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Let me preface by saying we LOVE our dogs, and make tons of decisions based on their needs. Our house is on the market, we got an offer, countered with a provision that we find suitable housing within a certain time period, and they agreed We are gobsmacked that they agreed!
The problem is, we can't find a house that's good enough for us , with a yard that's good enough for our dogs! Some of the neighborhoods only allow invisible fencing, so that's out. I trust our dogs not to leave the yard, but I don't trust them not to attack other animals or even a child who could come into our yard and bother them.
I like the whole HOA thing because it prevents junky cars, kids out at night, parking on the street, etc, but I am also concerned it could bite us in the butt if someone complained about our dogs barking. These are some seriously strict HOAs!
We thought about building but the only neighborhood where we'd be interested in building limits # of pets to 2! We only have 2 dogs now, but I would be open to having 6 dogs in the future And if they ever invent a medicine to mitigate my allergy to cats without making me sleep all day, we'd probably have more pets!
Oh, and we're also looking for ranches or first floor masters because our dogs are getting older. On the other hand, the dogs aren't going to pay the mortgage!
For the pet lovers - how did you strike a balance? Are we the only crazies who are considering pets (present and future) when buying a house?!
Last edited by dogmomof2; 07-26-2010 at 09:39 PM..
hehehehe You sound like ME!! It took me 2 yrs to find a place where I could have a business [Breed dogs with out restriction!] Have my Horses TOO!! Keep looking!! Try Unrestricted places With out HOAs! BTW Took me long time cause of bad cr I needed Owner Financing! Dont give up!
Having bought a house because I wanted dogs, you don't sound crazy at all. When I last bought I made sure that the house had a fenced yard and was only one story because I have a dog with bad hips, I didn't want her to have to climb stairs. My dogs are a very important part of my life and I want to make sure they are comfortable and safe.
Don't do an HOA, it's truly a nightmare! The only good thing about the HOA is it limits what your crazy neighbors can and cannot do, but like you said, it might come back to haunt you! That said, we feel exactly like you do. When we'll be looking for a permanent home in the near future, it has to be single story because I don't want PC climbing stairs all day.
We moved into our current place base purely on PC's needs. It's a very dog-friendly community, no stairs, and many dog parks nearby. We also have a patio big enough for his little pool, which he loves. I think it's great that you're considering your dogs. Many people don't even think about the pets when moving, which is a shame!
We are doggy parents, and used to have cats, too. We make all of our decisions in consideration of our pets. They are family. I personally think six of anything is too much, but it's your life.
We chose RV travel, so we could bring our dog -- and added Bigun along the way. We chose our home in Kenmore because our house in Seattle's U-District did not have a yard. There is a fence. There is also a city ordinance against barking dogs.
I guess what I am saying is that the place you want is probably out there, but you might have to limit yourself on the herd.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I don't know where you live, but if you can avoid an HOA, avoid it, like MAK said. If you're in South Florida, though, I know that's a hard pill to swallow -- every place has an HOA.
You're not crazy. We're talking about maybe moving out of state. The only thing that I'm thinking of is a fenced-in backyard for Artie, like I did for this house. My husband is thinking of cost of living, etc... and I'm thinking, "I wonder how quickly some fence guys can get to the house." It's a matter of priorities, and you and I put our priorities on our pups. (As it should be! )
As for the one-story ranch-style house, I'm not sure that I'd limit myself like that, unless there's a plethora of ranch-style houses where you are. I understand what you're saying about the stairs, but there could always be a solution. My friend's Lab, when he got old, couldn't manage the stairs. There was a first-level family room, and that's where Simba spent his time. There was a TV in there, and that's where the family spent their time too -- so everyone was together anyway, except at bedtime. Bedtime didn't matter to them, but if it matters to you... maybe you could build ramps up one side of the stairs?
Best of luck finding a new house that works for you and congratulations on the sale of your old house! That's a total score in this economy -- and with contingencies! WOW! Good for you!
When we first started looking for an apartment, we didn't have a dog but our top criteria was that it was pet friendly...this certainly limited our search a lot and I wanted a medium-large size dog which limited our choices even more since almost every pet friendly community had a weight limit of up to 25 lb. on dogs. We eventually found a great place, and love it, as does Sydney because he has so many furry friends in our complex. Now that we're discussing starting to search for a house of our own, our number one criteria is a big fenced in yard and I'd like to be close to a beach as well as lots of parks..it would be an added bonus if the neighborhood had a lot of dogs too. So no I don't think you're crazy...Sydney is my kid so his needs are right up there with ours..although I do agree that HOAs are nightmares..although it does make the area safer and you know you won't have some crazy neighbor, it also puts far too many restrictions on you..but good luck! I'm sure you'll find your dream home for you and your dogs!
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,044,161 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jordan5
When we first started looking for an apartment, we didn't have a dog but our top criteria was that it was pet friendly...this certainly limited our search a lot and I wanted a medium-large size dog which limited our choices even more since almost every pet friendly community had a weight limit of up to 25 lb. on dogs. We eventually found a great place, and love it, as does Sydney because he has so many furry friends in our complex. Now that we're discussing starting to search for a house of our own, our number one criteria is a big fenced in yard and I'd like to be close to a beach as well as lots of parks..it would be an added bonus if the neighborhood had a lot of dogs too. So no I don't think you're crazy...Sydney is my kid so his needs are right up there with ours..although I do agree that HOAs are nightmares..although it does make the area safer and you know you won't have some crazy neighbor, it also puts far too many restrictions on you..but good luck! I'm sure you'll find your dream home for you and your dogs!
Try not to write off houses that don't already have a fenced-in yard. Just tack $5-7K onto your budget and you can get a fence installed. Once you sign the contract, it only takes a couple of days for the crew to get that sucker up and ready for Sydney to explore his yard.
Oh, dogmom, God bless you!
If only people were so thoughtful and loving about pets as you are!
I will not even look at houses if my pets are not welcome, so count me in the "crazy pet team" too!
I will have to second others and say HOAs are a terrible thing. The majority is the majority, and as much as some of their regulations might benefit you there may always be the non-pet lovers around who might want to propose crazy ideas regulating pets.
If your dogs are aging, especially if they are large ones (some tend to have hip/knees issues when older), I would consider a 1-story house.
Best of luck to you, with a heart like this I am sure the perfect house is just around the corner waiting for you and your family.
I moved out of the city largely to be able to have dogs, and few rentals exist with dogs in my area, and no houses for one person. I didn't get dogs until I had the house and a fence. Also, I live alone and work third shift, so I wanted to be sure I had a quiet safe place to leave dogs when I go to work. I now have five seniors, ages 9-?? and they are fine sleeping when I work.
I absolutely would consider dogs when buying a place to live- they make my home into a home.
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We are gobsmacked that they agreed! 
, with a yard that's good enough for our dogs! 
Some of the neighborhoods only allow invisible fencing, so that's out. I trust our dogs not to leave the yard, but I don't trust them not to attack other animals or even a child who could come into our yard and bother them.
And if they ever invent a medicine to mitigate my allergy to cats without making me sleep all day, we'd probably have more pets! 
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