Right now people are posting their family photos as part of an appeal to find housing they can afford in Prince George.
We’ve all heard how hard it is to find an affordable place to rent in Prince George as well as around the province.
People are finding themselves in circumstances beyond their control as landlords are looking to evict their current renters who are paying reasonable prices so they can renovate and rent for much higher as the market demands allow or just sell outright in this sellers’ market.
Two moms who posted family photos and short descriptors of their family dynamics in their ‘In Search Of’ rent ads were willing to share their stories.
Kristy is a single mom of two young boys and an unusually well-behaved kitty, it says on her post on Kijiji.
Kristy said she hopes her post will inspire the right landlord to reach out and provide the home she so desperately needs.
“If I don’t get a place by the end of the month I will be on the streets with my two boys,” Kristy said, who has lived in her present home for the last six and a half years. It's the only home the boys, who are three and five, have ever known.
“It’s my job to provide a safe stable home for them and I feel like I’m failing as a mother.”
She’s gone to BC Housing and the Aboriginal Housing Society and she’s on the list for both with no word yet of a spot.
“I’ve heard from the odd landlord and when I go to the place it’s either too small or it’s not available when I need it,” Kristy. “The place I looked at today was damaged and wouldn’t be ready in time because he’s got to fix everything. I just need a home now and I’m really tired of looking.”
Kristy is looking for long term housing, just like her last home. To see her ad visit https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1617501801
Kristin is a mom of three young boys with a partner with a steady job and she recently posted her ‘In Search Of’ ad because it worked the first time she did it for the house they currently rent and now she’s looking to stay in the same neighbourhood – Heritage – so her kids can go to the same school.
“We wanted to be up front with our family circumstances so that we wouldn’t have to keep going back and forth with a potential landlord,” Kristin.
And maybe they’ll find a match more easily, she added.
“We’re just praying that it works," Kristin said. "I’ve checked the rentals 100 times a day and we haven’t found anything yet.”
Her current landlord decided to sell because the market is so good right now and the house sold in a week.
Kristin said with her three boys they want to have a whole house to themselves so they are not disturbing anyone and no one is disturbing them. They need to move by September 1 but the way things are in the current housing rental market she knew she had to get started early.
“I just felt including a picture of my family so they can see our faces might entice landlords more to rent to us,” Kristin said. “With the market as it is nowadays it’s pretty cut throat.”
To see her ad visit https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1619458267
