Renting with pets - how do you find a home?

[phil]

I once tried renting with pets, but they didn't pay their share of the rent

Yes, but they return the thanks with love and kindness. Seriously though, my wife and I have always rented with dogs. We now have three and are lucky to be in a DHA house, but in the past we have never had any issues. Probably the best thing to do is have a reference from previous REA or landlord. Failing that, offer to place a certain amount, ie $500 with bond to cover any potention damages. I have found that most people are reasonable, and if a tenant wants to be with their dogs so much, they are generally nice people.

All the best with it,

Phil.

 

[Flutterby]

Our latest tenants came with 2 or 3 small dogs....I can't remember. When the PM called and asked, I was reluctant but I have 2 boxers and they are my babies. The PM said the people had very good references and they will get the carpet steam cleaned before they leave. I couldn't say no.

We didn't advertise Pets or No Pets.

Hi ya Phil......remember me?

 

[PDM]

OMG they aren't dogs, they are horses.

Yes, Clydesdales.

 

[Ali G]

Or you come to Brisbane and between my mum and me, we will find you a house where you can have your two dogs

Thanks Wylie! Brisbane sounds great but it will be Melbourne for a while yet.

We looked for a rental in a tight market earlier this year and we have a dog. A lot of PMs were quite discouraging and I was starting to consider sneaking the dog in later ...

Get some doggie references too if you can. ie I have known this couple and their dogs for x years and they have always been well behaved and clearly housetrained. The dogs are nice too. Something along those lines might help.

I know the feeling Simon. Sneaking a dog in is exactly what I don't want to do. I found my first dog after we had already been living in our current rental property for a while, and when no one claimed him we couldn't bear to surrender him so he stayed. We contemplated telling the landlord but he is just such a rude and horrid piece of work that we decided not to. So we certainly couldn't ask him for a reference about our dogs! Funnily enough, every time we have an inspection the PM always comments on how immaculately kept the house is and tells us how he wishes all of his tenants would look after their properties as well as we do. Even so, I feel bad for being dishonest, and would really just like to be upfront about our intentions with our next landlord.

Maybe think like a landlord! By this I mean choose a house that will have minimal impact from fur, claws and um.... possible leaks. Tiled. You must remember landlords have been stung and some pet owners are more considerate than others.

This is what we are looking for anyway. Our current place is tiled with carpets in the bedrooms, and that is perfect. The dogs know that when they come in, if we say "paws" they have to sit on the mat and have their paws wiped before they can move on! They are fully house-trained and we get the carpets professionally cleaned annually anyway, regardless of whether or not they seem to 'need' it.

Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions. It's heartening to see that so many of you would consider me and my furry family if we wanted to rent your IP.

 

[quoll]

We let our tenants have pets

Maybe we should be charging more, after reading this. Our thinking was let the tenants have pets that way we lock them in to our property because it would be harder to move into somewhere else cause so many places hate pets.

Pets accepted is a good way to get tenants.

You are just going to have to look at more places, it's a numbers game, speak to more agents and look at more houses, someone will take you on.

cheers
quoll