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Welp, my husband is in the Navy and he put in for orders for Hawaii (Pearl Harbour) and he got them! Still waiting on the hard orders but of course we are starting to plan everything already. I've been reading these forums for a few weeks now, since he found out he had the option to put in for Hawaii. I'm still freaking out though! We aren't completely sure yet of when we will be moving, but it shouldn't be sooner than 6 months.
We already know we will not be able to live in military housing, too many cats and that will of course make it difficult to find a place anywhere. We have already started setting up the appointments to get everything set for them to go through the quarantine process and have a vet that is familiar with it.
We have no kids and don't plan on having any, and I am quite sure I will have a job when we move there. I'm a behavior analyst, which is a pretty specialized profession and there's job postings on Oahu regularly. Though, my current supervisor is looking into whether or not the company may be interested in starting up on Oahu so I might even bring my current job with me. Whether or not I get to stay with the company, I will likely end up doing in-home therapy and driving all over the island.
Are there certain areas that we are more likely to find a place where we can have 4 cats? I'd prefer to live somewhere within walking or biking distance to a beach, and maybe a nice farmers market, but of course we know we may not be able to be picky about location with the cats. We don't need a big place, though, 2 bedrooms would be enough, and we will have around 2500 for rent, we may be able to afford more depending on my job but for now I want to figure the money from my job will cover utilities and my other bills. I'm hoping that the law change in November to allow landlords to charge a pet deposit will help give us more options.
I know people recommend going out to visit and look around but we won't really have that option. Most of our spare money will be getting dumped into preparing the cats and setting money aside to ship a second car and hopefully padding for the inevitable delay before I am settled in with new clients and sufficient billable hours. Not that my husband has enough leave right now to take a trip to Hawaii anyways.
Anyways any input will be great. Even "you people are crazy." LOL
Sorry....even pet-friendly rentals often list restrictions regarding weight limits (dogs) and number of total pets. I imagine it would be next to impossible to find a rental that would allow four cats.
In other words, you have a major problem here.
Last edited by PaliPatty; 07-10-2013 at 01:55 PM..
Being the cat lover you must be, you may find the feral cat population in need of a hand instead of bringing all your cats. If you could rehome them you will not be lonely, there are many feral cats that need a lot of help. I know it would be really hard to rehome them, I couldn't do it, but if you can't find a home to rent what will you do?
We already know we will not be able to live in military housing, too many cats and that will of course make it difficult to find a place anywhere.
Are there certain areas that we are more likely to find a place where we can have 4 cats? I'd prefer to live somewhere within walking or biking distance to a beach, and maybe a nice farmers market, but of course we know we may not be able to be picky about location with the cats. We don't need a big place, though, 2 bedrooms would be enough, and we will have around 2500 for rent, we may be able to afford more depending on my job but for now I want to figure the money from my job will cover utilities and my other bills. I'm hoping that the law change in November to allow landlords to charge a pet deposit will help give us more options.
You are going to need to be very aggressive when you reach out to prospective landlords regarding having 4 cats. For the pet friendly rentals - ask if 4 cats are ok. When they respond - no, and probably most will - then you need to up the ante and offer more rent. (I think my biggest concern as a landlord would be the smell that will eminate from 4 cats in a small 2 bedroom rental - essentially your second bedroom pretty much has to be dedicated to all the kitty boxes).
I wouldn't count on the pet deposit law making much of a difference - landlords are interested in more rent - when witholding deposits it becomes a tricky situations when tenants dispute that and in Hawaii it is so easy to go to small claims court that most landlords don't want the hassle.
Welp, my husband is in the Navy and he put in for orders for Hawaii (Pearl Harbour) and he got them!
We already know we will not be able to live in military housing, too many cats and that will of course make it difficult to find a place anywhere.
Whether or not I get to stay with the company, I will likely end up doing in-home therapy and driving all over the island.
Are there certain areas that we are more likely to find a place where we can have 4 cats? I'd prefer to live somewhere within walking or biking distance to a beach, and maybe a nice farmers market, but of course we know we may not be able to be picky about location with the cats. We don't need a big place, though, 2 bedrooms would be enough, and we will have around 2500 for rent,
Using those excepts above as a starting point, you might find what you want if you utilize the ease of your husband using H3 to get to Pearl Harbor, and thus look for a house on the windward side with nearby H3 access. Especially since you will be driving all over the island anyway for work, you don't need to focus on living near town (Honolulu).
The four cats will probably present a challenge. A single family residence might work out, or town home/condo that does not have limits on the number of pets. Getting something near the beach ... good luck, you are in competition with a whole lot of other folks in Hawaii!
Anyway, consider the windward side during your search.
Can your cats move in with some relatives for the duration of your husband's tour? If you can get military housing, it would be ever so much nicer. They just redid the military housing at Pearl not so long ago and it is in a very central location that is easy to get places from. How many cats can you have if you live in military housing?
Thanks everyone for the replies! As far as the cats it's not negotiable, they come with us and it will work out. It's hard renting anywhere is 4 cats, including here, and we've been OK so far. There is no one who would be able to take them anyways, my parents aren't cat people and his have 5 of their own. Besides, I would die without my babies. I have seen posts from others on these boards who have more than 2 pets and have found places to live, so I don't think it will be impossible.
KayeKaye besides the fact that I couldn't be parted with my dear kitties, part of why we have so many is because the last house we lived in had a feral colony in the neighborhood and one moved in! So if, in some alternate universe, I left my 4 with someone on the mainland... I'd end up with more cats while living in Hawaii cause I'd adopt some ferals.
whtviper1 that is very good information to have about how to go about negotiating the pets. It's too bad that people are so eager to go to small claims court, one would think proper documentation on the part of the landlord as to the condition of the home on move-in and move-out would be enough but I guess not! As far as a small 2 bedroom, we'll be looking for larger places, a 3 bedroom is preferable so we can have a guest room and use the 3rd as my office. Any chance that landlords could be swayed by the fact that we have a good quality carpet cleaner, if the home has carpets?
hunterseat yes, we will definitely be checking AHRN. I keep forgetting to tell my husband to sign up (since he is the one with a .mil email address) and yes he's going to JBPHH.
CyberCity we will definitely consider the windward side of the island. Single family homes are definitely the best bet for us, most condo/townhome associations have 2 pet limits as well. I've already ruled out a couple townhouse complexes from looking up the association rules.
hotzcatz they only allow 2 pets (2 cats, 2 dogs, or one of each) in the military housing. I have heard the military housing out there is nice, but at the same time, the type of housing you get is largely determined by how many of you there are so we'd be very unlikely to get anything larger than 2 bedrooms. Looking at Zillow, there's single family homes out there with 3 bedrooms for less than 2500/month. With us not having kids, and my ability to easily get a job there, we would probably be better off not in the military housing.
We know we're making things MUCH harder on ourselves with the cats, but we're willing (and likely able) to pay a premium, and I was never one to do things the easy way.
Four cats?? Lol. Good luck with that one. Securing a rental in Hawaii is very competitive. Places do not linger on the market for months like they do on the mainland, and there is usually several people applying for the same place. It's not at all unusual for a place to list and be rented only two days later. Having four cats will put you at a major disadvantage when facing the rental competition. I personally would not mention the amount of animals you have to the landlord.
whtviper1 that is very good information to have about how to go about negotiating the pets. It's too bad that people are so eager to go to small claims court, one would think proper documentation on the part of the landlord as to the condition of the home on move-in and move-out would be enough but I guess not! As far as a small 2 bedroom, we'll be looking for larger places, a 3 bedroom is preferable so we can have a guest room and use the 3rd as my office. Any chance that landlords could be swayed by the fact that we have a good quality carpet cleaner, if the home has carpets?
Looking at Zillow, there's single family homes out there with 3 bedrooms for less than 2500/month. With us not having kids, and my ability to easily get a job there, we would probably be better off not in the military housing.
Well, in my experience, Zillow is mostly scams in Hawaii or fake - I'd recommend staying away from that. Stick with craigslist - that is really the only game in town on Oahu. A 3 bedroom at your budget is a challenge with a pet - let alone 4 pets. I don't recall anyone on CD the last couple of years renting with 4 animals - but with enough money anything can happen. My gut - $200 or more per month above asking might be required to incent a landlord to let that many cats in the unit.
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