Ottawa and Surrounding Area Real Estate market discussion

There seems to be alot of variation in areas/suburbs and wouldn't mind understanding them a bit more as I know nothing about the different areas.

sdutta6 wrote: ↑ Hi everyone

I notice most people in this thread are talking about buying. My wife and I are moving to Ottawa from Toronto and interested in renting to start. Is there a more appropriate place to post to get some information? Thanks!

Unfortunately, there's no great central location to find rentals. As mentioned by audiorichard, Kijiji and Realtor.ca are good places to look (I think Kijiji has a lot more rental listings between the two). I'd also check Facebook Marketplace (I think it's starting to take over Kijiji's market).

As far as general questions on renting in the area, I would just ask on the forum as it probably applies for renting or buying.

sdutta6 wrote: ↑There seems to be alot of variation in areas/suburbs and wouldn't mind understanding them a bit more as I know nothing about the different areas.

Renting and buying are pretty similar, it depends on your need and budget. Do you have kids (School zone) ? Do you want to live closer to your workplace? Do you want to live in a big house or is it okay to live in condo? How much do you want to spend? You can go kijiji and you will have a good idea how much to rent a room/condo/house.

I still remember that when I first come to Ottawa from Toronto, I rented in a basement in Varier. I thought I got a good deal to live close to downtown.

Selling in the flood zone: "anticipating a big slowdown"
https://ottawacitizen.com/business/loca ... g-slowdown

audiorichard wrote: ↑ Renting and buying are pretty similar, it depends on your need and budget. Do you have kids (School zone) ? Do you want to live closer to your workplace? Do you want to live in a big house or is it okay to live in condo? How much do you want to spend? You can go kijiji and you will have a good idea how much to rent a room/condo/house.

I still remember that when I first come to Ottawa from Toronto, I rented in a basement in Varier. I thought I got a good deal to live close to downtown.

Thanks. My wife was hired as a substitute teacher for the Ottawa school board. I run my own firm for healthcare IT and will set up one of the bedrooms as an office. Main thing is to try to keep her commute times down which is tough because I don't have any one location to hone in on as she could be asked to go to any school. Our budget is up to 2000/month for rent. As some have had discussion about tenants I would be curious what home owners are looking for in a good tenant and what we should bring to our viewings. We would prefer a small town house 2/3 bedrooms but if we had to do a condo I guess we could.

audiorichard wrote: ↑ Renting and buying are pretty similar, it depends on your need and budget. Do you have kids (School zone) ? Do you want to live closer to your workplace? Do you want to live in a big house or is it okay to live in condo? How much do you want to spend? You can go kijiji and you will have a good idea how much to rent a room/condo/house.

I still remember that when I first come to Ottawa from Toronto, I rented in a basement in Varier. I thought I got a good deal to live close to downtown.

Lol, how soon did you leave Vanier?

This is a good example of why even renters need to get some market info.

sdutta6 wrote: ↑ Thanks. My wife was hired as a substitute teacher for the Ottawa school board. I run my own firm for healthcare IT and will set up one of the bedrooms as an office. Main thing is to try to keep her commute times down which is tough because I don't have any one location to hone in on as she could be asked to go to any school. Our budget is up to 2000/month for rent. As some have had discussion about tenants I would be curious what home owners are looking for in a good tenant and what we should bring to our viewings. We would prefer a small town house 2/3 bedrooms but if we had to do a condo I guess we could.

In her situation you have no way of knowing the commute times as she'll be in different schools a lot. Just pick a place that is fairly easy to access different routes (I live in Fallowfield Village close to the 416 and 417). I can also take Fallowfield, West Hunt Club, Carling Road, etc depending on traffic situations. I love the Kanata area (Bridlewood in particular). It really just depends what you want. I like leafy/treed neighbourhoods, lots of trails, etc. Our house backs onto the Rideau Trail.

sdutta6 wrote: ↑ Thanks. My wife was hired as a substitute teacher for the Ottawa school board. I run my own firm for healthcare IT and will set up one of the bedrooms as an office. Main thing is to try to keep her commute times down which is tough because I don't have any one location to hone in on as she could be asked to go to any school. Our budget is up to 2000/month for rent. As some have had discussion about tenants I would be curious what home owners are looking for in a good tenant and what we should bring to our viewings. We would prefer a small town house 2/3 bedrooms but if we had to do a condo I guess we could.

Will she drive or be on transit (bus)?

Actually, either way, without knowing a fixed work location, your best bet is something central near arterials and transitway.

I'd look in Alta Vista if I were you: Sienna private/ Santa Cruz private have a bunch of towns that should fit your needs well.

cyberfreak123 wrote: ↑ Selling in the flood zone: "anticipating a big slowdown"
https://ottawacitizen.com/business/loca ... g-slowdown

2 major flooding in 3 years... I'd imagine an extremely steep discount (like 50%+) is needed to move those properties.

sdutta6 wrote: ↑ Thanks. My wife was hired as a substitute teacher for the Ottawa school board. I run my own firm for healthcare IT and will set up one of the bedrooms as an office. Main thing is to try to keep her commute times down which is tough because I don't have any one location to hone in on as she could be asked to go to any school. Our budget is up to 2000/month for rent. As some have had discussion about tenants I would be curious what home owners are looking for in a good tenant and what we should bring to our viewings. We would prefer a small town house 2/3 bedrooms but if we had to do a condo I guess we could.

Ottawa rental market has been very tight in the last couple of years with vacancy rate in the 1% area. Be prepared to act fast and have all your documentation in order to secure a nice rental.

As a landlord, I personally don't require tenants bring anything to the viewing. I screen the interested tenants through the Naborly app afterwards to avoid looking through personal information of prospectives who many no longer be interested.
I personally would have the following ready:
1- Last 2 years of tax returns for yourself to prove income from the business
2- Letter of employment and/or offer of employment for your wife
3- Credit reports, or permission to run credit reports.
4- References from previous landlord(s)
5- First and last month rent

Tadalafil wrote: ↑ Ottawa rental market has been very tight in the last couple of years with vacancy rate in the 1% area. Be prepared to act fast and have all your documentation in order to secure a nice rental.

As a landlord, I personally don't require tenants bring anything to the viewing. I screen the interested tenants through the Naborly app afterwards to avoid looking through personal information of prospectives who many no longer be interested.
I personally would have the following ready:
1- Last 2 years of tax returns for yourself to prove income from the business
2- Letter of employment and/or offer of employment for your wife
3- Credit reports, or permission to run credit reports.
4- References from previous landlord(s)
5- First and last month rent

This is great thanks. And also others for all their helpful suggestions on neighbourhoods. Seems that being close to the highway and choosing a side to travel to would be good. I hadn't really thought of Facebook marketplace have been looking at rentals.ca and Kijiji so will make sure to check there as well.

danishh wrote: ↑ Lol, how soon did you leave Vanier?

This is a good example of why even renters need to get some market info.

If you want something a bit more urban. I think parts of Vanier are acceptable and good value. The hilly part at the back is decent and the part closest to Beechwood gives you a lot of the New Edinburgh amenities at a fraction of the price.

Granted I am sure the schools aren't great for English Public. The other boards are so spread out it doesn't really matter.

Other cheaper central areas include Lowertown. Not the Market but the pocket east of King Edward. $2000 probably won't get you a three bedroom in that area but might get a decent if not spectacular 2 bedroom.
Hintonburg used to be another possibility and maybe there are still some affordable rentals but mostly it has gentrified.

Someone else mentioned Alta Vista and I also think that is a good option. You can access Old Ottawa South and even Landsdowne/the Glebe but again at a fraction of the cost.

Last option would be Gatineau. Chelsea is nice and decently priced and downtown Gatineau is still rough around the edges but if you like to be in the center of the action it is way cheaper than the Byward Market.

fogetmylogin wrote: ↑
Other cheaper central areas include Lowertown. Not the Market but the pocket east of King Edward. $2000 probably won't get you a three bedroom in that area but might get a decent if not spectacular 2 bedroom.

Wow. When I moved to Ottawa in 2000 I rented a 2-bed in Lowertown for $700.

cyberfreak123 wrote: ↑ For the available land, are you talking Riverside South?
As for downtown, in my opinion, it'll be always a safe bet, although it's expensive. The future will depend on the outcome of the Lebreton redevelopment and new high tech companies that start to take root there. In Little italy, there's the new Civic hospital that looks promising too. and other redevelopment projects in West Centretown

I mean all the LRT stations from Bayshore to Orleans. If the only feature of a condo is "walk to LRT", it would command a standard "LRT price". Of course, Moon is right downtown, so it has other things going for it. I think shopify's fortune will play a big role in downtown condo prices, as it's the anchor employer for Ottawa's downtown tech ecosystem.

Sales flat, prices up 7.4% yoy in April

https://www.oreb.ca/newsroom/catch-22-d ... le-market/

yow2kvil wrote: ↑ Wow. When I moved to Ottawa in 2000 I rented a 2-bed in Lowertown for $700.

Property values in most areas have doubled or more since then and I suspect rents have tripled (particularly at lower price points).

BlueSolstice wrote: ↑ I mean all the LRT stations from Bayshore to Orleans. If the only feature of a condo is "walk to LRT", it would command a standard "LRT price". Of course, Moon is right downtown, so it has other things going for it. I think shopify's fortune will play a big role in downtown condo prices, as it's the anchor employer for Ottawa's downtown tech ecosystem.

I'm not sure how much Shopify location helps Moon - it's close but not close enough (Shopify basically wants their employees at the office as much as possible so gives them food all the time which means that many employees living in the area want a very short walk to the office (so they can eat at work) - at around 20 minutes walk, I think Moon is kind of too far) (A Shopify employee might buy at Moon but one renting would probably look for something within 5 minutes walk).

Tadalafil wrote: ↑ Sales flat, prices up 7.4% yoy in April

https://www.oreb.ca/newsroom/catch-22-d ... le-market/

The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in April in the Ottawa area was $488,729, a rise of 7.4 per cent over April 2018. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $307,659, an increase of 14.3 per cent from this month last year. Year to date numbers show a 6.6 per cent and 8.7 per cent increase in average prices for residential and condominiums respectively. *

Impressive performance for the condos. Let's see if this price increase will continue in the coming months or it's just a statistical glitch. Is it because of the popularity of the townhouses condo?

michelb wrote: ↑ Property values in most areas have doubled or more since then and I suspect rents have tripled (particularly at lower price points).

I don't think rents have tripled or at least not equivalent quality. That $700 place is probably $12-1400 at this point (assuming coats of point new carpets but the same plastic countertops glass shower etc.)

It depends on your definition of decent I guess. I rented a one-bedroom not to long after that for $1200, but it was a brand new condo. I guess it's renting for $1500 now but is easily worth twice the $150k or so they were selling for then.

fogetmylogin wrote: ↑ .....
Someone else mentioned Alta Vista and I also think that is a good option. You can access Old Ottawa South and even Landsdowne/the Glebe but again at a fraction of the cost.
...

Where are you thinking of in Alta Vista? I'm in Faircrest Heights and it won't be easy to find an inexpensive rental. Maybe in Elmvale Acres?

Old Ottawa South is a great place to rent, close to everything and diverse, with homeowners and students living (more or less) happily side by side. We rented a 1/2 double 15 years ago and found it a friendly neighbourhood.