Classified ads have always seemed more than a little cryptic for the uninitiated. Whether it’s SWF seeks BWMMFW or “Man with van and plan”, you almost need to have a decoder ring to make sense of the information that most people try to cram into the 25 words or less they get from the newspaper. The one time when you should never have to guess as to the meaning is when you are looking for a new apartment. Considering how time-consuming it can be to visit your list of prospective new living spaces, you want to make sure that you aren’t wasting your time checking out a place that doesn’t fit your needs.
Alphabet Soup
Each city seems to have their own particular set of abbreviations and terms used when condensing down all of the salient details in a for-rent ad. Montreal is no exception. One of the first things you will notice when looking at an ad in this city are the numbers that are typically placed at the beginning of the first sentence: 3 ½, 5 ½, or even 1 ½, for example. This refers to the number of rooms that the apartment has. A 1 ½ (one and a half) is a bachelor with one bathroom. A three and a half is usually a one bedroom with a living room / kitchen and a bathroom. A five and a half is usually a 3 bedroom apartment, although sometimes it could be a two bedroom with a separate dining room. As a rule of thumb, the first number refers to the number of detached rooms, usually omitting the kitchen, and the ½ denotes a bathroom. Surprisingly, even though Canada adopted the metric system decades ago, it is rare to see an ad describing an apartment’s floor space in anything other that square feet – even in the French language newspapers.
Since Montreal is a winter climate, one of the more important considerations when browsing for an apartment is the utilities situation. In certain neighborhoods, such as Notre-Dame-de-Grace or Cote-des-Neiges, it is not uncommon to see the terms “ht+htwtr incl”, or something along those lines. That means that both heat and hot water are included in the monthly rental costs. This can be a huge boon if you are looking to rent a larger space that could be more energy-intensive to heat – although keep in mind, in some cases, such as multi-unit buildings, it may be at the discretion of the landlord as to when exactly the heat is turned on in the fall. You may also see the term “Hydro incl”. Hydro-Quebec is the province’s electricity provider, and this would mean that your electricity costs are also included in your monthly rent. This is a more uncommon situation.
It’s the Little Things that Count
Now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to take a look at those extras that can add character and functionality to an apartment. “Hdwd flrs” means that the apartment has hardwood floors – which is a desirable and easy to find feature in Montreal. “W/D” means that washer and dryer are included, and if it’s mentioned in the ad it usually means it is located inside the apartment, rather than in a shared communal space. “Unheated” doesn’t mean you have to build a fire in the middle of your living room to keep warm at night – it just means that you will have to pay for the costs of heating over and above the rent itself. And of course, “prkg” is fairly universal for parking, which is at a premium the closer you get to downtown.
With this lexicon of terms now at your disposal, you should be able to narrow down your choices and endure fewer disappointments when you show up for a visitation. Of course, there is nothing that can prevent someone from trying to pawn off a broom closet as a second bedroom – but after visiting a certain number of apartments in Montreal, you will definitely get a feel for exactly what it is you are looking for.
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