Finding a place to rent with a dog

Kauto0709

I am currently looking for a place to rent in South Dublin for our family. We have a small (King Charles) dog. I am finding it very hard to find somewhere that will take us. I have e-mailed many places that I have seen on daft.ie asking if they would be ok with taking a dog and many do not even bother to reply. Anyone who has replied has said no. It really drives me crazy. Found what I thought was a perfect place recently, great location, good price. It was unfurnished as well so not like the dog would have ruined the furniture but they still stood firmly on no pets. It's a nightmare.

Anyone any advice on how to go about finding a place that will accept a dog? Or do I just keep on looking and emailing places every day hoping to eventually find a suitable one that will accept him. He's such a small dog too, he doesn't shed much, he's quiet and no trouble at all!

Graces7

Kauto0709 wrote: »

I am currently looking for a place to rent in South Dublin for our family. We have a small (King Charles) dog. I am finding it very hard to find somewhere that will take us. I have e-mailed many places that I have seen on daft.ie asking if they would be ok with taking a dog and many do not even bother to reply. Anyone who has replied has said no. It really drives me crazy. Found what I thought was a perfect place recently, great location, good price. It was unfurnished as well so not like the dog would have ruined the furniture but they still stood firmly on no pets. It's a nightmare.

Anyone any advice on how to go about finding a place that will accept a dog? Or do I just keep on looking and emailing places every day hoping to eventually find a suitable one that will accept him. He's such a small dog too, he doesn't shed much, he's quiet and no trouble at all!

I never used to ask, and unless the ad specifies NO PETS, and if the lease does not mention pets? But then I rented and rent deep rural where critters are more usual.

Eric Cartman

first of all make sure you're looking for a house, most apartment blocks forbid pets in the house rules so its not down to the landlords.

secondly try find a detached house or a house on a bit of land which would be less likely to cause issues for the landlord with noise etc...

thirdly if its freshly renovated/new carpets/new interior your probably safe assuming its a no.

Look for basically a detached house and a landlord that would accept students.

davo10

Mr.S wrote: »

Honestly? Say nothing. The landlord will never notice.

If you want to do it above board, just keep looking and instead of asking straight away, bring it up at the viewing stage, or when you are close to signing lease. Offer to pay a larger deposit, and stress the dog is small etc.

As the op is finding, very few landlords allow pets, most are absolutely opposed to them for obvious reasons. I certainly would terminate the tenancy for breach of lease agreement if I found the tenant had one after it was made clear they were not allowed.

How about a 5k deposit to cover risk of damage to furniture/carpets/curtains, would you be ok with that?

Eric Cartman

Mr.S wrote: »

Seems reasonable. That's what, an extra 2 months as a deposit? I'd pay it, if it meant having my pet officially allowed! Although if renting unfurnished, you'd question why it would be so high.

However most people with pets in rentals just say nothing, and are willing to take the risk. Most people never see their landlord after signing a lease. Out of sight, out of mind etc.

A rented house will absolutely 100% require atleast 300 euro of carpet cleaning after a dog has been there , I think offering an extra 2 months rent as a deposit and acknowledging that 500-600 of that just isn't coming back is reasonable.

Apocalypse2018

give the dog away id say no reason to have a pet if u no hav ur own hose

Kauto0709

Thanks for the replies. I couldn't afford a 5k deposit, that's crazy money! Rent is already crazy expensive as it is!

I have been looking at houses only as like mentioned by one of the posters I know that most apartment blocks won't allow pets. But even a lot of detached houses still won't allow pets for whatever reason.

It's not like he's a puppy and going to be chewing everything. He's old and spends a lot of his time sleeping anyway! I find the generalisation of dogs really annoying as there is a big difference between a small quiet dog like ours and a big smelly hairy dog or a puppy that will be chewing everything.

I guess I'll just have to keep searching...... :-/

CeilingFly

I just wouldn't say anything and unless its specifically mentioned in the lease, there's little a landlord could do.

Creamy Goodness

yup as much as I love pets they leave smells everywhere.

fine if you own the house but considering there's a rental crisis and landlords have a pick of people to let out to, the pets will put you down near the end of the list.

Rows Grower

When an old dog that sleeps most of the time anyway is having such a negative impact on the lives of you and your family I think you need to reevaluate your priorities.

bucketybuck

Kauto0709 wrote: »

I find the generalisation of dogs really annoying as there is a big difference between a small quiet dog like ours and a big smelly hairy dog or a puppy that will be chewing everything.

And just how is the landlord to know which one your dog is?

DubCount

South Dublin is a difficult place to find somewhere to rent, even with a large budget, a large deposit, great references and every other possible advantage. Landlords advertising a property will receive lots and lots of expressions of interests from excellent possible tenants. Anything that makes you stand out from a negative point of view, or potentially negative point of view, is going to make finding a place to rent next to impossible. A dog may potentially leave a smell, or be noisy, or dig up the garden, or damage a carpet - so when there are multiple blue chip applications with no dogs, why would any landlord accept one?

I think your options are:
a) Pass the dog onto a family member/friend, so it doesn't need to be accommodated in your new rented home
b) Try to become the preferred applicant without mentioning the dog, and see if you can convince the landlord to allow the dog after you get selected
c) Try to become the preferred applicant without mentioning the dog, and take a flier that the landlord will not kick you out when he/she finds out about the dog
d) Broaden your search area outside south Dublin where competition for rental property is less fierce, and landlords may be more likely to be accommodating
e) Continue to look for the Unicorn, a Landlord in South Dublin with a house/not an apartment, that loves dogs and will not see it as a negative, and who selects you. That could take a while.

Kauto0709

Rows Grower wrote: »

When an old dog that sleeps most of the time anyway is having such a negative impact on the lives of you and your family I think you need to reevaluate your priorities.

I never once said he was having a negative impact on our lives. We would be absolutely lost without him. I'm going nowhere without him!

Kauto0709

bucketybuck wrote: »

And just how is the landlord to know which one your dog is?

By asking and taking it into consideration?

Kauto0709

DubCount wrote: »

South Dublin is a difficult place to find somewhere to rent, even with a large budget, a large deposit, great references and every other possible advantage. Landlords advertising a property will receive lots and lots of expressions of interests from excellent possible tenants. Anything that makes you stand out from a negative point of view, or potentially negative point of view, is going to make finding a place to rent next to impossible. A dog may potentially leave a smell, or be noisy, or dig up the garden, or damage a carpet - so when there are multiple blue chip applications with no dogs, why would any landlord accept one?

I think your options are:
a) Pass the dog onto a family member/friend, so it doesn't need to be accommodated in your new rented home
b) Try to become the preferred applicant without mentioning the dog, and see if you can convince the landlord to allow the dog after you get selected
c) Try to become the preferred applicant without mentioning the dog, and take a flier that the landlord will not kick you out when he/she finds out about the dog
d) Broaden your search area outside south Dublin where competition for rental property is less fierce, and landlords may be more likely to be accommodating
e) Continue to look for the Unicorn, a Landlord in South Dublin with a house/not an apartment, that loves dogs and will not see it as a negative, and who selects you. That could take a while.

I think b, c and e seem the best options. Thanks!

Rows Grower

Kauto0709 wrote: »

I never once said he was having a negative impact on our lives. We would be absolutely lost without him. I'm going nowhere without him!

Oh yes you did.

bucketybuck

Kauto0709 wrote: »

By asking and taking it into consideration?

That seems rather naive.

Eric Cartman

Kauto0709 wrote: »

I think b, c and e seem the best options. Thanks!

you know E is a bit of a joke ha, seriously though you are literally asking for the holy grail of rental here, south Dublin most likely detached house which allows pets , yet as you point out yourself, you don't have 5 grand for a deposit for it (which is only 2 months rent, if even for that kind of property, and in a lot of cases will be the actual deposit amount anyway)

Im not going to ask what your budget is here OP but if its under 2500 a month then I think you are literally asking for the impossible here.

Fol20

Kauto0709 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I couldn't afford a 5k deposit, that's crazy money! Rent is already crazy expensive as it is!

I have been looking at houses only as like mentioned by one of the posters I know that most apartment blocks won't allow pets. But even a lot of detached houses still won't allow pets for whatever reason.

It's not like he's a puppy and going to be chewing everything. He's old and spends a lot of his time sleeping anyway! I find the generalisation of dogs really annoying as there is a big difference between a small quiet dog like ours and a big smelly hairy dog or a puppy that will be chewing everything.

I guess I'll just have to keep searching...... :-/

Its all about mitigating risk, and although you might think your dog is a best fella in the world. From a ll point of view there could be scratches on the ground,walls,doors. He might do his business in the house or go up on couches and beds and damage those also. Along with the fact you can have dogs barking causing more headaches for ll, why would a landlord pick a tenant when they have 5 more lining up that dont have this blimp on their list. Dont get me wrong i love dogs and have one myself but i can see the wear and tear a dog can do to houses and accept it when its my own house as thats what i signed up for however in my rental, not a hope i would allow them in.

muminpajamas

I'm in a rental property and I have a dog and cats. My lease says pets are allowed.... but according to the lease the landlord can change his mind about this at any time. When I first moved in my house had a new kitchen and bathroom but the carpets must have been 30 or 40 years old, maybe this is why the landlord was not too concerned about pets. The carpets were old and disgusting to begin with. I also had a lot of my own furniture so no fear of the pets wrecking the landlord's property. Would you be willing to rent a place which cosmetically needs some attention? I agree with the person who recommended looking at student houses. Try and find somewhere unfurnished or semi furnished with hardwood or tile flooring. Somewhere less than pristine where the landlord is obviously not too fussy to begin with.

Kauto0709

muminpajamas wrote: »

I'm in a rental property and I have a dog and cats. My lease says pets are allowed.... but according to the lease the landlord can change his mind about this at any time. When I first moved in my house had a new kitchen and bathroom but the carpets must have been 30 or 40 years old, maybe this is why the landlord was not too concerned about pets. The carpets were old and disgusting to begin with. I also had a lot of my own furniture so no fear of the pets wrecking the landlord's property. Would you be willing to rent a place which cosmetically needs some attention? I agree with the person who recommended looking at student houses. Try and find somewhere unfurnished or semi furnished with hardwood or tile flooring. Somewhere less than pristine where the landlord is obviously not too fussy to begin with.

Ah yeah I'm not too fussy. I would be happy to rent somewhere unfurnished with a bit of wear and tear.

Saw a nice place advertised today that said "well behaved pets welcome". It's a 2 bedroom and ideally we'd like a 3 bedroom but will look into it anyway.

Thanks all

stormthecastle

I have rented a house (outside Dublin for the last two years though) in South Dublin with a small dog since 2012 when we came back to live in Ireland with the dog. Windy Arbour, Ballinteer, Rathfarnham etc. Our strategy was always to get the landlord interested in us first and then during the viewing mention the dog and show him a picture (fluffy white dog), assure him it was well trained, non shedding etc and we would pay if there was any damage which there wouldn't be. It worked for us but certainly makes it harder to find places. If landlord sees you as trustworthy and reliable then he will listen to what you say about the dog. Always best to be honest I think but the market has gotten a lot crazier in the last two years.

ShaShaBear

We've always rented with dogs (although admittedly not in as high demand an area as Dublin). We approached for a viewing and took our previous landlord and employer references and made it clear we had deposit and rent and were ready to move. If the landlord agreed he wanted us, then we mentioned we had a dog and if there was any reluctance, we offered a non-refundable deposit of circa €500 on the agreement that it was written in that our dog was allowed. We've never had a problem since!

I definitely would not recommend sneaking him into a property. Yes, people do all sorts of things for their pets, but risking becoming homeless is not one of them

Honestly we've been in our current rental property 4 years and our two kids have done infinitely more damage to the property than our old and and current dog have!