Top three things you can do to help score a rental…with a pet

Some cities on the central coast are often said to be the most dog-friendly places in the country. That only seems to be true if dog-owners are buying and not renting their living space.

“When a property owner comes to us and says they have a property they’d like to put on the market, one of the first questions we ask them is do you allow pets?” said Jake Kelley of Sterling Property Management. In Monterey county, 70 to 85% of the time, the answer to that question is no.

Gail Valdez, owner/broker of Bay Property Management states, “I know a lot of property owners have had bad experiences in the past with taking animals where they damage the home and they’ve had to put a lot of money into them to get it repaired.”

Jan Leasure, managing broker at Monterey Bay Property Management (montereyrentals.com) adds, “When we turn over a half a million dollar property to somebody for $2,000 a month, we can’t collect enough deposit legally to cover the amount of potential damage that could actually happen.” That’s turning man’s best friend into man’s biggest rental obstacle.

“We made, like I said, several trips down from Santa Rosa to look at apartments and, yeah. It was a nightmare,” said dog owner, Mike Worsfold. He spent almost three months trying to get into a Monterey County apartment with his dog, Domino. “All these places were saying they were dog friendly and we viewed these places and they weren’t even dog friendly, so we were a bit confused about the whole situation.”

Most dog-friendly rentals have size and breed restrictions and may even ask to see small dogs to check them out. “The 3 most aggressive dogs right now are listed as Chihuahuas, Jack Russels, and Dachshunds,” said Kelley. All of this contributes to property owners saying no dogs allowed, even if it means missing out on filling a vacancy. “40% of people out there that are looking for rentals have pets, so saying no pets crushes half your rental market,” he continues.

Making one of the dog-friendliest places in the country seem anything but. “You would expect it to be all dog friendly but there’s only a handful of apartments that are so it’s very confusing,” said Worsfold.

Beth Brookhouser, director of Community Outreach, SPCA for Monterey County, said, “We do get quite a few people who surrender their animals because they’re moving either out of the area or because they can’t find good homes that accept animals around this area.”

There is some hope for pet owners. Leasure said, “It’s not really whether there’s a pet, it’s about how good the care is of the pet by that tenant.” There are many things pet owners can do to improve their chances of getting in to their dream rental, starting with being a little bold. She adds, “Always ask even if the ad says no pets.”

Kelley asks, “How long has the property been on the market? Are they more interested in trying to get somebody in to the property?”

Valdez says to “offer an additional security deposit or offer to get renter’s insurance that would cover any damage that might happen.”

There are other things that pet owners can do to score a rental including:

Providing documentation of the pet’s vaccinations and licensing. And, Putting together a resume for your pet. Use past and present landlords as references.

Carmel may be ranked the number one dog friendly town in America, but that doesn’t mean that finding a place to rent in the area is even close to guaranteed. Just like most situations in life, never give up.