Need to find a new place to rent? Maybe you’ve outgrown your current place or are sick of the neighbourhood or your noisy neighbours.

In the old days finding a new place involved driving up and down your preferred neighbourhood searching for “for rent” signs. Once you found a place that was on the market and available you still have to call up the landlord and request a viewing of the unit. A tedious process that often left you in disappointment when the unit didn’t measure up to what you were expecting.

Thank god for the internet, because it has certainly made the rental search process that much easier. There are several websites now that can dramatically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your rental search.

Why Search For A Place To Rent Online?

Detailed Search Filters: Looking for a rental with certain features or within a specific price range? Most rental websites will let you filter by several criteria such as monthly rent, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, square footage,  included utilities, included appliances, whether pets or smoking are allowed and much more. This filtering capability makes it much easier to narrow your search down to only properties that fit your needs and constraints.

Rental Photos: Most rental websites included multiple photos for each listing. This is handy if you want to gain perspective on what the place looks like before you invest time in viewing the unit in person.

Map Searches: Aggregated map searches have become very popular with most rental websites. If you are interested in renting in a particular neighbourhood the map search is extremely useful for identifying available rental properties in the area.

Top 7 Canadian Websites For Finding A Place To Rent

1. Craigslist
2. Kijiji
3. Facebook Marketplace
4. ViewIt
5. HomeTrader
6. GottaRent
7. Realtor

Happy rental hunting.

Here is a summary of the changes.

1) Reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35 years for new government-backed insured mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of more than 80 per cent. This will significantly reduce the total interest payments Canadian families make on their mortgages, allow Canadian families to build up equity in their homes more quickly, and help Canadians pay off their mortgages before they retire.

2) Lower the maximum amount Canadians can borrow in refinancing their mortgages to 85 per cent from 90 per cent of the value of their homes. This will promote saving through home ownership and limit the repackaging of consumer debt into mortgages guaranteed by taxpayers.

3) Withdraw government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes, such as home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs. This will ensure that risks associated with consumer debt products used to borrow funds unrelated to house purchases are managed by the financial institutions and not borne by taxpayers.

The adjustments to the mortgage insurance guarantee framework will come into force on March 18, 2011. The withdrawal of government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes will come into force on April 18, 2011.

The Official Department of Finance Announcement

So what impact will these changes have on monthly mortgage payments?

Assumptions:
Interest Rate: 4.14% – TD Bank 5 Year Fixed Rate

These new mortgage rules will undoubtedly throw some cold water onto the overheating housing market. I personally think this is a good move considering that some of the major markets in Canada are reaching unaffordable levels given current average household incomes.

What do you think of the changes?