…… always be careful and perform a thorough check before signing the lease agreement with the private owner.  Give a call to the condominium management company and find out the name of the actual owner of the unit and check the IDs to make sure you are dealing with the right person. Avoid going alone and try to have somebody to accompany you when you going to view the unit.

To ensure the smooth and hassle-free experience, my advice is to  HIRE A REAL ESTATE AGENT!

I tell you why it is worth doing it even if you are looking for the rent:

•  OUR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES are  absolutely at NO COST to you 
• You will receive access to the all units available in the area of your interest. Why spend your precious time seaching?
• You get a  guarantee that your interests are 100% protected in the transaction and you will not end up being cheated by the all sort of scammers.
• We deal with real landlords and real units.
• We protect your money by keeping deposits in the trust funds until closing.
• We provide you with a range of trusted specialists as movers, painters, renovators, mortgage brokers (if needed).

If you have any questions or need an advice regarding renting the condo units, please, feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

Regards,

Nikolay Klyushkin