Renting in Toronto can be a really brutal experience. Even in times where I had excellent credit, high income, good references, and lots of savings, it's sometimes been a struggle to find a good place.
Recently, I fell on hard financial times and needed to find somewhere new to live. The process could be pretty degrading, with many landlords and realtors treating me like I'm not worth their time as I didn't appear on paper to be a AAA tenant.
Tommy Ferrari, one of the reps at this location, is a genuinely good person, and a singular example of what renting from MLS in Toronto can be like if you humanize the process and care about the people involved.
He heard my laundry list of desired amenities, and gave me a pulse check on the current market to see how realistic they were for my price range. He got a feel for the kind of place I would like, and was constantly sending me new ones to look at. He vouched for me to both landlords and agents despite not being in an ideal situation, and diligently followed up with them so we could move on if they weren't interested. In the end, he found me a place that checked off the majority of my desired amenities while also being really affordable.
If you've tried renting downtown before, you know this is the exception and not the norm. These guys get half a month's rent as commission, which makes us small potatoes compared to a house sale. That's why I'll continue giving Tommy my business when I'm ready to buy — because the way people treat you when you don't benefit them in the short term says everything about how they'll treat you in the long term.