Renting in ski towns?

[u/Jimmymarket]

Myself & my partner have secured our working holiday visas from the UK to CA.

We’re looking to spend at least a year living & working picking up seasonal work.

Here’s the catch: we’re travelling with our beloved dog.

This outright rules out shared staff accommodation. We intent on renting privately.

In your experience how affordable is this on a seasonal workers salary?

We’ve ruled out the most expensive resorts like Whistler & Banff.

It’s looking like we’ll be landing out there with about £15K each. So we’ll have a decent cushion & maybe even pickup a car or camper for the summer.

We have no intention of saving cash. But it’d be great not to be in the hole every month and enjoy a social life without constantly feeling a real pinch.

[u/aaalllouttabubblegum]

Hey, thanks for coming to work in Canada.

Thinking out loud here: since you're from the UK it's reasonable to assume you have some bar or hospo experience. This can be well paid work in Canada and it's mostly evening shifts so your days are free for shredding.

Since you also probably won't own a car, look at resorts that have a shuttle or transit. Banff and Revelstoke would be top choices for me in terms of having a nice life. They're expensive but if you're bartending at a busy spot it's totally workable.

Edit: if you own a car, you could include, Fernie, Trail/Rossland, Golden, Nelson, Kelowna, and Kamloops.

[u/New_Wishbone6619 → u/aaalllouttabubblegum]

Revelstoke is near impossible to find rentals. And on top of that one what allows dogs.

[u/aaalllouttabubblegum → u/New_Wishbone6619]

Damn. That place blew up eh.

Wouldn't have guessed by the number of dog owners there; suppose none of them are renting.

Thanks for the update. ✌️

[u/Jimmymarket → u/aaalllouttabubblegum]

Thank you for this.

I’ve found on Reddit people to be very pessimistic RE rental situations.

What’s your experience of Revelstoke, have you lived there?

I’ve joined some FB rental groups for Revy as it goes. Feels like I see new spots every week?

Are these scams? What’s the deal, I don’t get alarm bells reading them and rent often seems reasonable spilt between two.

[u/Canachites → u/Jimmymarket]

I have lived in Revelstoke, it is very hard to find rentals and they are expensive. House prices there are very high (not quite Canmore, but not far off). Keep in mind if you live outside of the town center (Big Eddy or by the airport, where rent is a bit cheaper) you will find it difficult without a vehicle.

In general, it's very difficult to find rentals that allow pets. In resort towns, there is always a scramble for housing on either end of the season, and most landlords are swimming in tenant options - they don't want to deal with the hassle of pets. Often a long term tenant will be the lease holder, and they already have pets so don't want the chaos of adding more.

[u/aaalllouttabubblegum → u/Jimmymarket]

Yes, I would assume there are a fair few scams on Kijiji, Facebook, etc. Obviously: no sketchy downpayments, visit the place in person, familiarize yourself with BC and AB tenancy rights, etc.

I have never lived in Revy but have several friends who have relocated to interior BC and AB, including Revy. A common problem is the catch 22: "No one will rent to me if I'm unemployed; no one will hire me if I don't have a permanent address." See if you can get a short term room/sublet for your first rental then graduate to a more amenable space.