Finding a place to rent in Cochrane, is not for the faint of heart. 

Natalie Roy has lived in town for the past nine years and has struggled multiple times with finding a place to live for her and her three kids. 

She recently was told her current property was being sold and needed to find a new rental, which was an extremely tricky task. 

"Some of them told me they had 100 or more applicants on one property. There are locals, people who have been here, like me for a long time who are looking for a place but there are also people who are moving to Cochrane, there are people who are building and they're looking for short-term rentals while they build."

After some time, Roy was able to secure a new place but will be paying $700 more per month. 

She said getting approved during the process is a feat in itself. 

"They also have a lot higher standards than they used to. They do credit checks, they need triple the amount of income than what the rent is, but that's getting tougher as the rent goes higher," said Roy. 

Keith Rowe, Broker and owner of Rent My Home Property Management said demand for rentals is incredibly high right now. 

"Absolutely nuts, it's ridiculous. We run 140 units, everything from apartments up to a couple of acres. It would be normal for us to have two, maybe three properties on the board at any one time, we had a week there when we had absolutely nothing on the board." 

He said every single day he sees posts on social media, or they get calls from people saying they're moving to Cochrane from Ontario or British Columbia and they're looking for a place to live. 

He said, "Cochrane is a chooser town, and they're choosing it." 

As far as rental costs go, it is still more affordable to live in Cochrane than Calgary said Rowe, but not by much. 

"We are slightly cheaper than Calgary, though not a lot. Cochrane and Calgary are becoming Canmore-like. It used to be, the same thing in Canmore would be twice as much, but that gap has significantly narrowed." 

Rowe offers some tips for renters who are on the hunt for a property. 

"First thing I would do is reach out to landlords when you see their ad and be tenacious. You want to be that person who calls and emails several times rather than just one little click. I would show up with references ready to go, reference letters if you've got them. If you can pull a credit check on yourself and bring that." 

According to Rentcanada.com, the average cost of an apartment for rent in Cochrane is $900 for a Bachelor, $1144 for a 1 Bedroom, $1417 for a 2 Bedroom, and $2538 for a 3 Bedroom.