Commentary on a for-profit student housing company which sent around a university-approved questionairre on housing desires and willingness to pay for features for current U of T students...
For those who don't know the Toronto housing market: for $1200 you can get a respectable one bedroom apartment; for $1500 you can find a decent 2 bedroom place. A room in a house or a shared apartment can be had for $400, although if it's half an apartment can be up to $700 or so.
"The survey includes a description of a student housing complex with
whirlpools, monitored security, a gym, a tanning bed, etc.Ê Everything but
room service it seems.Ê It also contains questions like "how much extra
would you pay for a private hot tub on your balcony?" and "how much extra
would you pay for designer countertops?".Ê What about "virtual golf"?Ê A
big-screen tv with surround sound?Ê Finger-print ID security?Ê A penthouse
suite?"
...................
"The suggested rents in the survey are outrageous and discouraging.Ê From $1,500
for a bachelor to almost $1,200 for a bedroom in a 4-bedroom complex!
Utilities, amenities, and furniture are all included.Ê However, for a
student population used to shopping at the swap show and IKEA and living
without rooftop pools, I think we can get more for our money - like pay our
tuition."
For those who don't know the Toronto housing market: for $1200 you can get a respectable one bedroom apartment; for $1500 you can find a decent 2 bedroom place. A room in a house or a shared apartment can be had for $400, although if it's half an apartment can be up to $700 or so.
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owlfish- S. Worthen
- S. Worthen
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I'll just have to get around to that whole 'getting rich' thing before I come out there, I guess.
Sheesh
And anyways, Toronto's much pricier than the rest of the country. And Montreal is dirt cheap. Go live in Montreal! It's very affordable and a good way to learn French with a Quebec acccent. I think the people I was staying with in Montreal were paying something like $700 Canadian a month for a 3 bedroom apartment, a really nice one. I'm making up the numbers, but you get the picture. Cheap, for the price of speaking French alot.
I admit to being less sure about the survey, but I would hope the same currency. However - the survey evidently was going about states, obliviously failing to change the survey to reflect the fact that Canada has provinces and territories, but not states.
Toronto's quite expensive for Canada, rental-wise, but the figures this survey bandies are just insane. Clearly, they're after students with more money than sense.