In a Sept. 9 story on how students are benefiting from a softening renters’ market, the Toronto Star interviewed Katie Fenton and her fiancé Adam Seybold. Fenton, who is in the final year of a master's program in acting in the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, and Seybold share a place off-campus on Fountainhead Road in North York. They pay $815, which includes utilities. Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation is forecasting a vacancy rate in Toronto of 4.8 per cent this year, up a full point from the previous year.
Management companies are enticing tenants with perks like free parking, cash bonuses and free DVD players. Finding a place through the want ads was no struggle for Fenton and Seybold. "We did look around a bit. At one point we looked downtown but we'd pay $1,000 for something similar and still have the expense of getting to school and back every day. But we did have a lot of choice."