Large dog friendly apartments (Portland, Beaverton: apartment complexes, renters, insurance)

[Leisesturm]

Our first house, the utilities were on us. Our second house and the untilities are on the owner. We pay only for electricity and gas. The only thing that uses gas is the water heater. We pay only for the water we use, the administrative fee's and the sewer charges are paid by the owner. We are very close to mass transit despite the suburban location. PCC has a campus that is literally an extension off the MAX train platform at Willow Creek (185th near Baseline).

I must admit that I have never understood the attraction of community college in general. I absolutely do not understand the attraction of car ownership, even just one car, for anyone not established in a career with young children to shuttle around, erc. Even in the suburbs a car free/car lite kind of lifestyle is practical, if not always convenient. FWIW.

H

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by jdcnosse

We're not sure where we'd be working, but we could also look into houses. The only problem with them is higher utilities usually. Do houses run higher than apartments? Here you can get a good 1500 square foot house for a grand a month, or a 900 square foot apartment lol

Luckily the sheperd mix is a very lazy dog, so she doesn't need a lot of space. But yes we are quite annoyed with her even though it's not entirely her fault...hence the training. Maybe when she's done with that we'll know more...since she's fine with people, and when we adopted the rottie she accepted him...it's just every other random dog she thinks is going to attack my girlfriend due to an actual attack that happened awhile back and the dog jumped in front of my girlfriend to protect her.

We do have one car but it's the public transportation situation good in the suburbs? We both like being in larger cities where there are multiple ways to get around, vs just the two of us sharing the one car. We would probably end up going to PCC after a year or so to get back on our academic feet so to speak lol

You are definitely looking at the suburbs. Houses will run more than apartments as a rule. Public transportation will depend upon where you want to go and which suburb. I am not sure you can get a house for $1000 a month but you probably can get a nice size apartment in a large apartment complex. Don't sell the car.

[jdcnosse]

We wouldn't sell the car, I'm just used to needing to have one...after growing up in a small town...and here in Tucson while there is transit, it's not the best.

We have to go to PCC because we can't get into Oregon State currently, so we'll have to build up our academic resume with our GPA and whatnot. Basically we made mistakes previously and now have to go there because that's the only place we can go.

But mostly I've never lived anywhere where it wasn't beneficial to own a car

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by jdcnosse

We wouldn't sell the car, I'm just used to needing to have one...after growing up in a small town...and here in Tucson while there is transit, it's not the best.

We have to go to PCC because we can't get into Oregon State currently, so we'll have to build up our academic resume with our GPA and whatnot. Basically we made mistakes previously and now have to go there because that's the only place we can go.

But mostly I've never lived anywhere where it wasn't beneficial to own a car

I didn't really think you would sell your car. It was a suggestion. It doesn't sound like either of you are financially independent. Cars do take care and feeding. You already know that. PCC will take tuition off you, you'll probably put it on Sallie Mae loans or some other kind of deferrment. I'm pretty certain that a year of PCC for the two of you and a year of car ownership are within several hundred dollars of each other. Just saying.

[Steve Pickering]

It doesn't sound like you are ready for this move. Jobs first. Leisesturm's "No Car" attitude is a personal opinion not grounded in fact. Community Colleges are great both for job entry and stepping stones to higher education. Now the dogs ........

With the Shepard mixes penchant for bad behavior, don't expect to rent in any neighborhood you would actually want to live in. And even a good Rottie .... well to most landlords there are no good Rotties.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You've got a lot of strikes against you, OP. I predict a very difficult time for you finding a rental.

Two dogs (landlords who allow pets sometimes have a one pet limit)

Large dogs (many places that accept dogs have a size limit)

Two breeds that the majority of landlords will not rent to.

An aggressive dog. Seriously, what landlord is going to agree to rent to an aggressive dog?

No jobs, which probably means no verifiable income.

Moving onto the area, and many landlords are going to worry that you are just looking for a place to unpack the U-Haul while you go and look around to see where you want to live.

Usually, for people in your position, I suggest finding an old mobile home on its own piece of land, outside the city limits, and buying that. But if you don't have income and you don't have a substantial down payment, it would be difficult to make that work for you.

So, all I can do, is to wish you the best of luck. Although not with much optimism.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

You've got a lot of strikes against you, OP. I predict a very difficult time for you finding a rental.

Two dogs (landlords who allow pets sometimes have a one pet limit)

Large dogs (many places that accept dogs have a size limit)

Two breeds that the majority of landlords will not rent to.

An aggressive dog. Seriously, what landlord is going to agree to rent to an aggressive dog?

No jobs, which probably means no verifiable income.

Moving onto the area, and many landlords are going to worry that you are just looking for a place to unpack the U-Haul while you go and look around to see where you want to live.

Usually, for people in your position, I suggest finding an old mobile home on its own piece of land, outside the city limits, and buying that. But if you don't have income and you don't have a substantial down payment, it would be difficult to make that work for you.

So, all I can do, is to wish you the best of luck. Although not with much optimism.

Great Points, Oregonwoodsmoke! Portland can be picky when choosing whom to rent to. The advice here is pretty good.

[Minervah]

Much of the pickiness is because there are so many people looking for apartments who don't have pets. My landlord owns four rental buildings over two blocks. Recently he had four vacancies in three of them come up at once. He put a sign out for only one day. The units were rented and the sign was down in less than 24 hours. That's how fast they go. He didn't even have time to put them on Craig's List which he sometimes does.

One thing he will do is ask present tenants if they know of anyone looking for an apartment. Word of mouth words well in Portland for apartments as well as for jobs. I know he also keeps a short list of people who have impressed him from previous applicants but didn't get an apartment at the time they applied.

There are just so many variables in a city where there is a very low vacancy rate. I wouldn't have gotten my apartment here if I hadn't a. known someone who lived here b. been lucky someone had just given notice when I was looking for a new place to live and c. he had met me previously so that put me ahead of the crowd.

With the new multiple apartment buildings going up, that will ease the strain but it will only serve those who can afford the higher end rents. Those who are used to Midwestern and Southern prices will still have the same problems finding rents more affordable for them. People with pets will continue to have a difficult time.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Much of the pickiness is because there are so many people looking for apartments who don't have pets. My landlord owns four rental buildings over two blocks. Recently he had four vacancies in three of them come up at once. He put a sign out for only one day. The units were rented and the sign was down in less than 24 hours. That's how fast they go. He didn't even have time to put them on Craig's List which he sometimes does.

One thing he will do is ask present tenants if they know of anyone looking for an apartment. Word of mouth words well in Portland for apartments as well as for jobs. I know he also keeps a short list of people who have impressed him from previous applicants but didn't get an apartment at the time they applied.

There are just so many variables in a city where there is a very low vacancy rate. I wouldn't have gotten my apartment here if I hadn't a. known someone who lived here b. been lucky someone had just given notice when I was looking for a new place to live and c. he had met me previously so that put me ahead of the crowd.

With the new multiple apartment buildings going up, that will ease the strain but it will only serve those who can afford the higher end rents. Those who are used to Midwestern and Southern prices will still have the same problems finding rents more affordable for them. People with pets will continue to have a difficult time.

I tried to rep you again but have to spread around.

[jlanepbc]

I live in a large apartment complex in Southwest Portland that has no breed restrictions. There are several floor plans, but if you are looking in the $1000 range probably will be a 1 bedroom. Our pets are very happy here and they allow 2 animals per apartment. If interested, pm me. Good luck.