Days 1 to 2: the price and the photos
Start with the price, because nothing else matters if it is wrong. Search the sites you would post on for units like yours within a few blocks and note what is listed, then note which of those have been listed for weeks. A unit that has sat for a month at $2,300 is not "worth" $2,300. If your ad has had views and no enquiries, the price is the first suspect; if it has had no views, the ad is.
Then reshoot. Daylight, curtains open, every light on, nothing on the counters, a wide shot of each room from the doorway, and the kitchen and bathroom first. A phone is fine; a tidy room is not optional. Ten honest photos beat thirty. And write down the facts the ad needs: rent, what is included, parking, laundry, the move-in date, and any rules you can lawfully set.
This is general information, not legal advice. The rules come from Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). For the current forms and guidance see tribunalsontario.ca/ltb, and speak to a lawyer or paralegal about your own situation.
Days 2 to 3: post everywhere, with a different link for each
Most tenants in Ontario find units on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace, and a good share come from local Facebook groups, a campus housing board if you are near one, and word of mouth. The ad text has to fit each place: Kijiji rewards a fresh, full listing; Marketplace shows only the first two lines before "See more", so the rent and the area go first. Repost on Kijiji every few days rather than paying to bump.
Use a different link in each ad. Two weeks from now you want to know which place produced the tenant, and that is the only way to know. KeyToRental's Post Kit does exactly this: one listing becomes a ready-to-paste version for each site with its own tracked link, and the same compliance check that runs on your own listing page runs on the copy, so a phrase you did not know was discriminatory does not go out in the ad.
Days 3 to 7: answer in five minutes
The enquiries arrive as texts, calls at odd hours, Marketplace messages and emails, and the ones you answer within minutes are the ones who turn up. A prospect who messages four listings goes to see the one that replied first. If you have a job, an answer within five minutes all day is not possible by hand; it is the main reason well-priced units sit.
This is the piece KeyToRental was built for: an AI phone line that answers calls and texts about the unit around the clock, from the facts you entered, and hands you the qualified ones. It does not invent details it was not given, and it does not decide who gets the unit. It answers, and it books.
Days 5 to 9: self-booked viewings
Set the times you can show the unit (for example two evenings and a Saturday morning), and let prospects pick a slot themselves from a link. Group the viewings so you are at the unit twice, not nine times, and send a reminder the morning of. No-shows drop when people chose the time and were reminded. KeyToRental's viewing self-booking does the slots, the confirmations and the reminders, and the AI line offers the link to everyone who asks to see the place.
Days 8 to 12: screen properly, and quickly
Everyone who is interested gets the same application: identity, current address, employment or income, references, and consent for a credit check. Ask everyone for the same things, decide on the same criteria, and write down why you chose the applicant you chose. Ontario's Human Rights Code applies to how you select a tenant, so keep the criteria about ability to pay and rental history, not about who the person is.
Speed matters here too. A good applicant has other options; if your decision takes a week they will have signed elsewhere. KeyToRental's screening application collects the same information from every applicant on their phone and gives you one page to compare.
Days 12 to 14: sign and get the deposit
Once you have chosen, send the Ontario Standard Lease (Form 2229E) the same day, e-signed, with the rent deposit due at signing. A lease that takes three days to print, meet and sign is three days for the applicant to change their mind. KeyToRental generates the 2229E from the application and sends it for signature; the tenant signs first, then you, and the first rent and deposit come in by Interac e-Transfer and land on the ledger.
Then the ad comes down, the tracked links tell you which site did the work, and the next time the unit turns over you start on the one that did.