Lethbridge Real Estate - Student Housing
Photo: University of Lethbridge at sunset by Robert May
University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge College attract thousands of students to the city each fall. I believe the total number of students enrolled now is around 15,000 and I would estimate that at least half of those come from outside of the Lethbridge and move here just to attend school.
With this new influx in population the Lethbridge real estate rental market is strongly affected. Rent prices shoot up and vacancy rates drop to absolute zero. Literally every basement suite, duplex, apartment, house, or rooming house is full by the end of August.
For those who are arriving in Lethbridge at this time of the month they are probably already finding that the choices of accomodations are far below what they expected. As a result of the scarcity of accomodations, landlords and property owners are able to be ultra picky about whom they rent to. That translates into NO PETS and NO SMOKERS for almost all of my clients. These landlords rightfully choose not to rent to tenants who have a lifestyle which increases the potential for damages to occur to the rental property.
If you are a smoker or have pets, you will discover that the local rental market is extremely unwelcoming. This is unfortunate, but it is the truth.
My lethbridge real estate brokerage, Rainbow Realty, does not handle public rentals anymore. We do not assist tenants in finding properties. We do however work with landlords and lawyers and assist in tenant negotiations and evictions. This is something which no other property management company in Lethbridge has chosen to specialize in, so it is a niche market for us and something which we have a decent amount of experience at.
