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Renting With Dogs


AshleyB
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Hi Everyone,

I thought this was the best place to ask - I am about to start the hunt for my first rental house, but I will be taking my dogs (2 of the 3) with me. I can leave one boy at home with Mum and Dad as there is no way I would have any hope of renting with 3 dogs.

What I am asking is how should I go about bringing this up with landlords? I am planning on putting a folder together as a resume for my 2 dogs. What do I need in this, and how should I set it up?

Thanks Ashley :)

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Hi Everyone,

I thought this was the best place to ask - I am about to start the hunt for my first rental house, but I will be taking my dogs (2 of the 3) with me. I can leave one boy at home with Mum and Dad as there is no way I would have any hope of renting with 3 dogs.

What I am asking is how should I go about bringing this up with landlords? I am planning on putting a folder together as a resume for my 2 dogs. What do I need in this, and how should I set it up?

Thanks Ashley :)

When I was enquiring about rentals I informed them straight up of my intentions and they either said that yes, the owners would consider pets or no, they wouldn't. My theory was that this would weed out the properties that were a definite 'no' and I wouldn't have to waste my time going through the application process only to be rejected due to pets.

I found with being upfront there wasn't many rentals that didn't allow pets.

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We had success, it only took us 8 days to find a suitable house and get all the paper work signed :)

Thank god because we didn't have long to get out of the other place (long story )

Both my pets had resumes (cat and dog) and Esky's had copies of her registration, the certificates from the dog club and a some brief information about the breed and what I do with Esky.

It wasn't too hard, but getting your first rental can be very challenging. Good luck :D

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Guest donatella

Depending on the size of your dogs and property type you were after you might be better looking 20/30mins from the city. I found the further surburbean you go the more pet friendly properties become.

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Depending on the size of your dogs and property type you were after you might be better looking 20/30mins from the city. I found the further surburbean you go the more pet friendly properties become.

Yes, I am actually a teacher and am teaching in the western suburbs of Sydney, so am house hunting in the Hawkesbury area. It seems there are quite a few places but as I am moving out of home I have not rented before so wanted to cover all potential questions with the dogs first! Thanks :)

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Guest donatella

Your parents can be the dogs references seeing as they have lived with them. Are they well known to your vet surgery? That's always another goodie to have as a reference. When I put my dog down on the property im in now (we moved in 3 weeks ago), I was stressing so much

about the dog and her being the reason we were rejected but we got accepted within 24 hours and the real estate didn't call any of the references I had down for her or ask any questions about her at all.

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I put together resumes for all of my animals. I included:

Copies of desexing and vaccination.

References from the vet.

Any training/showing titles or even just obedience training certificates.

References from previous landlords. In your case, your parents and their neighbours.

I wrote a short cover letter for them all, stating their names, ages, breed, a bit about the breed, what they did and didn't do (eg, digging, chewing). If you have rescues that you got from the pound, include that too.

Good luck!

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ohh thanks for the tips about the resumes. sadly down in canberra its pretty much impossible to rent with pets. ive got a dog and cat and there is like zero accomodation. am told straight away no pets. makes it hard so am living with mum who drives me a little bonkers. cant wait till i can afford my own place. dsmn rental market

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ohh thanks for the tips about the resumes. sadly down in canberra its pretty much impossible to rent with pets. ive got a dog and cat and there is like zero accomodation. am told straight away no pets. makes it hard so am living with mum who drives me a little bonkers. cant wait till i can afford my own place. dsmn rental market

Sorry, I have to jump in on this one. I am on the other side of the coin. I am a landlord and also a dog lover, but I had to reject an application through the real estate agent when a young woman with a husky, applied to rent a townhouse, no front gates and a small courtyard and she worked long hours during the day. Where would the dog be all day? As much as I sympathised with the applicant I need to look out for my property and investment too. I have no doubt that a lot of dog owners will look after the property but my husband couldn't take the risk. I have no objection to dogs as long as the owner is there for most of the day.

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Hey Ashley

Dont stress about it my partner and I just had this experience and we thought it was impossible, Not true. We're now in a little 2 bedroom house in suburbia with a great sized yard for an afghan and a border collie

A few things we took away from the experience was to look at older properties sure they dont have all the fancy stuff but alot of the time newer places with fancy landscaping and such owners are reluctant to let pets in there. We ended up going for an older house that had a simple grassed yard, we were very honest on our application about the dogs I didnt include resumes but instead a simple personal letter to the owners to explain our situation with the dogs as our dogs are show and trialling dogs, I also offered to contriubute extra towards a "pet bond" to give the owners a peace of mind ( I understand that its apparently illegal for certain states to do that) but I wanted to show them I was serious, I also included basic information about our dogs just stating their breed and their ages nothing fancy and nothing to over the top because at the end of the day if theey have 20 applications to read through, they dont wanna have to read a 50 page essay on why they should pick you.

Thats just my opinion take it or leave it, we were sucessful with the property we applied for, the real estate and landlord are fully aware that we have a 3rd little one who comes and goes and they are fine with that. keep it honest and keep it simple I think are the two things I took away from the whole experience

Good luck, feel free to pm me if you want to ask any other questions and good luck :)

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I rent with a rather large pooch. I found that the landlord either says yes to pets or no and didn't require alot more info than that to make up their mind. I do recall being asked if he was toilet trained and that was about it.

I think you'll find they will be more interested in your personal details to make sure that you are an appropriate candidate for their house (can afford the rent and wont damage it etc).

Good luck with the hunt.

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Hey Ashley

Dont stress about it my partner and I just had this experience and we thought it was impossible, Not true. We're now in a little 2 bedroom house in suburbia with a great sized yard for an afghan and a border collie

A few things we took away from the experience was to look at older properties sure they dont have all the fancy stuff but alot of the time newer places with fancy landscaping and such owners are reluctant to let pets in there. We ended up going for an older house that had a simple grassed yard, we were very honest on our application about the dogs I didnt include resumes but instead a simple personal letter to the owners to explain our situation with the dogs as our dogs are show and trialling dogs, I also offered to contriubute extra towards a "pet bond" to give the owners a peace of mind ( I understand that its apparently illegal for certain states to do that) but I wanted to show them I was serious, I also included basic information about our dogs just stating their breed and their ages nothing fancy and nothing to over the top because at the end of the day if theey have 20 applications to read through, they dont wanna have to read a 50 page essay on why they should pick you.

Thats just my opinion take it or leave it, we were sucessful with the property we applied for, the real estate and landlord are fully aware that we have a 3rd little one who comes and goes and they are fine with that. keep it honest and keep it simple I think are the two things I took away from the whole experience

Good luck, feel free to pm me if you want to ask any other questions and good luck :)

I wouldn't rule out new places entirely!

I'm renting a brand new townhouse with no problems, and I think donatella's rental is brand new aswell :)

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keep it honest and keep it simple I think are the two things I took away from the whole experience

Please be honest with the potential landlord.

I'm having big issues with my next door neighbors (I've moved back to my townhouse with Pele temporarily). Young couple early 20's moved in back in August. Seemed lovely, she was pregnant. They've got a dog and a cat (cat's are not allowed in my group. Lovely little dog (staffy/ACD X) about 10 months old. They didn't tell the landlord or get permission from the corporate body. I was going to offer to walk the dog, but thought "hold back for a while, they've only just moved in and might think I'm a bit to familiar".

Fast forward. Dog hardly got walked. Baby arrived end of November. Dog hasn't been out of the tiny paved yard since :mad: They only go out to feed him and don't pick up the poo. The record is 9 days!!!! :eek::mad: They cleaned up NYE after 8 days!!! :eek::mad: (they had visitors) The agent and owner want them out!! I want them out!! Tennants have rights :banghead: and these little slime bags know this. They are behind in their rent and the case has been before the Residential Tenencies Tribunal and the judge took pity on them, and apparently they left laughing. I've had verbal altercations with them. The council are toothless tigers and can only send warnings. The RSPCA can't do anything (he's fed, got water and a roof over his head - he's in the carport). I have to live with the stench and the evidence of rats :mad: Meanwhile the cat is stalking birds and they are all agitated, not the lovely bird song any more :mad:

OK, sorry for the rant. That's an extreme case and I know you won't be like that :) I'm more than happy for the dog to stay, just want new owners for him!

Please be up front about pets. Good luck with the house hunting :)

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Thanks guys! So if I put together something about the dogs just to cover if I am asked for it, what should I be putting together for me!? As I have never rented before, where do I start with information they will require? Just want to cover most basis before I go and speak to some real estates about it.

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Most agents would have a copy of the application form on their websites.

I prefill them out before going to inspections and if I like the place I can hand it straight to the agent.

;)

+1 to that

OH inspected the property and handed in our application on the spot, generally agents go on a first come first serve basis with applications well atleast thats what ours explained to us, from what I remember it was drivers licence, passport if you had one, medicare card, and 2 things that gave evidence of last address and 2 payslips to prove your earnings. Just make photocopies of all of those and you should be set :)

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I rent and am a landlord and have not found that first come first served is how rentals operate. At least not in inner city Sydney. Most agents will give people until lunch time on monday to get their applications in and then present the best four or five to the landlord (assuming there are that many of course.)

I would try to have a chat with the agent at the inspection or if you have trouble in that direction take someone chatty and personable with you. You want the agent to remember you favorably when they go through the applications. I provided a resume and references for my pup. Just a one page document with background about him ( and the breed as most people haven't heard of them) and our regular routines. The agent said that the landlords were impressed and reassured by my knowledge of my dog and the time spent in activities to entertain and train him.

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Money is the most most important thing to a landlord. If two candidates are equal in all other ways, dogs will be a deciding factor against the applicant.

The application forms ask if you have pets and if so what type. Others will ask if you have cats , or dogs and if so what breed. I suppose the agent/landlord is determining size and traits of the dogs from this and whether they may cause issues with the house, garden or neighbours.

In Victoria putting down bull terriers would not be favourable.

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