We finally found an apartment in Toronto conditional that we pay the whole year upfront. It is a lot of fund to transfer. There will be a lease. The majority of the payment will happen after signing the lease in person.

However, some of you guys brought up the potential for scams. Any way to verify that the owner of the apartment is really the owner?

Update: you people rock!! The deal is done: we saw ID, tax slips, verified the ownership of thr building in the public registry, took a video of the interaction, old postings of the same unit last year, other units in the building on the market by the landlord and tenants recognized him. Signed an official lease, stated that the rent is paid upfront.

This is insanity. This student unit was listed YESTERDAY and the guy showed us 250 messages since yesterday. There were 20 people viewing it yesterday evening at the same time, making a line around the block. Toronto, I have so many issues with you.

Edit: I f*cking love this sub. You are smart and caring people. Thank you. I realized I have been typing the same thing over and over in the comments. Here it is for the future folks so that I can get off Reddit and rest:

Family member gets admitted to a good professional program in Toronto. We hire a realtor and spend on travelling back and forth to see apartments in June-July. We get outbidded and realize long term, it is not a smart move.

In August, we book a temporary Airbnb for family member to find a room or a small student studio near a TTC. Since then, they have been viewing 2-4 listings a day for a total of 65. Each viewing has 6-7 people looking for a room at the same time. Landlords for the past two weeks have been saying, whoever pays in cash now gets the room or who wantd to pay more, during the viewings. No leases!!!!!!!!!! Even kijiji listings now say, no lease. Some are choosing people of a certain background/gender (again it is openly advertised on kijiji).

We have 6 days left for my family to find a place or miss school and come home. I would miss out on the tuition paid. They would drop out of school.

This is not a first choice! I am beyond stressed, angry, and upset. That being said, seeing whole families with kids moving to rooms breaks my heart. At least we are not on the brink of becoming homeless thanks to the hard decision we made to maintain our household in our home province.

Sorry for the lengtht post.