Moving from out of state, 4 pets (Denver, Colorado Springs: real estate, apartment complexes, rental market)

[aislin]

Hello there! I'm a long time lurker, but really need some advice. My husband, two cats and two medium sized dogs (a little under 30lbs each) are looking into the relocation process. I will be able to get a job transfer, and he's going to be looking into options for himself though won't necessarily have something lined up. Our main problem with finding a place to live is the amount of pets we have. I'd love to move straight into a house, but think that would be a terrible idea seeing as 1) I won't know the area very well yet being from out of state 2) we've never owned a house before 3) we don't know what my husband will be able to manage for a couple of months yet. Chicago is extremely pet friendly, but it was still a challenge to find a landlord who didn't care about how many pets we had and has never charged us pet rent when we moved from out of state.

I've been browsing and searching and coming across a lot of great information in these threads, and of course have been on tons of housing websites, but I suppose I'd like to know if anyone has ever been in this type of situation, and if you were able to find something that would accommodate a situation like ours. I hear that places like CO Springs, Denver etc are incredibly pet friendly, so I have hope still. I just can't imagine it's really that unique of a situation, but because I'm in the veterinary field, my perspective may be a bit biased .

Thoughts?

[davebarnes]

It will be difficult.
The rental vacancy rate is extremely low and landlords can afford to be very picky.

[delta07]

When we moved to Oregon from Colorado, we were able to find a rental for our 2 dogs (both labs) & cat. If you have good rental references with your pets & a sizeable deposit to put down, you should be able to find something. It may be a little tough but offering the reference usually eases many worried. Good luck!

[mic111]

Some of the cities limit pets per household to 3 and some to 4. Westminster for example has a limit of 3. Broomfield which is right next door, has a limit of 4. Rural areas tend to be better in this regard.

You'll probably get charged pet rent. Just factor it in to the total amount your paying when your comparing places. Don't get hung up on it, just look at the whole amount you'll pay.

[oldtrader]

As a retired Colorado Investment Real Estate Broker who managed lots of property, and former president for 3 years of one of the largest county wide rental owners and managers associations in the state, I can tell you that you will find it very difficult to find a place to rent with that number of animals.

The rental market in Colorado is very tight, and when the owners can select between people with no animals, 1 dog, and one with 2 dogs and 2 cats they are going to go for the first of the three choices. Cats will be the hardest to find landlords that will accept them.

The reason they do not want animals, is the cost of maintaining a property, and to prepare it for the next tenant is considerably higher if animals are involved and usually takes more time not rented than a property where there has never been pets. Why should a landlord, want to take on the extra risk and expense of renting to pet owners?

Some of the Colorado Cities, prohibit more than 2 pets and that can be 2 dogs, or 2 cats, one dog and one cat, or even one dog and a Gerbil as an example. Before you consider a town, call the city and find if your 4 animals are even allowed in one residential unit, either rented or owned by occupants.

[aislin]

Hey I just wanted to thank everyone for your responses! I appreciate realistic feedback - thank you Oldtrader. We've received our answer, and will be heading into the Colorado Springs area for sure towards the end of June, if not a little sooner depending on our housing search and what we can get into. Through my research, it is my understanding that El Paso county allows a limit of up to 4 pets,

We've been doing a lot of our research, finding places on craigslist and beyond, and have found quite a few people willing to work with us on our pet issue, which was a relief and surprising to me all at the same time. Most of these places are renting houses or duplex type situations, not your standard apartment complexes where it was always a challenge to move into with any amount of pets anyway. Scheduling viewings, and letting them know we're out of state is another hurdle that I think people are hesitant to rent to us because we're from afar.

The search still continues, and it's been tricky. For anyone who moved out of state to CO, what was your biggest challenge in finding a place to rent here?

[aislin]

Hey everyone!

Okay, so I know it's been awhile but I just wanted to update this thread. We ended up finding an amazing landlord, who charges us a bit extra every month for the pets, but is totally fine with all of us - I think for the four of them it's an extra $150/month. That means for what we have now, without the pets, we'd be paying a little over $700/month - which for this space, although small, is a total steal IMO. It was difficult to find someone, lord knows my husband was in a real bind when he came out here to visit in June, staying with his sister, while looking out and searching for a place. We currently rent a very small house, but it has a nice sized fenced in yard, on the south side of town. Not the best area I've ever lived in, but the neighbors are great, the area is mostly quiet, we are a five minute walk away from a really nice park, and the worst things we've had to deal with so far is the smell of the neighbor's burning leaves or wood or whatever the hell they burn at night in the summer every couple of days. If I knew how to pinpoint who was actually doing the burning, I would talk to them about it as I get asthma attacks from it at 2am when it wafts in through the bedroom windows.

So.... Just updating this thread in case anyone out there is in my situation, and had trouble finding something. Like PPs have said, it's difficult BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE! Good day everyone, and thanks again for all the help :-). Hopefully in another year or two, we'll be able to start looking at owning our own home, and the search for a good part of town will start anew! We absolutely LOVE living here so far, and it's been everything we had hoped it would be. The people are kind, people are mostly polite, the environment and weather is great (2" of snow, negative 10 and you get a snow day off from school? LOL!!!!) and ya there's some people who road rage and are idiots, but it's a lot better than Chicago where we came from.

Thanks again everyone! :-)

[jim9251]

Congrats to you! Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[delta07]

So glad you updated us and it worked out for you. Even better that you are loving Colo. Springs and hoping to buy in the next few years!