Guide to Renting an Apartment during COVID-19

A guide to renting during COVID 19 

This year has been challenging to say the least. The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted how almost all of us conduct business on a day to day basis. Those of us in the property management/apartment rental industry have had many challenges to overcome during this time. As an essential service, we remained operational throughout the pandemic, but had to adapt to changes not only to government mandated measures, but also to the changes to how people conduct themselves. This was especially true of apartment rentals in Toronto, which was largely impacted by COVID-19 due to the city's size and density. 

We made sure to revise our rental process in order to make securing a new home as seamless as it could be. While there are always challenges along the way, we strive to make our rental process as renter friendly as possible. How do we do it? Read below to find out. 

Limit Open House Visits and Book Appointments 

During the majority pandemic we looked to limit the frequency of open houses and instead encourage guests to book private appointments. Guests who booked appointments would be able to view suites with the leasing agent or on their own depending on their comfort level.This helped manage traffic so that units could be properly sanitized between showings. It also helped us keep track of our visitors in the event that we needed to trace a case of COVID-19.

This means a safer rental apartment showing experience for you and your family. 

Provide Guests with access to PPE and Sanitizer     

We take great pride in having PPE and sanitizer available for visitors at all points of the pandemic. We take the health risk posed by COVID-19 to our community very seriously. We provide these things not only because they are mandatory, but in an effort to safeguard the health of our community. We want to take care of our future residents before they even sign their lease, and providing them with PPE and sanitizer while touring apartments is the least we could do to ensure their safety and comfort. 

This means you don't have to worry about showing up with the necessary PPE and sanitary supplies when touring with us. We have you covered. 

Utilize Virtual Tours and Personal Video Call Walkthroughs 

The pandemic has encouraged us to shift our marketing efforts to a more digital focus. Before booking an appointment, we encourage all prospects to view our virtual tours online to get a feel for our apartment options from the comfort of their home. This way, they can limit the amount of properties they have to visit by doing a preliminary apartment search online. The virtual tours paint a good picture of our suites for future residents to view. 

We know some individuals are less comfortable with physical interaction during this time and so  also provide the opportunity to tour vacant suites via video call. Our leasing agent tours the suites exactly how they would if it was an in person showing. This way, our future residents can see exactly what their apartment will look like without having to visit in person, and limiting their travel. 

This means regardless of where you are, you can still view your next home with easy and peace of mind. 

Make Online Applications Available 

Lasly, we have online applications available for most of our rentals. We wanted to ensure that our future residents know they can complete their rental application from the comfort of your home while limiting contact with your leasing specialist. With the use of our Property Vista platform, don't worry about traveling back and forth with your documents. Upload and apply all in one place. 

This means you can conveniently complete your application on your own time with nothing more than your computer. 

Now maybe the best time to rent and apartment.  By following all the precautions in place, you can safely find your next home!