Need info pets and renting in Mpls/St Paul MN (apartment complex, lease)
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Hi Everyone! I am moving from Australia to Minnesota next summer and am researching if I should take my 2 cats with me. It costs alot to fly them over which I would like to do as they are "family" but if I can't find rentals over there that take cats then its better to find a good family here to have them.
I can't find much info and am hoping who ever reads this will be able to assist with these questions;
1) Rental ads don't seem to indicate if pets are ok. Is Minnesota rentals pretty pet friendly or not? Better luck in the city or suburbs, any difference even?
2) Here I did have written in the lease that I will have carpets cleaned when I move out which is standard here. I've been reading on this forum (not sure which States) that non refundable or refundable pet deposits are required. Is this the case for MN and if so how much? Charged per cat? Refundable or not?
3) Is it going to take me months to find a pet friendly rental? Should I only look for houses then or are apartments, townhouses, condos also pet friendly?
4) Would rental property management companies take any notice if I get a letter of good rental history with pets from my current property company?
5) Am I missing anything else I should know about, please advise - basically is it worth it or not?
^^^ A response from obviously someone who's not a cat/pet lover. back2M, you'll doubtless be able to find a pet friendly rental in Minnesota as you can anywhere throughout the US but only can you decide whether or not "it's worth it" to move your two cats that far. If you're only coming to the US for a short time it's probably not a good idea but if you're actually immigrating to the US, that's a different ball game. Anyway, I think you'd be better off posting in the Minnesota forum where locals can give you a better idea of what's available. Presumably you have a job lined up so you have an idea of the general area. Good luck!
And NO... it's not a cat thing.
It's a transcontinental move thing.
Well as I grew up in Minnesota the transcontinental move is one that I look forward to. My family and friends in Minnesota are excited that I am coming "home" after all these years. As to my "Cats", they are more like family then just "pets" to me. My intentions are to bring them with me and this forum is part of my research into making the big move! Have a great day!
^^^ A response from obviously someone who's not a cat/pet lover. back2M, you'll doubtless be able to find a pet friendly rental in Minnesota as you can anywhere throughout the US but only can you decide whether or not "it's worth it" to move your two cats that far. If you're only coming to the US for a short time it's probably not a good idea but if you're actually immigrating to the US, that's a different ball game. Anyway, I think you'd be better off posting in the Minnesota forum where locals can give you a better idea of what's available. Presumably you have a job lined up so you have an idea of the general area. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. I have also posted in Minnesota forum. Yes I am moving back to my birthplace Minnesota after being away for too many years. No job lined up yet but plenty of savings and family to stay with while I get settled. I still remember the areas ie suburbs etc but things do change over the years. I do want to bring my cats with me so that is why I am researching. Where I currently live there there is a very low rental ratesof just .02 % so there was over 75 people who came to the "open house inspection" and many applicants for just this one house. Not sure what the vacancies rates are like over there. Have a great day!
Sorry I can't speak to Minnesota in particular, but as STT says, generally speaking you will be able to find rentals for you and your cats. I have dogs, and I've always been annoyed at how many more places seem to take cats than dogs. So based on my totally unscientific survey, cats are more accepted than dogs!
If you go the private landlord route rather than a big apartment complex, then I would say letters from previous landlords might be worthwhile. Generally speaking, I don't think it's worth it with a big managed complex: either they allow cats or they don't (and plenty do).
For houses or twins/duplexes, the last few times I've rented, I've brought pictures of my dog with me and spoken personally with either the rental agent or the landlord about my pet and my training of the pet. It's worked - I haven't been turned down for a rental ever.
From what I remember of apartment complexes, there are three possibilities for pet-friendly rentals. They either make you pay a non-refundable deposit, or they make you pay a monthly fee, or they require both. From what I can tell, there's no standard - it just depends on the management company. I always used rent.com to find places when looking for apartments - you can search specifically for pet-friendly places there.
With privately rented houses, it's all a bit more informal. I've had refundable and non-refundable deposits, but I've never had to pay an additional pet fee per month. This last time I found the perfect place that originally said no pets, but it was being rented through a real estate company and the realtor who was showing me places helped me to negotiate with the landlord to allow a pet. If you decide to rent a house, I highly recommend getting a realtor to help. A search of trulia.com or realtor.com of rentals will list a rental agent for the rental property and calling them could help a lot in negotiating. I didn't pay the realtor who was showing me places anything: I believe when I rented she received a small commission from the listing realtor when I rented. N.B. - I am keeping that realtor's number for when I buy: she was great considering I didn't pay her!
Sorry I can't speak to Minnesota in particular, but as STT says, generally speaking you will be able to find rentals for you and your cats. I have dogs, and I've always been annoyed at how many more places seem to take cats than dogs. So based on my totally unscientific survey, cats are more accepted than dogs!
If you go the private landlord route rather than a big apartment complex, then I would say letters from previous landlords might be worthwhile. Generally speaking, I don't think it's worth it with a big managed complex: either they allow cats or they don't (and plenty do).
For houses or twins/duplexes, the last few times I've rented, I've brought pictures of my dog with me and spoken personally with either the rental agent or the landlord about my pet and my training of the pet. It's worked - I haven't been turned down for a rental ever.
From what I remember of apartment complexes, there are three possibilities for pet-friendly rentals. They either make you pay a non-refundable deposit, or they make you pay a monthly fee, or they require both. From what I can tell, there's no standard - it just depends on the management company. I always used rent.com to find places when looking for apartments - you can search specifically for pet-friendly places there.
With privately rented houses, it's all a bit more informal. I've had refundable and non-refundable deposits, but I've never had to pay an additional pet fee per month. This last time I found the perfect place that originally said no pets, but it was being rented through a real estate company and the realtor who was showing me places helped me to negotiate with the landlord to allow a pet. If you decide to rent a house, I highly recommend getting a realtor to help. A search of trulia.com or realtor.com of rentals will list a rental agent for the rental property and calling them could help a lot in negotiating. I didn't pay the realtor who was showing me places anything: I believe when I rented she received a small commission from the listing realtor when I rented. N.B. - I am keeping that realtor's number for when I buy: she was great considering I didn't pay her!
Thanks for that info, will definately look up those websites too! I didn't know that realtors charge for a tenant looking for a rental. It's very different here. The landlords pay for the costs of realtor, rental ads etc. As there are such low vacancy rates in the city I live in its really hard to find a decent rental unless you want to pay heaps and then there is so many people applying for the same place. I suppose that as I am moving to a large metro area there will be more choice. I am going to get a reference from my rental property manager as it may help as I have not had a rental history or any credit history in USA since 1988!
When you look for rentals, say on Craigslist, you will see NO PETS or NO DOGS ... And those people will not negotiate. No dogs mean generally that they don't care about cats.
We just found a rental that will allow us to bring our family, three dogs and one cat. It wasn't an option for us ... We had to find a rental that allows our 'whole' family. Yes, it did give us a small selection of inventory to look at, but we did it.
You wont' have a hard time finding a rental that takes cats.
Just curious..how much red tape is involved in the process of bringing your cat into the US?
I want to bring my dog to the islands, but he'd have to be in quarintine for 6 mths, at the airport and even then he could be turned away.
Curious - which islands? There's no pet quarantine requirement in the USVI or BVI and I don't think anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Last edited by STT Resident; 01-06-2013 at 07:00 AM..
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