It's always sad to see a tenant move out, but it's more bearable when they are moving from one Grace's Places apartment to another, as was the case when T & C left their one-bedroom apartment at my Annex building to move into my favourite apartment at my Cabbagetown property. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to freshen up and modernize. (Continued here).

The City of Toronto has approximately 500,000 rental apartments. Given that the average tenancy in Toronto is 3 years we can surmise that in any given month there are about 14,000 apartments turning over... and about 14,000 prospective tenants trying to find the perfect apartment.  

Finding a great apartment is likely to be a challenge, and if you do find the perfect place there is a good chance that you will be competing with several other prospective tenants, and you will need to convince the landlord that you are the best tenant that he or she could hope to find. Here are some tips on how to find the apartment you are looking for, and perhaps more importantly you will find some tips which will increase your chances of having your application accepted.  continue reading

I’ve recently changed the text on my Home page… given that it formerly described all of the apartments as being “recently” renovated. Time flies when you’re having fun, and it recently occurred to me that my first reno… the one-bedroom plus den unit in Cabbagetown… was renovated almost eighteen years ago... not exactly "recently".


Nonetheless, we’re always finding ways to make improvements and modernize, so this month after the former tenants bought a home of their own (after more than six years at Grace’s Places) we took the unit out of service for a few weeks for a mini-makeover… new bamboo flooring in the living room, a new countertop, sink and faucet, new doors on the kitchen cabinets, a new dishwasher and new faucets in the bathroom.

Click here for more photos