All Terry wants to find is a decent place to rent in Burnaby that he can afford.
To be clear, he already had one of these places – a condo in Metrotown - but his landlord gave him the boot a few months ago despite Terry being a model renter who was quiet and paid his rent on time each month.
“Every landlord has told me I’m the dream tenant,” said Terry. “I don’t throw parties. I don’t have anyone over. I’m quiet. I always pay my bills on time and I’m the cleanest person you will find.”
I’ve been a landlord before and so I would have loved to have rented out space to someone like Terry. I would have begged for this, to be honest.
So, what gives?
“My landlord decided she could make more money by renting the place out on Airbnb,” said Terry. “Once restrictions started lifting, she decided this was the direction to go. I get it. But Airbnb is helping ruin the rental market and now I’m stuck couch surfing until I can find a new places. It’s taking longer than I thought. There are places available, but not enough for the demand and so I’m competing against so many other people. I don’t want to leave Burnaby because it’s where I also work but I might have to.”
I guess I “get it” too. From what some have told me, you can definitely make more money by listing your place on Airbnb, although there are no guarantees, especially in Burnaby, that your place will get the number of clients in a month to be more than the city’s sky-high rents.
I wrote before about a guy named Chad, whose landlord wanted him to suddenly move out so the landlord could “rent it out to a family member.”
“Yeah, now that travel restrictions are being lifted, my guess is the landlord wants to post it on Airbnb again,” says Chad, who doesn’t want his full name used because he now needs to find a new place to live. “So he’s trying to get me to leave. I’m not sure what my options are but I wish the guy would just be honest about the whole thing. He’s been lying to me this whole time.”
At least Terry’s landlord was honest.
The floodgates have now opened as recreational travel in B.C. opens up and the weather gets better.
And that is leaving more and more renters out of luck.
According to a report by Rentals.ca, Burnaby finished ninth on the list for average monthly rent in June for a one-bedroom home at $1,669 and fourth for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,243. Month over month, average rent for a one- and two-bedroom home in June were up slightly in Burnaby.
Airbnb listings aren't helping the situation.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
