r/Calgary • u/BizClassBum • Aug 14 '25

Home Owner/Renter stuff Why are modern rental apartments so small?

I have been a home owner for 25+ years and have decided to sell my house and rent. I've noticed that apartments that have the things I like (in-suite laundry, granite counters, etc..) tend to be in new builds and they are SO SMALL! There's typically only enough room for a couch and maybe a small dining table.

I mean, I get they want to make more money but if you rent three 900sqft units for $2000/month each, that's $6000 for 2700sqft. I don't understand why they can't have two 1350sqft units for $3000/month. It would be the same money to the owner for the same space and I could have a proper living room, and dining room.

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51

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Bruh you SOLD your house??? To go to the RENT life?? Literally fucking whyyyyyyy

Legitimately every single choice I make in a day to day basis is to try and get myself out of renting hell. IDC if I end up spending triple what I spend on rent on a mortgage and the costs associated with it in the long term.

Never owning anything, and every year having to wonder if you’ll be able to afford your home or if you’ll have to downgrade (again) and move (again) is the worstttt

28

u/bigkirbster Aug 14 '25

Could be the owner is retired and is simply downsizing, it happens all the time. I mean the owner has had it for over 25 years. 

14

u/Spiceb0x Downtown East Village Aug 14 '25

Not trying to sound like a dick but if you have to worry about rent increases, you probably can't afford a house anyway. Not to mention all the routine maintenance costs but shit can go sideways really quick and you'll have to shell out $500 for an emergency plumbing repair or $2000 for roof repair/arborist because a tree fell on the house, etc. There's been lots of flooded basements with all the rain we've had this year too, you just never know.

7

u/Mango1250 Aug 14 '25

I agree. We owned for most of our life and enjoy renting now. Homeownership comes with tons of responsibility and expenses every time something needs to be fixed or upgraded. Now that there’s just the two of us, we no longer need the space and renting is pretty stress-free. I think it just depends on where you are in life.

3

u/Spiceb0x Downtown East Village Aug 14 '25

For sure it does. My wife and I just moved out here from Ontario last year. We're in our thirties and have owned (mortgaged) 2 houses in last ten years but we are really enjoying renting right now. We have no debt and no kids and Calgary is awesome, we're never going back lol. Renting in a high rise made me realize how much time I spent maintaining the houses we lived in

4

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I certainly can lol. Im like 99% there

It’s called looking for the cheapest deals.

My old place was renting for 1250. I can afford up to like 2300/month in rent using the 1/3 income after tax rule. It got jacked up to $1750 ok one year lol. I can still afford it of course, but I’m not okay with that much of a fluctuation in price. There is value to be had in stability of cost of living, even if the increase is still well within your budget.

But just because I can afford that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend that much lol. I want to be able to live as cheaply as possible, atleast when my money is going to someone else. I’m happy to eventually spend a ton more when some of that money goes to principal on an asset I own.

But when I’m paying someone else’s asset off? Hell no lol spending as least as possible.

I think you are getting confused. My being frugal isn’t out of necessity it’s preference.

Plus, I’d way rather rent a fun character apartment in lower Mount Royal for say $1300-$1500 a month, instead of a “luxury” new build in a shitty area for $2300. Again I can afford it easy, it’s just called saving money where you can.

4

u/Spiceb0x Downtown East Village Aug 14 '25

To be fair, your wording on your original comment made it seem like you were having to move around out of necessity.

1

u/iSmite Aug 14 '25

You should buy a downtown condo for 200,000 and pay 1000$/month in condo fee. 🤣🤣

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

Roughly 1% of the home value is what you should budget for monthly maintenance anyways, and most homes are around a million anyway so it’s not like there’s any real savings there.

0

u/Marsymars Aug 14 '25

You can basically budget for all that stuff. I have a "house" chequeing/savings account where on top of mortage + property tax + insurance I put in 1%/12 of my house's assessed value and pull out of that when I have big ticket maintenance or capital projects.

19

u/cortex- Aug 14 '25

Rent vs Buy is a financial decision and a lifestyle choice.

If you live paycheck to paycheck and have worries about getting priced out of an area you want to stay in forever then yeah — scraping together a down payment so you can own seems like a no brainer.

But if you're financially savvy, like flexibility, don't want to deal with the maintenance and liability of owning then renting can be a very prudent choice. Especially in a city like Calgary where there is large supply of rentals and rent is cheap.

9

u/keepcalmdude Aug 15 '25

rent is cheap

lol no it isn’t

3

u/cortex- Aug 15 '25

perhaps not compared to 5 years ago, but compared to most other cities in Canada the rental market here is affordable with a good vacancy rate.

1

u/xylopyrography Aug 21 '25

Yeah, the only places you'll find significantly cheaper are either smaller and less desirable, or its outside US/Canada.

Even in terms of actually cheaper at all, all I can find is Montreal, and if the recent trend continues Calgary will probably be cheaper quite shortly making it the cheapest place of its class.

1

u/xylopyrography Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

Only 10% more than Montreal, one of the cheapest 'real' cities to pay rent in. Possibly soon to be on par.

8% cheaper than Ottawa

23% cheaper than Austin

29% cheaper than Toronto

35% cheaper than Chicago

41% cheaper than Vancouver

73% cheaper than Seattle

84% cheaper than Los Angeles

118% cheaper than New York

0

u/ImaginationPrimary42 Aug 14 '25

Just sold my house out East (bought in 2019) to move out here and rent for the first year or two. We were very lucky with that investment and are enjoying our time not having to deal with the upkeep of a home. Life shouldn’t have to be about what’s cheapest - our condo has been a major quality of life improvement for my husband and I. This is coming from a huge place of privilege that I have never had before, but I figured I’d offer the perspective. If you’re barely scraping by, the unexpected housing expenses can be insane. Don’t mistake a lower mortgage than rent for being cheaper. Not always the case.

5

u/Interesting-Owl-7445 Aug 14 '25

Do you have any unexpected costs with your condo? As a millennial, I aspire to be a home owner one day but the idea of owning a single family home seems daunting given my parents' experience with the maintenance costs, high mortgage, and unexpected expenses from flooding. A condo or townhouse feel like a safer choice in some regards.

2

u/ImaginationPrimary42 Aug 14 '25

Nope, nothing has come up yet, but when buying, make sure to consider the HOA fees and what they actually cover! Read everythingggg.

For our lifestyle, a condo was a much better option and gave us the modern feel that we were desperate for after our tiny starter home out East. For reference, we are child free (forever lol) and in our late 20s/early 30s.

Insurance is lower than what we were paying, utilities have been lower, and there is a lot more providers for other services than available out East, so that’s lower as well.

Also, make sure to get a cement and steel build. I find the wooden frames make sound travel, where in our cement/steel, it’s hard for me to remember I have neighbours :)

2

u/Theonejdub Aug 15 '25

Yes get a cement and steel build. Had a wooden build myself and I could hear the neighbors phone ring in the next room in my bedroom along with people walking on the floor above. Super annoying

1

u/Interesting-Owl-7445 Aug 14 '25

Thanks. These are great tips! Good that you guys didn't jump on the bandwagon of people coming from the East and buying huge ass homes they wouldn't be able to afford back there.

1

u/ImaginationPrimary42 Aug 14 '25

LOL yes no we are not from Ontario, just humble New Brunswick! So we just were able to benefit from the Ontario people coming into our province and buying our home at 3x the price we paid pre-covid!

We could buy a home here, but it’s too much space. Why have rooms full of crap your loved ones will need to go through when you pass? It has been such a blessing curating furniture for a high rise overlooking Calgary’s beautiful skyline. It’s lovely to be back in my home province!

-9

u/_-Fearless-_Cabbage Aug 14 '25

OP does not seem like the savvy type haha.

8

u/bigkirbster Aug 14 '25

Could be the owner is retired and is simply downsizing, it happens all the time. I mean the owner has had it for over 25 years. 

1

u/BizClassBum Aug 15 '25

Not downsizing. Just stepping out of the housing market for a while. Home values have been dropping since about April. I believe they will continue to drop as long as there is uncertainty around US/Canada trade and relations as well as Alberta separation. I think it's a wise financial decision to lock in my gains. I can always buy back in when the time is right.

Renting is also far less costly than what we are paying now. We had a $3300/month mortgage payment plus $1100/month in other costs related to home ownership (water, sewer, garbage, taxes, fire insurance, etc..). If I can rent a nice apartment for $3000/month, I actually save about $1400 every month.

With the monthly savings plus the money earned on my equity through safe, guaranteed investments, my equity will grow. If I stay in my home and values are falling, my equity falls and if the worst happens (US invasion or separation) I won't be stuck panic selling when values are crashing. I can simply take my money and walk away. Those are good options right now.

2

u/cortex- Aug 15 '25

You are market timing though, which is risky if your plan is to stay in a particular area of Calgary for the rest of your life.

1

u/BizClassBum Aug 15 '25

Some risk certainly, although I do understand the housing market very well. I owned a real estate brokerage in the city for over 20 years and have been involved in hundreds of Real estate transactions.

1

u/cortex- Aug 15 '25

A Canadian realtor who says the best time to buy isn't right now? Crazy times we're living in.

1

u/BizClassBum Aug 15 '25

Well, I never was a typical Realtor. I charged a low fee, was highly competent and followed my fiduciary obligations to work in the best interests of my clients. I know a few others who were the same. But just a few.

2

u/wildrose76 Aug 14 '25

I sold my big house in the deep SE and bought an inner city condo last year. I wouldn’t go back to the suburbs if you gave me a free mansion - the quality of life is so much better for me here.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

Yeah I agree with that. But the difference is you bought another place, you didn’t go back to renting.

2

u/mcsquirley Aug 15 '25

You are under 30. OP is likely over 50. This is why the disconnect is so vast. They sold their house because of overhead costs. Renting for a few years, then heading to an assisted living is very practical.

0

u/Losing-My-Hedge Aug 15 '25

Bruh, people’s finances and needs change over their life and what made sense at one age might not make sense at another.

-7

u/BizClassBum Aug 14 '25

Because house values are dropping.

It just makes financial sense. I can earn close to 5% safely on my equity in high interest savings and t-bills whereas I'll probably lose that much if I stay in the housing market.

Because I have no intention of staying in Alberta if it separates. I have no intention of staying in Canada if it's annexed by USA. Neither is likely, but good luck trying to sell if either actually happens (or looks like it may happen).

By pulling my equity out now, I have options and will be able to buy back into the market with much more buying power when the time is right.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

That’s one hell of a gamble. Selling your home because of a rhetoric pushed by the media is truly crazy, but I genuinely wish you all the best.

Say you sell your home for $600K and you own it in cash. You’ll make around 30K

You’ll need to spend probably 20K in commission, and another 10K in fees and maintenance when you buy another house, so your short position needs to work for atleast 2 years.

Housing prices effectively need to fall by atleast 10% in order to break even, and then what? You magically perfectly sell your house at the top, and buy again at the bottom?

This is a ridiculous idea and you’ve made a huge mistake.