My husband and I are finishing up PhDs this year and will move to a different state. We own the condo we live in now and plan on selling it, so we can buy a house. I’m just worrying we have to rent for a few months or a year before we buy.
We have 4 pets. A chihuahua (14 lbs), a Shiba (25 lbs), a pitbull mix (35 lbs) and a cat (12 lbs). They are all fixed, potty trained, and have required vaccines. I know people are against pitbull, but she has passed AKC canine good citizen test and participated in animal studies (we have vet school here), so she’s well behaved and not aggressive. My husband trained bomb and drug detection dogs before grad school.
If we end up renting, anything we can do to increase the chance to find a house? I’m willing to:
– Put down a pet deposit, like $3000, $3500 and/or pay rent.
– Have landlord interview us and the animals.
– Provide references and records from our vet.
– Have a cleaning lady deep clean once a month. We have been doing that and weekly cleaning, since we know we will sell our condo eventually and it gotta be presentable lol.
Any tips help! TIA.
How do I find a house that allowed multiple pets?
byu/Bobbybobby507 inRealEstate
Posted by Bobbybobby507
6 Comments
Your best bet is to find a private owner. They are going to be more willing to listen and work with you.
Where are you located?
Oy vey. Finding an apartment that allows four pets- one of them being a Pit Bull- is damn near impossible.
Most landlords’ insurance policies don’t allow for that breed. That’s something there is no flexibility on.
You may be better off finding a pet friendly hotel room to rent for a month or two.
A couple of ideas.
– Can your pitbull mix pass for anything else (lab mix?).
– Have you looked into renters insurance that includes dog bite coverage for your pets?
– Definitely look for properties that are already dog friendly, often these are privately managed by other dog lovers.
– don’t offer that you’re having a cleaning lady deep clean once a month. I know it seems a little backwards, but that screams to me that you have trouble keeping up with the pets.
– reach out to others in your Dog Training community to get leads on a pet friendly rental that would understand the work and experience that you have invested in these animals.
As a starting point maybe check the local ordinance of the town you’re moving to. Some cities have 3-pet maximums, which landlords can’t overrule. If the city allows 4 pets your best bet is probably to look for a private small landlord with a detached home that’s not in an HOA. Your ideas sound good, especially the large deposit.
Most landlord insurance policies prohibits more than 1-2 animals and most also prohibit pit bulls. It’s not a matter of not liking pets, it’s the high liability risk.
Also make sure you check county regulations. My local county just recently changed from 4 to 3 max pets allowed (mix of cats and dogs) without a breeder license.
I would just buy quickly.
I own a few rental properties, I love animals and I always encourage tenants with pets to apply. I understand how difficult it is to find a place if you have pets and I want to make sure I do my part to make it easier for them to be housed.
Having said all of that, I would never rent to someone with more than 2 pets at the most. I don’t think a house is built to sustain that much damage. You would need a warehouse for that many animals.
I know that animals become family but even a family with 4 kids would have a hard time renting, let alone 4 animals. You should consider giving a few of them up for adoption.