Landlords, why no pets? (rent, townhome, tenant)

[xxthinkpinkxo]

Originally Posted by Amadrid

Good morning everyone! I currently live in California and plan to relocate to the BI in the next year...partly due to the fact I have to get my 155 pound mastiff puppy ready and he still is due for his second set of rabies shots and we need to get rid of a household full of stuff first. Anyway, I have been a landlord and I rented my house in Vegas to someone I knew, no said no pets, but what do you do when your 900 miles away ( I was living in Oregon at the time ). My "friend" gave me less than a weeks notice before moving, and unbeknownst to me she had acquired a dog. The house was a disaster when I got there. Carpets filthy, dog hair 2 inches thick in the closets, under furniture, etc. we had rented the house furnished to her. She also allowed her boyfriend to move in which we were not aware of. Mind you, she was there about 13 months total. We arrived just hours after she left, driving down from Oregon. I just wanted to turn around, walk out the front door lock it and leave however the next morning I called someone to come in and steam clean the carpet's, steam clean all the tile floors, we threw out all of the furniture and I call the real estate agent and put the house on the market. I was done being a landlord 900 miles away without using a property management company. I would never ever ever own an investment property in another state without using a property manager. It would be different if I own a piece of property down the road, across town, the next city over. I could deal with that. I would definitely maintain a no pets policy even though I have a big dog. When we relocate, we have no intention of renting, we already know the challenges with owning a dog and we have one that weighs more than a lot of people. We had, and I say had, beautiful hardwood floors in our house but they are scratched, we know we're going to have to give the credit to the buyer because of the flooring. Just the cost of selling it I guess.

These stories make me never want to be a landlord. Not only just the pets but the irresponsible people who own them. People are terrible..

[xxthinkpinkxo]

Originally Posted by rya96797

That is correct. I guess this would be far less of an issue if the pets were all outdoor animals, but once indoors, it really does cause huge issues for landowners. If you do own a dog/cat that stays outdoors exclusively, you can try to mention this to the landlord to see if they'd be willing to rent to you. A positive referral from a previous landlord would help as well.

And if you really want to own a pet, and don't want to have to deal with all these reluctant landlords, then you should own your own property, and do with it as you will. If you're just renting a property, you really cannot get upset at someone placing stipulations on the rental, especially if you're not willing to pay the full costs of your decisions on how to use the property. And if you were willing to pay for it, and sign a contract stating such, and placed 10k-15k in escrow to cover potential damages, I'm 100% sure you'll have many willing potential landlords. The reality is, tenants leaves property owners holding the bag, hence their reluctance to accept pets.

That seems reasonable. I'd love to own a house in the future but at this point in my life it's just not viable. I got my dog several years ago not knowing I'd someday be moving to Hawaii where the rental options are slim. I know a lot of people who move here leave their pets on the mainland. I certainly understand that and that's probably the most practical thing to do. It cost close to $1,000 just to get her over here (factoring in the tests, vaccinations and various quarantine fees) plus a lot of time and hassle. At the same time though, she's a lifelong commitment to me, so I'm just hoping I can continue to make it work with her out here as a renter.

[Amadrid]

We wouldn't consider leaving our dog on the mainland, he's part of the family but I know that everyone's situation is different and sometimes it just isn't feasible. We had thought about renting at first but I didn't like the idea of moving more than once and then finding out how difficult it was to rent a place that allowed pets we just scrapped that idea

[rhbj03]

Because pet owners invariably let their dog pee and poop in the house, voluntarily or involuntarily.

If you put down money to pay for carpet change at the end of the lease regardless of condition, some landlords may consider accepting you. I still won't because I don't want to bother with that task.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by rhbj03

If you put down money to pay for carpet change at the end of the lease regardless of condition, some landlords may consider accepting you.

That isn't legal in Hawaii - there are limits in the security deposit and pet deposit - you can't legally ask for money. You can accept more rent.

The only legal recourse for landlord for damage above and beyond the pet deposit and security deposit is to take the tenant to court - and you won't win full replacement costs as courts take depreciation/life of carpet or floor into account.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by Amadrid

We wouldn't consider leaving our dog on the mainland, he's part of the family but I know that everyone's situation is different and sometimes it just isn't feasible. We had thought about renting at first but I didn't like the idea of moving more than once and then finding out how difficult it was to rent a place that allowed pets we just scrapped that idea

Considering how unhomogenized the Hawaii housing is, if there's any way you can at least do some really extended visits before buying a house, it would help. There's nice houses directly next to not nice houses, right next to folks who keep two dozen pet roosters in their backyard, next to houses where folks work on cars as a side business, etc., etc. So even if the listing looks good (and most of them don't, I have no idea why Realtors are unable to take good pictures, might be related as to why physicians handwriting is so terrible?) anyway, an extended visit or living here for six months first is about the only way to have a reasonable shot at actually knowing what the house and neighborhood will be like before you buy.

[Amadrid]

We will be making a couple of trips out there first before buying to try and determine neighborhoods and more than likely eliminate areas and just focus on 2 or 3. I know what you mean about the photos, etc...I'm a real estate agent and it's very easy for some agents to paint a slanted picture of a house when you can't see what's next door. We will be relying heavily on a local experienced agent to help avoid some of the pitfalls.

[rya96797]

it really is a bad idea to buy without living for 6 months to a year. I mean you're not even talking about a part of your own city that you're not familiar with (and I would give the same advice), you're talking about a completely different state. you're better off trying to find a rental that accepts pets, as hard as that might be. Is it an outdoor pet? Small dog? If so, you can make that case to a potential landlord.

[Amadrid]

well we're not going to pay rent to someone else when we could be paying our own mortgage and we have a really big dog that is mostly indoors. We've moved a lot in the past and made it work so we will just figure it out. Half the battle is going in with the right attitude and not get discouraged. As Tim Gunn says "It's a make it work moment".

[rya96797]

^ well whatever you decide, best of luck to you