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A checklist, not a verdict

Best coliving in Edmonton

We run one of these buildings, so treat this as a checklist rather than a verdict — including the part where we are not the right answer.

A page called “best coliving in Edmonton”, written by people who operate a coliving building in Edmonton, is worth exactly as much as its disclosures.

So: we run Elm Row, a student residence in Garneau with two buildings. We are not going to rank ourselves first on our own website. What follows is the checklist we would want someone to use on us, and an honest account of where we lose.

The eight things that actually separate operators

1. Whose name is on the lease, and for what

The single most consequential line. If four people sign one joint tenancy, one person leaving in February is the other three’s financial problem. If each bedroom has its own agreement with the operator, it is the operator’s.

Ask directly: is my lease for the room, or for the unit? Here it is for the room — what that changes when someone moves out.

2. What “all inclusive” covers, itemised

The phrase is meaningless until someone lists it. Get heat in writing specifically — in an Edmonton winter it is the line that moves.

Ours covers heat, water, power, Wi-Fi, furniture, laundry in the building and on-site maintenance, with no utility bill, no service fee and no application fee.

3. How many people share the bathroom

Rarely in the listing, always in your daily life. Here it is four bedrooms to one bathroom, in both buildings. If an operator will not answer this quickly, that is the answer.

4. Whether the price you are quoted is the price you are billed

Watch for monthly averages of four-weekly billing. We quote every four weeks because that is the billing period; a nine-month term is nine and three-quarter payments, not nine. An operator quoting a tidy monthly figure over a four-weekly cycle is showing you a number you will never be charged.

5. What the deposit is and under what law it returns

In Alberta a security deposit is capped at one month’s rent, and it comes back with interest after you move out and the room is inspected. Any deposit above that cap, or any vagueness about its return, is a real signal.

6. Which amenities your specific room actually includes

Ours is a live example of getting this wrong if you assume. The fitness centre, the two laundry rooms and the lounge are at Garneau Towers, for Garneau Towers residents. A room at University Tower does not include them, even though the buildings are a hundred metres apart. Ask which building your amenity list belongs to.

7. How housemates are placed

Someone decides who is in the other three bedrooms. Ask how. We place by year, programme, and what you tell us about sleep and tidiness, and we will hold rooms in the same suite for people applying together where we can.

8. The walk, in January

Distance to campus is the most underrated line in an Edmonton housing budget. Measure it to the building you will actually be in, in winter, not to “campus” in the abstract.

From University Tower the Education building is five minutes and the hospital four. From Garneau Towers, a block east, seven and six. Main Quad is twelve to fourteen from either.

Where we are the wrong answer

If you need a private bathroom. Four bedrooms share one, in both buildings, with no exceptions and no upgrade path.

If you want a pet. Neither building permits them.

If you want to pick your own housemates from scratch. A shared house gives you more control than we do.

If you need a lease shorter than nine months, outside June to August. The summer term covers the Deluxe and Flex Plus rooms at Garneau Towers from June to August. Outside that window the term is nine months, and a nine-month lease broken in month three is expensive.

If your budget is below $560 every four weeks. That is our cheapest room, at Garneau Towers. Below it you are looking at a shared house further out, and that is a legitimate answer — just price the heat, the furniture and the bus.

If you want a gym and the cheapest University Tower room. Those are different buildings. Pick one.

What to do on a tour

Take the eight questions above and ask them in order. Then two more that only work in person:

Stand in the kitchen and picture four people in it at 8am. Photographs never answer this.
Ask who you call when the heat fails at 11pm on a Sunday, and how long it takes.

Book a tour in person, or over video if you are in another time zone — that is how most of both buildings fills in September.

Everything else

Questions

Which coliving in Edmonton is best?

Best depends on the bathroom ratio you will accept, the lease length you need, the walk you are willing to do in January and the budget you have. The eight checks above are the ones that separate operators; run them on us and on anyone else.

Is Elm Row the cheapest coliving in Edmonton?

We do not claim to be. Our cheapest room is $560 every four weeks at Garneau Towers, with heat, power, water, Wi-Fi, furniture, laundry and maintenance included. A shared house further from campus will usually show a lower headline rent and add the bills back.

How do I compare all-inclusive prices honestly?

Take the headline rent and add back everything it excludes: heat, power, water, internet, furniture, and the transport cost of the distance. Then compare. That is the only comparison that survives an Edmonton winter.

What should I ask on a coliving tour?

Whose name is on the lease and for what; what “inclusive” itemises; how many share the bathroom; whether the quoted price is the billed price; the deposit and its return; which amenities your specific room includes; how housemates are placed; and the walk to your building in January.

Judge it in person

Apply Book a tour first

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