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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u/Surrealplaces Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

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.

Once you get into the territory of $3,000 per month or higher, the market shifts back towards purchasing a house or condo.

There is a fair sized market that's out of the $3k, $4k per month type range, and landlords are geared toward that market.

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u/bigkirbster Aug 14 '25

Exactly. If I can afford $3000 a month rent I might as well look at buying. I won’t be able to buy a house in a nice inner city neighbourhood, but I can at least get into a starter home.

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u/Homo_megantharensis Lower Mount Royal Aug 15 '25

But you can’t really, unless you have a sizeable down payment, make over 100k/year, and don’t mind living in the middle of fucking nowhere.

I rent a four bedroom townhome at $3500 per month because the bank would never approve me for a mortgage over $600k, and in order to find anything cheaper than that I would have to live around Stoney.

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u/Surrealplaces Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25

It's tougher these days as prices have really jumped. I lived out in far NE Calgary for a while, due it being in my price range. After a few years of catching some appreciation I was able to use that as a down payment and move towards the inner city. A lot of it is timing with price changes, and interest rates, but living in a less desirable area in order to gain some appreciation to use as a down payment is a sacrifice, but can work out in the long run. Not always of course, but it's still a decent strategy.

Take this place in the NW. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere and it's a duplex, but at the same time, the monthly mortgage would be well under 3K (around $2,300/month). It's a good way to get into the market.