Where to find rental demographics/stats in Calgary?

[Charlene Green]

Hello! My partner and I are looking to purchase our first property in Calgary within the next 6 months. With a budget of ~$400k, we're looking at SFH with basement suites, and plan on living down/renting up (3+2). We're familiarising ourselves with the rental market and wondering if anyone can offer any tips or resources for finding rental stats? We'd like to better understand property value vs. rental prices, but our current approach of going on rentfaster and clicking different listings feels very inefficient...

At bit of background: We've got $120k in savings and are leaning towards 5% down. We're looking at properties with existing illegal suites and converting to legal, or suiting out a basement. We plan to live down and rent up. If 2 bedrooms in basement we will rent out the other as well. We are considering around Ranchlands + area and renting to students, or possibly Shawnessy/south and renting to families, but need to validate. We'd like to have a specific rental demographic in mind before buying. 

We appreciate any and all help! :)

[Cole Felske]

Hi Charlene - funny you ask this, myself and my partner just did this exact same thing in Calgary a few months ago. It's a great idea for the first property. We are currently in the process of living in and legalizing a basement suite in Canyon Meadows. We rented out the main floor suite almost immediately, and it completely covered the cost of the mortgage. Almost any neighborhood along Crowchild trail will work great for this strategy. 

PM me if you'd like more info!