Hello freinds,

I am planning to move permanently to Vancouver ,BC from CA,USA in the middle of the next month (May'08).I am going to drive in to Vancouver in my car.

Initially I am planning to either live in a shared accommodation or as a paying guest and eventually rent an apartment in the vicinity of my work.I am in IT field.I need to look for a job in Vancouver area.

I sincerely appreciate if some one on the forum guide me where to find the shared /paying guest acco listings so that I can contact them before hand and have it arranged on my arrival.

Thanks,

MS.

Hello Maplestar,

Sharing one single room and other facilities in a multi roomed house in and around Vancouver, Burnaby and the surrounding suburbs will run you into $650/m. +/-

There are a few Guest houses that are run by desis. You will have to do the search after your arrival or wait to hear from the other desis here.

After you settle down in a job you can take a lease on a two bed room apartment and share the facility with another for the same cost or start looking for the same prior to arrival and go and check the facility before you commit yourself to that location.

Generally the lease is given to one individual and the second person who shares the place does not get any tax break provided by the CCRA. Hence my posting here about the short term rentals when you first arrive and then leasing closer to your work place after you find a job and settle down. So, please make a note.


http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/f-housing-apartments-for-rent-W0QQCatIdZ37
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/roo/
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=CA&countrycode=41&city=Vancouver&state=BC&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

You will find some decent locations in RICHMOND at Gilbert and Blundell.

Hope this helps.

Freddie.

Hello MS... We are looking for someone to share 2bedroom basement with my brother. We do not run professional paying guest services but my brother is newly immigrated, he has new job and currently my parents are in India.
Rent is little high for him but they like the place.

If you are a vegetarian, you are most welcome to stay there as a paying guest (for few days). He lives in Surrey Area. We also have placed an ad in classified. You can check.

here is the link

http://canadiandesi.com/poster.php?BID=35081&CID=19&wanted_available=A&country=Canada&level1=1&province=British%20Columbia&level2=14&city=Surrey&level3=

Thank you very much Freddie and apsingla for your responses.

May be I was not clear in my request. I am not single.My wife also is with me (No Kids).We are also considering to rent a single BR apt with reasonable rent (CAD-600-800) close to desi communitie and desi grocery stores with road/rail access.
I was just wondering what would be the approximate or estimated monthly expenditure on utilities and groceries apart from rent.

I have already started applying for jobs ,not sure how is the IT job market in Vancouver area though.

Thanks again for your help.

MS.

I believe the grocery exp. should be way less than CA. e.g. recently we went to our frineds in California and We found out that they were renting 1 bedroom apt. for $1300 /m and 1 bag of ATTA was $15.

In Surrey you could get a nice 1 bedroom basement anywhere from 400 to 600/m. The only problem in Surrey is no one is willing to include Laundry even if you offer to pay Extra. In toronto we never had this problem. I have no Idea about the apartment compleses.

Bag of Atta would cost you anywhere from $10 to $12 I am talking ablout the brand we use) different brands can go up or down + ( sometimes if you buy $100 worth of grocery you get a Steel Patila free or Samosa maker Free)
It would be less than CA thats for sure.

One more thing... Samosa in CA $75c or a $1 I believe, well here you can have 3 for a dollar.

It would be hard to find any non Desi in Surrey and in Vancouver Downtown ........... it's more like China Town.

80% of people Desis, in Surrey, are either Truck Driver or doing Security Job. But being closer to the border you might find something good in Seattle.

Try listening to redfm.ca live radio. You'll get some idea.
hope it helps.

Complex*