Short-term rental owner offers long-term rentals to international students

By Gomathi Sridevi Radhakrishnan

September 14, 2023.

HuangRui Zhang, a 31 years-old Chinese immigrant is renting out Sonata nn for international students for a long-term. Gomathi Sridevi Radhakrishnan photo.

HuangRui Zhang moved to Prince Edward Island in 2021 with his wife, Yawen Qian, to take over the family business. He wanted their lives to improve instead of being stuck in his home during COVID-19.

“My uncle was living in the U.S. and needed someone to cover the business at Charlottetown. So, I jumped in and moved here two years ago.”

Back in China, Zhang spent almost 10 years coaching badminton to school children at clubs. He left everything and moved to P.E.I to manage Sonata Inn with his wife.

Zhang made it a point to read the newspaper every day. Suddenly, after reading many news pieces on the recent housing issue for immigrants, he came up with an idea

“I talked to my wife and told her how I didn’t want to do one-day guests in the basement like upstairs. I thought of stop giving rooms in the basement for guests and save it for international students.”

With the fall semester coming up, Zhang knew more international students would be coming to P.E.I. With long-term rental, he wanted to offer rooms to those who really needed them.

“I'm not looking to make more money. I'm just looking to give you a great place to live at an affordable price,” he said. “The location is perfect with downtown near to you. And you don’t have to go too far to get anything.”

And that’s how Zhang decided to rent rooms for the immigrants in the basement.

“P.E.I. rental now is too high. Any apartment price is high. But we give students to live here, for cheaper price and stay true to my heart.”

Sonata Inn recently had a new guest stay in the basement for a long term-rental.

First-year UPEI student Abansh Kakkar, who recently moved in, talked about his accommodation circumstances.

“I was trying to find a place to stay in Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace but I couldn’t find anything. One of my friends found this place for me. Just two days before my arrival, I got this. The landlord is nice, and the rent is pretty reasonable as compared to other places in Charlottetown. The bus stop is just five minutes away from here and I consider myself lucky to be where I am right now,” he said.

Nicole Phillips, the Director of Communications and University Relations of UPEI, shared how the university helps students who are coming from all over the world.

“We offer support to students struggling to find housing through our off-campus housing office. This office also manages the Homestay program.”

They are aware of how challenging it may be for international students to find accommodation in a different country. They advise students to look through this program and get registered before the month of their semester starts because the forms get filled up really quick.

Although the university cannot ensure that all incoming students will have acceptable accommodation, they make every effort to offer off-campus housing.

To inform the international students about the accommodations, Zhang has posted notices on the university board.

“Recently, I posted an advertisement on the university board about the vacancy and I have received several phone calls and emails from UPEI international students. A lot of people want to rent rooms and .... I tell them to come and look here first.”

With the housing crisis outside, there are a lot of people waiting to get a place here in P.E.I. Zhang intends to rent out rooms on a temporary basis when the Inn is not filled with visitors during the winter.

“In wintertime, we will be giving room rental for half year. We have nine rooms for rent and already three rooms are pre-booked by the students. We start to rent the room upstairs from November to April,” he said.

Since there were more guests in the summer, the couple was unable to rent their home to others for a longer amount of time. Currently, Zhang is occupied showing visitors who have contacted him for accommodation tours of the basement. There are people coming every day to look at the place and secure the room with a deposit.

“Students come to P.E.I in hope to study well and achieve something. A nicer home and a roof over their heads are two things I wish to give them.... When I can make a difference in their life, I'm happy.”