Hi,
I am heading for Montreal during end December as I accepted a exciting offer from a reputed company there.Unfortunately I don't have any friend there.My office will be in Ville St Laurent on Marce laurent street which is near Montreal Airport.Could anybody tell me how difficult it is find a condo/apartment close to that area or in Montreal in general.I also need to buy a new car so is it better to buy it from Toronto and driving with it or better to buy from Montreal,could there a lot price difference ?
Actually I am leaving only 3-4 days before my job joining date so thinking 3-4 days is good enough for getting apartment/car or not
Will appreciate your reply
Regards

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ani

Hi Ani,
Vacancy rates are down in Montreal currently. So 3-4 days is not sufficient in my opinion. I would recommend *atleast* 3 weeks. There are a lot of places for rent in ville-st laurent especially on cote-vertu which is one of the main roads running thru ville-st laurent. However, like I said I'm not sure many apts are vacant.
Montreal is not that big of a city and if you have a car you can make it from almost any part of the city to your work place within 1/2 hr. I am not considering rush hour traffic in my calculations. For you anywhere within ville-st laurent should be good. Car...does not matter where you buy from. However, if you are buying an used one...try to buy one with a warranty. Toronto's winter is less harsh than Montreals and theres a chance that a 6 yr old car thats been driven around in Montreal is not in as good a condition as a similar car in Toronto. Also make sure you put on winter tires. We had 30 cm of snow on monday and expecting a worse storm tommorrow. But then that's Montreal for you .
You may have better luck finding a car in 3 days than an apartment. You have to be really lucky to be able to finding both in 3 days. Also I would highly recommend that you have a good look before you sign the lease. There are some shitholes here that pass off as living quarters. Be especially carefull if you have a family. A lot obviously depends on your budget too.
Unfortunately, my schedule is a bit packed for dec and my immune system seems to be showing signs of the stress involved. If you are coming down in Jan let me know maybe I can drive you around to look for an apt and may be able to help out a bit more.
I think you may be a bit dissappointed with Montreal due to the winter( which lasts longer than some North American marriages) but our summers have a way of making up for the winter. Hopefully we'll meet soon.
Mail me privately if you have any questions.

also check our main english newspaper

http://www.canada.com/montreal/

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ani also go to
http://groups.msn.com/MontrealIndians/general.msnw

for the montreal-indian community.

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I really appreciate your help.Please pass me your email ID .I am definately contact you after I reach Montreal
Thanks once again

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ani

go to http://www.jacobv.com" rel="nofollow">LINK for my contact info.
Also you can send me an e-mail from my 'profile'...the tab at the bottom of each post. Looks like many ppl are not aware of this option since i've been asked for my e-mail a cpl of times now.
Later then Ani. All the best!

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Hi Jake,
Per your advice I am starting for Montreal on 28th Dec ,one week before my joining date just to ensure that I am getting enough time to get a apartment.
In the mean time I took paid membership in 247apartments.com and called up several leasing offices close to my office area and also schedule appointment with them.Only problem is as I moved from USA to Canada and never really lived in Canada for more than one month at a particular place they will check my credit history in USA which will take minimum 5-7 business days .That means I need to stay in hotel/motel for atleast one week.Could you suggest me any cheap desi motel/welcome house where I can stay initially for 7-10 days and search for the aprtment.If I reserve a standard hotel/motel that will cost me minimum 70-80 CDN$ per night which will be little bit expensive for me so looking for a cheaper accomodation around Montreal area
Will appreciate your help
Regards

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ani

ani,
I have never used the services of such a place and dont know anybody who has but i will try to do some research and get back to you. let me see what I can come up with. BTW have ypu posted on the montreal-indians message board. I would suggest that you do. There are a lot of students, from india, there with tight budgets...you will probably find some help there.
Anyway i'll get back to you

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