housing in haines (Anchorage, Hope: apartments, renters, loans)

[puff5655]

hi all,

I've applied for a job in Haines. It doesn't look like there is a lot of housing there if you have a pet. Is that accurate? What are the chances of me finding a pet-friendly apartment/rental beginning in July (for a yearly lease)?

I refuse to leave my dog behind.

[puff5655]

and by the way, I was so surprised to see that so many areas in Alaska, housing wise, aren't pet-friendly! I've seen 10x as many dogs in the Anchorage airport as in any other place! Seemed like everyone here was a dog lover!

[akck]

I don't know about Haines, but I've found that for every place that allows pets, there are 4 places that advertise no pets. Your best bet is to call around. Maybe ASpilot2be will chime in, as he is from there. You can Direct Message him too.

When we first moved to Alaska, the pool of rentals allowing pets was small compared to the general rentals availability. What most pet owners end up doing is buy a house, which we did after a couple of years.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by puff5655

and by the way, I was so surprised to see that so many areas in Alaska, housing wise, aren't pet-friendly! I've seen 10x as many dogs in the Anchorage airport as in any other place! Seemed like everyone here was a dog lover!

Not supprised, pets can destroy a rental unit much more than the deposit covers. Dogs bark when left alone, the neighbors are annoyed, cats shred carpets, chairs and curtains and the list goes on. I can understand why many people don't want renters with pets. It only takes a few bad ones to sour landlords on that issue even thought the good pet owners far outnumber the bad ones.

Having said that, why don't you get a camper and take that there, you will have a place to stay while you look for a place without the panic and you can have the pet with you. Don't have to be a fancy one, just dry and a place to sleep and cook. There is a camper park there, that will allow you to shower and such if I recall correctly.

If you can't find a place by the end of the summer, you can review your options. You could buy some land (expensive though), and set the camper up for the winter with skirting and such to stay in and then build a cabin as the money allows.

Just a thought.

[Captain Crunch]

Put yourself in the property owners position....there ain't even one reason to allow renters with any kinda pets...

ya never do get the stink out, just as bad as smokers.... !

[puff5655]

It seems like some areas of the country are more pet-friendly than others. In Buffalo, it's almost impossible to find pet-friendly housing, while in North Carolina, seemed like almost every place allowed pets.

I'm only 23.. still paying college loans, so I don't think I could afford land, building a cabin, or a camper (nor could I drive one!).. maybe they have campers to rent there?

Thanks.

[ASpilot2be]

Hey,

I dont know what rentals are currently available. However go to www.hainesak.com and post in the classifieds, and www.khns.org and place a listener personal. Hopefully you can find something.

[rotorhead]

Hello,

I live in Haines and while it's definately a dog-friendly town, pets are a major problem from the landlords perspective. I won't repeat all the horror stories that I've heard since you've probably already heard them too, but rest assured that every single one of them was caused by a pet that "never causes any problems" as previously reported by the renter. It's an uphill battle but it's not impossible, you just have to keep trying.

One of the things that's working against you trying to find accomodations long-distance is that a lot of the rentals here are found through the grapevine instead of through a listing in the paper or a posting online. This is a pretty small town, and once you've been here a while you realize that a LOT of stuff gets sold or rented or bought without ever having hit the local paper or the websites. There are bulletin boards at all the local grocery stores, at the post office, quick mart, etc. and often that's all it takes to connect buyer and seller or renters to their housing.

There are very few apartments here to start with, and most of them have waiting lists year-round. Many seasonal rentals are either temporary situations, spare rooms, add-ons, guest houses, or various non-traditional permutations. Since there is NO bus service in town and taxi service is spotty/unavailable/grumpy/expensive you'd better have some sort of car for transportation or you're going to be be very limited as to where you can look, and some of them are pretty far out of town by urban standards. There's also the access issue, since quite a few houses here are not accessible by road. Believe it or not there is a sizeable community of folks here that have to hike to their housing across a mud-flats at low tide, or canoe/kayak when the tide is up.

My suggestion is that you have your prospective employer beat the bushes for you, they'll likely have a lot better luck with their connections in the community. Another resource is the community webpage,

Haines Community Website: Property & Housing Listings

Like I said, a lot of stuff never makes it there since it's a handshake/word of mouth deal to start with.

Good luck.

[puff5655]

..and I never said my pet "never causes any problems."

I'll be paying a pretty penny to patch up the holes she's chewed in the wall here. Thought I could trust her alone for a few hours.. nope! She's in the kennel whenever I'm gone, now.

And thanks for your help.