Quote: (05-01-2017 07:19 PM)Rekkd Wrote:
Quote: (05-01-2017 06:32 PM)Moma Wrote:
500-600 will get you a furnished room. Usually someone who is trying to subsidise their condo mortgage and Association fees will have that for you but will want references. If you have some in Toronto that can vouch for you, that will help. Many people will want to see you have a source of income to determine that you will be able to continue paying rent. The cheaper your rent, the more hood you will likely be immersed into. The hood areas for according to locals in Toronto were Flemingdon Park, Malvern, Regent Park, the entire road of Jane and Rexdale (and surrounding areas). Current locals can let one know if they have changed or other hood areas have cropped up.
However, regardless, you will still have to hit the ground running, you have to consider transport which is fairly costly in Toronto and food. You can pick up a sales position (they are always open, revolving door policy and they probably pay around 10 dollars an hour. If you speak French, you can bump up such positions to $15 an hour.
Thank for the info, I'm currently working a shitty sales job here in Montreal due to my lack of french. I will have some money in the bank to last me 5 months in Toronto without a job, I think if I show my bank balance that would be OK for landlords or anyone looking to rent out a room. I can cook well and I'm planning to that again once I move to save up on costs, haven't done that in a while tho since buying ready made food in Montreal can sometimes be pretty cheap if you the right places.
Not planning on living in Hood areas that's for sure, would rather go to the suburbs and take public transport. I can see that Toronto is pretty expensive when it comes to the essentials compared to Montreal but it's a price I'm willing to pay to get the hell out of this shit-hole. Many might think it's because of women I'm making this move but I have women lower on my priority list, I care more about career/finances/future. I'm an Arab with Muslim name and no french, getting a decent job in Montreal is like 0.1% chance... Hell I got calls for interviews in Toronto for jobs I'm not qualified to do with my Montreal number and address but in Montreal I haven't EVER got a call for an interview!! Even the job I have now, I had to cold call that damn company after I sent my resume and they are known to hire a lot of English speakers. I sent sooo many cold emails, only one guy met me because he loved bragging about his success since he was such a loser in school that played video games and masturbated to porn, in the end he asked for my resume to tell me we might having an opening soon for a SALES job in the next couple of weeks or months ... and he hasn't even called me back. I give up on Montreal, I came here with a dream that turned into a very stressful and painful experience.
You will need to show some sort of income flow, even if it is fake. Landlords like money but in Toronto, with every room having line-ups some people will always take the person with a legit job versus somebody with lots of savings.
Do the 5 months of savings include your First + Last on rent? Keep that in mind as they want 2 months upfront.
Also, 500-600 for a room is very low. You can find deals if you look, but good deals in good areas will have line-up down the block for them. Plus you have to factor in WHO you will be living with. You might find a perfect room in your budget in a good area close to some things but your roommates all have a cohesive rule that they don't want socializing or girls over. I find more than the price, that Toronto people are just weird in general, especially the downtown types. You will find weirdo Vegans and shit who have all these rules and hoops you have to jump through.
I am a fan of having a plan. I don't think your game plan is realistic. Very few just land in Toronto and start living in cheap room downtown at King and Bathurst going to the Tompson. What good is a prime location room if you have no job and no money to go out? The game plan accounts for all of this.
You might be wise to listen to the advice in here and tap into an Egyptian network here in Toronto. It may also be wise just to rent a dirt cheap room in the suburbs, on the GO-Lakeshore Line so you can get downtown quick. Or you can be more realistic and look for a short term rental in the area which most people who just find themselves in town flock to. These are areas such as Don Mills + Sheppard where you can find some cheaper rooms in the Apartment complexes and it isn't that far to get downtown from there as Transit is frequent. Another 'cheaper' area is St Clair West. This isn't downtown but it is close enough. Most younger people are living north in that area as downtown has become too pricey. High Park area has always been cheap for rooms as well, this is not downtown either and is a bit out of the way, but it is a typical "starter" area for people who just move here.
The only central areas which are always cheap is Parkdale, St James Town, and Dundas/Jarvis East. All those areas are hit or miss with lots of ghetto and run down apartments and you have to be here on the ground to see them for yourself. I would not advise you try to find apartments not being here in person. Landlords won't take you seriously and won't care to bend over for you when they can put up an AD and have people lined up with their chequebooks and Lease applications ready to go.
I would advise you get some cheap room, Hostel, AirBNB set up in the suburbs and use that as a base to try and find apartments in the city. Going back and forth will be a chore but you will set yourself up to land apartment and jobs all at once.
Back on the jobs front. You mention you have Oil Field training? Why have you been in Montreal which would have little work. You should be in Alberta where there was an abundance of work, where you there prior? Is this training and experience from abroad? ME/Egypt? If so, as you are not a Permanent Resident it will be hard to get good work if you don't have the dreaded "Canadian Experience". There are no Oil Fields here in Toronto anyhow so get ready for lots of strange jobs and maybe selling Fido phones in the mall. Toronto job market is messed up as you have far too many educated people here, with jobs that don't pay all that well in general. If creates an environment for exploitation big time where employers know they can pay people nothing as somebody will always take the job.