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Thread: Rental Properties and DOGS!!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    New Plymouth, Taranaki
    Posts
    33

    Default Rental Properties and DOGS!!

    We are here in New Plymouth just now for our 'go see'! It's incredible, exceeding all of our expectations. Just as long as Hugo's office visit goes well tommorrow I think we'll be moving here.

    Just one thing, we have tried to check out the rental scene and have been faced with a wall with a giant sign that says 'YOU have a dog: well you are unworthy of rental!!!'

    Was having a quick flick through the forums and it seems we are not alone on this front. Lots of people have suggested going through the landlords directly. Any suggestions on where to conact them? Does not seem to be anything in the papers. Have looked at the Trademe website and there were a few but not many.

    Any help would be great. Were hoping to see some properties before we leave on Friday.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    UK>Welly>Boonies>where next?
    Posts
    3,756

    Default

    I went rental hunting with a friend and this was a problem.

    I'm not sure how you can get in touch with a landlord other than asking the agent to call them, explain you'd like to tell how lovely, clean and trouble free Fido is. Or of course finding a property with a private landlord.

    You could offer to pay for carpet cleaning when you leave etc andoffer to have that written into the contract.

    Can you drop a hint to the prospective employer about having trouble finding a dog freindly, it's amazing who knows who sometimes.

    Good luck with your search and I'm pleased you like NP too.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Waiake, North Shore
    Posts
    60

    Default

    We are renting with a dog but that was not the problem when we were looking.

    Some of the rentals were absolutely dreadful - wouldn't allow my dog to live in them. We found the property and then once the landlady had met my OH he told her that we had a small, house-trained dog and she was actually fine about it. It is the first time that she has had anyone with a dog in the property and she has even made us a gate for the drive and put a small fence up on the boundary. She said afterwards that she liked the look of my OH (I wasn't with him at the time when he was looking at the property)and thought that we would look after the property which was more important to her than anything else.

    Don't be disheartened - it can be done, and our rental is fabulous - on the beach, immaculately clean and fitted out really well.
    Last edited by Lisa T; 28th November 2006 at 06:22 PM. Reason: spelling

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Canada->USA->Auckland>Canada
    Posts
    296

    Default

    Yes it's more difficult to find a place that will allow dogs, but just be persistent. We had a 10 year old lab that we had shipped from the US and was in quarantine when we were looking for a place. The fact that we went through all this trouble for this dog, and the fact that he's a titled agility dog, helped. Yes most places wouldn't even consider a dog, but a few would and you only need to find one (acceptable) place.
    I disregarded the "no pets" part of the ads and talked to the agent or landlord about my dog. One place we looked at, the agent didn't mention the dog, though I specifically asked her about it, and we met the landlord when we saw the place and convinced them that he was a sweet dog. I think offering to pay for the carpets being cleaned and offering a higher bond may help to show that you're not irresponsible.
    The place I live in now even said OK to getting a new puppy before we moved in. In fact, the landlord just asked me if I would mind watching their dog for a while.
    It's hard, but it's possible - and may just take a bit more time.
    Susan

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Kent UK 2 Northshore NZ
    Posts
    659

    Default

    As everyone has said it is hard with a dog but it can be done. We brought our big dog from the UK with us. If I had the benefit of hindsight I would have shipped him a few weeks later and given ourselves more time to look for a decent rental. Decent rentals are hard to find dog or no dog. We also have small kids so needed a place suitable for them which in our case proved the bigger issue. We found finding a tame agent and asking if they knew which landlords would take a house trained dog worked OK.
    As it happened we left ourself no time to look for a good rental as the dog arrived 3 days after us so we stuck with a place we found on a bach rental site from the UK. These sites tend to list which ones take dogs but the rent isn't cheap and not financially viable for long term unless you can negotiate a deal.
    Debbie

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