Seeking Asheville Rental without Pet Limits (Earl: for sale, apartments, leasing)

[philodendron]

MOVING IN EARLY AUGUST

After years of dreaming and planning, we are moving to Asheville in early August! Woo-hoo! We scheduled to close on the home we are selling on July 31, and we would like to be in our new home before the school year begins on August 19.

MUST HAVE – EXTREMELY PET FRIENDLY

The problem we are facing is that we have more pets than is typical, so after years of seeing tons of Asheville rentals listed as “pet–friendly,” we’re suddenly realizing that they are not friendly ENOUGH.

We are very responsible pet owner/guardians who have been involved in rescue and animal advocacy for years.

We now have five pets: Three medium-large dogs (weighing between 42 and 67 pounds each) and two cats. If we have to, we don’t mind paying up to $400 per pet for a total of $2,000 as an outright fee for the right home, but most rentals we see are limiting residents to two pets total or up to 35 pounds, etc. Our pets are all spayed/neutered, mature, and well-behaved. Also, we both work from home, so they will not typically be left unattended. All three dogs are rescued mutts, but one of them has coloration similar to German Shepherd, and some places limit that breed or mixes of that breed, regardless of the fact that he’s a laid-back sweetheart.

A fenced yard is a plus, but not a requirement. Proximity to a dog park is a plus, but not required.

The Skyloft Apartments seem to have the most appropriate pet policy that is published in detail online, but they have no vacancies.

MUST HAVE – DESIRED HIGH SCHOOL

Our son will be a freshman in high school, and we’d like to get him into a good school. We narrowed it down to any one of these preferred schools: Asheville High School (1st choice), AC Reynolds High School (2nd choice), or TC Roberson High School (3rd choice).

MUST HAVE – RELATIVELY SAFE AREA

We have researched the crime in Asheville and know that no area will be completely crime-free, but we would like to avoid areas that are known to have higher crime rates, such as parts of West Asheville.

MUST HAVE – 2 BEDROOMS

We need at least two bedrooms. Three would be better, so we could have a home office, but we could make two work. Having two bathrooms (or at least 1 and a half) would be best, but if we have to sacrifice there, we could.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We think a rental house would be ideal, but we are open-minded about the idea of living in an apartment or condo. We love the idea of being able to walk to downtown, but we are flexible about the location as long as it’s within a 15-minute drive to downtown and it’s in the desired school system. We love unique homes, historic homes, green homes, and ultra modern homes, but we could deal with bland construction if we had to.

BUDGET IS FLEXIBLE

We are most comfortable in the $1,100 to $1,600 per month range, but must keep it under $2,000 a month.

THANK YOU!

Thanks so much to anyone who offers any guidance! We appreciate your help!

[BigJon3475]

I don't know of any apartments that would allow that many animals. Your best bet is going to be to find a house that's being rented out by the owner. Most management companies will not allow that many pets either.

Best of luck to you.

[QuilterChick]

^^^ Ditto the above. Your time frame is unrealistic to find someplace in 3 weeks that you can move into with so many pets. Maybe you could get an extension on your move out date from your home. Maybe one of you can come here and stay in a hotel while looking around in person. Try the Asheville newspaper www.citizen-times.com or find a property management company in Asheville.
Do you have a job here? if not, you have that hurdle to overcome as well.

[lukasage]

Another thought is this: Buy instead of rent, but buy inexpensively and don't necessarily look for your "forever home" just yet. See it as a place where you can have peace with your animals while looking for your permanent place. Chances are that you will pay less on a mortgage than in rent and if you qualify for the right mortgage program, you can go for a very little down payment option (FHA mortgage = 3.5% down) to none (USDA Rural Development Loan= 0% down. You'd be surprised which properties qualify for the USDA. Seems to have very little to do with 'rural'. No double-wides for the USDA program, however). However, getting to closing in time for school is unlikely.

Getting back to purchasing vs. renting: then once you have found the house you want more permanently, you can either rent out the one you bought (and allow pets ) or sell it. We just went through the same thing since we also have more and larger dogs than landlords want, and have opted for the USDA loan. We are in contract on a house and should be there in time for my son to start high school there. And no doubt that the mortgage is quite a bit less than what we would have paid in rent.
Rentals seem in demand, too, so I feel one can't really go wrong with this path as long as one stays with a more inexpensive house. Just a thought.
All best in your relocation adventure!

[ddandkat]

hi we did the same thing.we stayed in a cabin for 2 weeks and i carried differnt adds that i got off the computer but when we called they said no dogs and we have 2.we did find a home for rent for 1900 hunderd and it is out in the country but close to every thing.we bought the home.there is another home for sale here.any way good luck.dana

[CarrieLeigh]

Our family recently sold our very large home where we had the freedom of having multiple animals. We didn't want to buy again too soon, and knew the restrictions on pets for rentals. For that reason, we are leasing 2 apartments in a brand new building, directly across the hall from each other. One is a 2 bed/2 bath and the other 1 bed/bath. It seems odd to folks that we did this, but we love our pets and since we are renting temporarily, it works for us.

Now we have decided the WNC area is wonderful for a move from Atlanta, GA, so we are working on that now. I will move first (and rent again) and hubby will keep one apartment until we decide how things unfold.

There's always options!