Vancouver House Hunting
on Vancouver, Experience
Moving to UBC/Vancouver? Here’s a guide to off-campus house hunting. Probably applies to most major cities at the moment
So, you decided to move to a major city in a new country. You have no hopes of getting university residence. You can always get some off-campus housing, right? Right?
Step-1: Apply to on-campus housing
No, seriously. The right time to apply for UBC housing was 1 year before you started applying to grad school. But in all seriousness, it’s good to apply for winter and year-round residence even if there is no possibility to get it for your next term. Even if you sign a lease somewhere, there is a possibility that the lease ends sooner, or that you cannot extend the housing term.
Step-2: Prepare your application
Sorry to break it to you, this is gonna be harder than your grad school applications. As the property managers like to say here, “You do not choose the house, the house chooses you”. Housing meetups with property managers/landlors are similar to meeting a partner’s parents for marriage. They would expect you to be financially steady with good savings/job, and to keep the house happy. Compile a pdf of as much documents as you can in advance as the houses are rented within a day of listing:
- Identity: Passport, study permit/ University ID/ Other IDs: University Offer Letter
- Proof of Funds: Bank Statements (All countries), Job Offer letter/ Payslips, Credit Report, GIC
- References with Contact: Past employers, Past landlords, Past roommates?
Step-3: Arrive early for house hunting
House hunting can be a full-time job, and you don’t want to be stuck temporarily when the term starts.
- Try to arrive a month in advance. Get a sublet in on-campus dorms if needed.
- Don’t finalize a place without seeing it first, as some listings may be scams or misleading.
- Use websites such as Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Zumper, liv.rent, and PadMapper to find housing.
- Send messages or emails to hundreds of listings and prepare a short template to save time. For existing renters seeking new roomates, use this to convey that your are a good fit based on the listing description. Seems like job hunting at this point :P
- Keep track of your viewings on a calendar, and search on major commute lines.
Step-4: Find others with your level of desperation
The first time you go for a house viewing, you will see a long queue of students ready to take whatever housing is available at any nonsensical price (and hence these prices continue). This is gonna be a “networking opportunity” to get a gang together to look for houses. Alternatively, you can also post on facebook housing groups for the area and find like-minded folks to team up with with similar constraints & preferences. It’s important to find quality roommates as they will have a significant impact on your life. There is higher competition for smaller houses, so you might get lucky with a larger group. Dividing the house viewing visits is added bonus, and ofc you will have friends to cry together when you are unable to find one :P
Possible Sources of Frustration
This is a long process. I will list down the things you can encounter in advance: 
- Your cat maybe cute, but most landlords prefer a no-pet policy
- You will likely be ignored by 80% folks you contact. Maybe reach out in a day, then move-on
- You might encounter a bidding war between groups for renting
- “We are renting to families only. Sorry”. Are there joint families with 3 generations who are moving so frequently? Who are renting these 10 bed places? Continues to remain a mystery for me.
- In some rare cases, folks would not even try to hide their “preferences”. Real words of rejection: “Indians use a lot of garlic and cook a lot, the house will start smelling like curry -_-“
Silver Linings
Though unintentionally, you will
- Get to explore all neighbourhoods in the city
- Get to know all the property manager on a first name basis
Good luck with your search!! 