Pets Abandoned As Rental Market Heats Up

[raz]

an investment property is a massive luxury item.

Unreal. An investment is a luxury is it?

I like it

Isnt it hilarious, snowy. I love the coment that people should just stop paying high rent and then they'd be able to live the life of riley on low rent. Hullooooo. Rents are high because people have run away from investing in bricks and mortar because of the very attitude people have shown here. Dont like being held by the short and curlies by someone looking after their own superannuation so you have a house over your head? Good. Save up for your own 'luxury' investment.

Dear lord.

[Bjelkier]

I've had an awful time trying to find a pet friendly rental and pet resume's didn't do a thing to help us.

PM's can be real A-holes and I've had more then one person abuse me, tell me to sell my animals and even told I live in filth because I let my dogs inside!

I've been told I have an awful breed of dog (Samoyeds) because all they ever do is bark, I've been told Labradors destroy everything no matter how old they are and the list goes on and on.

I have forgotten how many peopple I have spoken to and it's really heart breaking.

We are willing to pay up to 500 a week and live over an hour away from my OH's place of work and yet still we got nothing.

We eventually went threw a private rental and hit the jackpot (they are horse breeders and own pedigree Dobes ) but I was getting really worried for awhile there.

Edited August 25, 2010 by Bjelkier

[Staranais]

My parents have a rental property where the rental payments don't cover the mortgage, let alone repairs to the house. The rent covers part of the mortgage, and they put some of their own money to cover the rest of the mortgage.

It's still worth it financially since at the end of the day they'll end up owning a house (or at least part of one) that they couldn't afford to have bought on their own salaries. Since houses tend to increase in value over the long term, it's a good investment for them to make. They will sell the house at some point in the future, and (hopefully) get back much more than they originally paid towards the mortgage.

It doesn't make them loaded, they're merely investing their spare cash into a house instead of the bank, or shares, or bonds, or retirement funds, like other people (including many tenants) do.

I investigated buying a house last time I was working, and the mortgage payments were going to be nearly twice what I was paying to rent for a similar property. Like Snopaws says, the point of a rental property is that it increases in capital value.

[cointreau]

I don't think it is right for people to buy investment properties and then put numerous exclusions on them and therefore preventing the property from being rented.

Why on earth not? It's their investment so ofcourse they can do whatever they want with it, even if they're stupid enough to have a 4-5 bedroom house an an investment property and exclude families, however I do feel for people trying to rent in this tough market.

Sure it is the investors property but to put restrictions on it so it remains empty is unfair and selfish in my opinion, yes the idea is to negatively gear the property but not to that extent and I have seen a number of rentals empty in the past because of restrictions put on potential tenants.

If I ever get an investment property it will be pet friendly provided certain criteria is met by the applicant, that is no more or less than with any application for a rental property.

[Ashanali]

I don't think it is right for people to buy investment properties and then put numerous exclusions on them and therefore preventing the property from being rented.

Why on earth not? It's their investment so ofcourse they can do whatever they want with it, even if they're stupid enough to have a 4-5 bedroom house an an investment property and exclude families, however I do feel for people trying to rent in this tough market.

Sure it is the investors property but to put restrictions on it so it remains empty is unfair and selfish in my opinion, yes the idea is to negatively gear the property but not to that extent and I have seen a number of rentals empty in the past because of restrictions put on potential tenants.

If I ever get an investment property it will be pet friendly provided certain criteria is met by the applicant, that is no more or less than with any application for a rental property.

If an owner wants a property empty, that is their choice.

Our current house has a two bedroom flat downstairs that we can't touch. The owner doesn't want tenants in there and won't let us use it for storage. It sits there empty teasing us. We don't complain, it's the owners choice. Nothing wrong with that!

[PaddyForever]

$80,000 in rental income wow how do you know that are you their accountant

If you are you aren't a very good one, because an investment property should be negatively geared not positively. They should run at a loss. The return comes in capital gains not income ;)

And sorry that was mean, yes I have my bitch hat on today :D

My investment property isn't a luxury it is an investment in my childrens future. Take your average house worth $350,000, house prices double every ten years on average so when they are ready to buy a home in 20 years it will cost them about 1.4 million and there isn't a hope in hell they will be able to afford one then. I suppose I could take my $200 a week and put it in a savings account for 20 years and hand them $250 grand in 20 years. Or a 1.4 million dollar house, ummm hard decison to ensure my kids have a future. I suppose I was raised that you always pay yourself first, which means money into the bank or an investment for the future first, then bills and neccessities second, then luxuries last.

Just because someone has an investment does not mean they are loaded and can afford to throw money around nor can they afford for their tennants to not pay the rent or trash the house just like because someone chooses to rent means they have are broke, on welfare or destitute.

Seriously though I am just a little fish investor and you will find it is your little fish investor like myself that is willing to have pets and not your big fish investor. Your big fish couldn't give a toss about you and your animals they only see the bottom line whereas a little fish has a big interest in their rental home, we want our tennants to be happy, look after the house and pay the rent on time. Problem is houses get trashed and rent doesn't get paid, the big investors can afford it, the little ones can't so we sell up to the big investors and another house because No Pets Allowed.

So you (in general not you personally) slag us off and lump landlords in the same category as car salesman, don't pay the rent on time, trash our hosues and then can't understand why we won't allow pets.

But then again my house was advertised on here for two months, $300 a week for 3 bedrooms, two lounges, brand new kitchen, coonara, new reverse cycle split system air conditioning, new flooring, freshly painted, in ground pool, great undercover entertaining area, full fenced back years, 2 minutes walk to local shops, kindy, primary school, public transport, walking trail and pet friendly, happy to have up to 4 indoor/outdoor dogs and two cats, oh and only 45 ks from the Melbourne cbd about a 50 minute drive along Eastlink and I got ..................................... not one enquiry

Snopaws- The description of your rental would have seemed too good to be true to us. I am only pretty new to the forums, but have been a member of DOL for a couple of years now, and have owned pedigree dogs forever. You may have seen my post re having to move after Black Saturday. My landlord of the time offered to give us an excellent refference, as did our previous landlord, who was an actual real estate agent. Despite that, we were unable to find a property that would allow our 5 dogs, one of which could have been and ended up, homed with my mother. Due to being pregnant with our fourth child, I had to agree to move into a rental that allowed only 3 dogs and I had to rehome a six-year-old, extremely well-behaved Golden Retriever. Recently, after having been in this home for over a year, we put in a request to please have the rear decking fixed, as there were holes developing due to rotting wood, and I was afraid either one of my dogs, or children, would trip. The landlord actually called and introduced himself, and we explained that we had been given some spare wood by my brother, who had recently built his own patio, if the landlord would like to use that. He took us up on the offer quite gratefully, and came around to spend the day re-decking, along with my husband, who helped him all day just to get it done. The landlord was most impressed with our dogs, remarking on their temperaments, and we voluntarily pointed out that our new young Gordon Setter had put a few holes in the fly-wire on the back screen door, and made a few scratches, all of which would be repaired. His reply was "No problem, dogs will be dogs, you should have seen the mess the last tenant's children made!"

We also told him that we only breed once or twice a year and that puppies would be raised in the laundry, if that was alright, and his reply was "Of Course- Fine."

Shortly after, we had a litter of puppies, which were enclosed with their mother, in a whelping box with a C-Crate over the top, in the laundry. The house-inspection came around two weeks later. The agent rep was very pleased with the condition of the house, remarking on how spotless it all was, despite our four children. Before she got to the laundry, we informed her of the puppies, and that we had run them by the landlord, who was fine with it. Although obviously not a 'dog person', particullarly, the rep remarked on how gorgeous the mother and pups were. She left, with the comment that all was 'great', but the following day we recieved a call. The rep informed us that the landlord wished us to sign another year's lease, as our year had recently come up. I reminded her that I had told her before that we would prefer a property hopefully out of town, that would allow more dogs. Her next comment was that she had some bad news. She had told the landlord about the puppies, and he wanted them out of the house, NOW. He was, to quote again, "Already unhappy about the destruction one of our dogs had caused to the back door, and he would prefer only two dogs in a dog run." I responded that the puppies were only two weeks old, and couldn't be moved, that they were in the box and not even touching anything in the laundry. I told her the intention was to move them out into our own 3x3m shed, with floor, with the dog run around the front, as soon as they were approx 4 weeks. She replied that she would take this to the landlord. She called, after I had had a rather sleepless night, the following day, to say that the landlord was o.k. with it all if we moved the puppies by the end of the week, and was o.k. with the other dogs, as long as we would agree to sign for another year's lease! I thanked her, and told her I'd discuss it with my husband and let her know. I was left feeling that it was almost blackmail! We recently lost our oldest dog at the age of nearly 16, and would like to get another dog at some stage(one of our other dogs has now been returned to us), and so would like to keep looking for property that will allow us to do that. We also wish to be allowed to openly have our one/two litters a year, and firmly believe that young puppies belong inside. Our current litter were in until 5 weeks, because of the dreadful weather. They are aged 6 weeks now, and are happily outside. All were

spoken for by 4 weeks, and will go to their new homes at 8 weeks of age. Our landlord also told the rep that he wants us to repair any damage done by the shed and dog-run, to his grass, which is fair enough, although grass will not grow instantly when you remove a shed, so this is a worry. We once had a landlord demand instant turf, because we, along with the dogs, had left a path in the grass between the driveway and the back door. There was no other path, and the clothes line was along the same line! Still, the landlord back then demanded $600, and we didn't want to argue, and wanted good refferences, so we paid up. Since then, we have always gotten back all of our bond, and have always left a property in excellent condition. With this property, we have even put in a dishwasher, which we have agreed to leave, along with being given permission to put it in! We have placed an add on Dogzonline for accomodation, with no replies at all, and are hunting desperately for dog-friendly accomodation within an hour of melbourne, that will allow children, dogs, and the occasional litter of well-bred puppies. If anyone out there is looking for great tenants, who are house-proud and very reliable with rent, you know where to look...! :D

[SnoPaws]

Paddyforever whereabouts are you currently living?

Our rental is in Woori Yallock in the Yarra Valley, it will probably be available again at the start of January, although I can't make any guarantees it is entirely up to the current tennants who are on a short term lease because they are trying to find their own dream house

If you are still looking in November/December and the location suits pm me then

[jazawayaya]

We are so lucky at the moment...

When we were first looking for a house we didnt even have a dog yet lol it was quite interesting/frustrating looking for a rental that allowed dogs but having no idea what type of dog we were getting.

90 % of the rentals said no dogs or said nothing about dogs and we ended up even calling the ones that said no dogs just to double check.

When we applied we submitted a little letter explaining we would be getting an older dog in the future of medium size etc.

We ended up with a PM who luckily loved dogs getting us a place that had said NO DOGS.

Since then we asked her if it would be possible to get another little dog, she spoke to the landlord and they said yes!

So now we have 2 little dogs who are allowed inside and outside.

Since we have had them they havent done even one bit of damage. If they did do any damage of course we would fix it/ pay for it and that was outlined on the contract.

When we lived in Sydney we owned an apartment and when we applied for a little dog we were told flat out no! And this was an apartment we owned! (stupid strata- rot in hell).

Actually that was the day we decided to move from the hell hole called Sydney to Adelaide

Saving up to buy our own house and cant wait

Until then we will stay where we are if permitted.

[Elfin]

My purpose was not to "bash" land lords that are open to allowing pets.

My purpose was to try to point out how competitive the rental market is at the moment. I can now completely understand the heart-breaking descision that many people are being forced to make when they cannot get a rental home.

In a way I am lucky that I do not have children to worry about, because they could certainly not be living where I am now. I would have had no choice but to surrender/rehome/euthanase my dogs so I could be guaranteed of a roof over my children's heads.

My previous employment provided me with accomodation, and when I resigned in April after 20 years of working there, I obviously had to move out.

I have excellent references from my previous employer/landlord for both myself and my dogs (my cat was a different story, but he died in February).

I am disappointed at the amount of times I have had judgement passed upon me and my dogs by real estate agents/property managers that inform me that my large dogs should not be kept in a suburban environment, that big dogs do more damage to property, etc, etc.

Anyway, SnoPaws, I would be very interested the possibility of renting your property if it becomes available and I am still living in a shed.

[Dory the Doted One]

God Love My Daughter.

She told me she'd rather live in the car than give up Dory. It took the heat of me a bit, but I really didnt' want to have to test her resolve.

Thank God, we didn't have to. But for a moment there it was pretty close. And end result is still paying more than I wanted to and a veerrrrrry tight budget. We'll be having a communal Christmas present this year.

I was so stressed I started having blood pressure problems and my doctor was very concerned.

[raz]

Sure it is the investors property but to put restrictions on it so it remains empty is unfair and selfish in my opinion,

Oh for goodness sake. People dont invest in property just so they can provide a roof over your head out of the goodness of their heart. They do it to secure their own future. Let's be realistic about it. It's that very world owes me a living attitude that has investors selling up and taking their dough elsewhere, leaving a rental shortage. Case in point - a friend of mine has just turfed out a lovely dog owning family after they completely trashed her much loved house. She's now spending a fortune trying to rectify the shit state they left the property in. I'll give you one guess what she's going to be doing with the house once she fixes it!

If you're a great tenant, that's fantastic Cointreau, but it's the bad tenants making it hard for the rest of you, not the landlords.

eta lovely dog owning family dumped their poor frigging dog as well. Why? The house they liked had holes in the fence. They could have taken the other house - both allowed pets - but they just liked the other one more. Assholes

Edited August 25, 2010 by raz

[Debyork2]

$80,000 in rental income wow how do you know that are you their accountant

If you are you aren't a very good one, because an investment property should be negatively geared not positively. They should run at a loss. The return comes in capital gains not income

And sorry that was mean, yes I have my bitch hat on today

My investment property isn't a luxury it is an investment in my childrens future. Take your average house worth $350,000, house prices double every ten years on average so when they are ready to buy a home in 20 years it will cost them about 1.4 million and there isn't a hope in hell they will be able to afford one then. I suppose I could take my $200 a week and put it in a savings account for 20 years and hand them $250 grand in 20 years. Or a 1.4 million dollar house, ummm hard decison to ensure my kids have a future. I suppose I was raised that you always pay yourself first, which means money into the bank or an investment for the future first, then bills and neccessities second, then luxuries last.

Just because someone has an investment does not mean they are loaded and can afford to throw money around nor can they afford for their tennants to not pay the rent or trash the house just like because someone chooses to rent means they have are broke, on welfare or destitute.

Seriously though I am just a little fish investor and you will find it is your little fish investor like myself that is willing to have pets and not your big fish investor. Your big fish couldn't give a toss about you and your animals they only see the bottom line whereas a little fish has a big interest in their rental home, we want our tennants to be happy, look after the house and pay the rent on time. Problem is houses get trashed and rent doesn't get paid, the big investors can afford it, the little ones can't so we sell up to the big investors and another house because No Pets Allowed.

So you (in general not you personally) slag us off and lump landlords in the same category as car salesman, don't pay the rent on time, trash our hosues and then can't understand why we won't allow pets.

But then again my house was advertised on here for two months, $300 a week for 3 bedrooms, two lounges, brand new kitchen, coonara, new reverse cycle split system air conditioning, new flooring, freshly painted, in ground pool, great undercover entertaining area, full fenced back years, 2 minutes walk to local shops, kindy, primary school, public transport, walking trail and pet friendly, happy to have up to 4 indoor/outdoor dogs and two cats, oh and only 45 ks from the Melbourne cbd about a 50 minute drive along Eastlink and I got ..................................... not one enquiry

No. I'm not an accountant-but I am able to do basic maths & if I have paid 80,000 in rent to my landlord then that is 'income' for him isn't it? Just the same as if I paid an employee 50,000 a year-if that employee then went and spent 55,000 a year the original 50,000 is still income isn't it? So, one way or another he is gaining from the rental 'income' he generates on this property, even if the gain is a long term one! Personally, I don't get all this accumulating wealth thing, most people slave their whole lives at jobs they usually hate-for what? So when they retire they can have financial security-if(and it's a big if) they are fortunate enough to stay healthy they might get twenty or so years to enjoy the fruits of their labour. To provide for their children? I've known plenty of parents who have slaved all their lives for their children only to have the children squander it all or prove totally ungrateful-the accumulating of wealth is in my opinion a grown ups version of a 'blankie', it makes us feel 'safe', but it's an illusion, we become slaves to our possesions and less free to spend time doing the things that REALLY matter, no matter how much money or property we accumulate we all end up the same way...dead! Personally I'd rather look back on my life and say 'I spent lots of time with my family & enjoying the things I like doing', rather than 'I spent all my life working, didn't have much time for anything else-but I do have heaps of money and 'stuff'!' I certainly don't class landlords as being universally awful-there are great landlords, and some that are truly awful-just the same as there are great tenants and terrible tenants. And I can understand the frustration of dealing with less than perfect tenants but that is the 'downside' of owning investment properties, and that is what bonds and insurance are for-I don't agree that the 'big fish' investors are any worse than the 'Mom & Pop' investors-in fact the bigger investors tend not to have any emotional investment in their properties and as long as the money rolls in don't much care about anything else-it's more about supply and demand-if the rental market is tight you'll get landlords applying more conditions and hiking up rents-if there is a surplus of rentals then they'll ease up on the conditions.

[raz]

So you cant stand investors and dont see the point of them providing a house for you...urm you might be happier in a tent, Deb, but then ofcourse you'll need to find someone who will agist half an acre to you

[Cosmolo]

What snopaws said. We have an investment property- that has cost us alot of money, but we hope it will help us to secure our future. We allowed pets too and even made sure we replaced fencing etc so that someone could safely contain a dog. Not all landlords are money grubbing wealthy people who don't care, same as not all renters trash properties.

ETA- its not a matter of choosing to go and spend more income than what rent goes in- its automatic. Our rental costs us $400/ month above the rent PLUS any repairs and maintenance. I'd hardly say that our rental currently generates income for us.

Edited August 25, 2010 by Cosmolo

[Souff]

Oh for goodness sake. People dont invest in property just so they can provide a roof over your head out of the goodness of their heart. They do it to secure their own future.

Oh Raz ... I am shattered .... all the time I have been thinking it was because they really liked cleaning up after tenants

[raz]

Oh Raz ... I am shattered .... all the time I have been thinking it was because they really liked cleaning up after tenants

I used to think that as well, Souffle.

[Monah]

we have a surplus of rentals in our area and cheap too.

I completely agree that Aust is way behind in renting to people with pets. It's a terrible state of affairs. I also agree that renting can be fraught with stress, a house can be sold under you, issues can come up that would not if it were your home. Really awful.

We all make choices, sometimes we dont have a choice, but it should never be 'renters vs landlords'. All are people, that's it. It's not an us and them situation. Just like it's not a 'bosses and employee' situation in the workplace (or shouldn't be).

We all feel pain, have emotions, can be nice or horrible at different times. Empathy would be nice.

I've thought about buying an investment property several times, we did use to own two waterfront units, but sold them when things got tight a few years ago.

Rent money does not cover costs in the majority of cases, which is why we have not gone down that road again. One large outgoing for damage (carpet, plumbing, etc.) can break a landlord and I'm not prepared to take the risk.

We were going to rent our house out when we moved to darwin last year, I did not care if they had dogs, cats, chooks, cows, etc. but after having a good look at what was going on in the rental market, and how much one little incident could cost us, we decided against it so had a house sitting empty for 12 months. I dont see this as selfish, we could have had an income to help cover our massive Darwin rent, as it was we came home majorly out of pocket as rentals in Darwin START at around $600 a week.

So I have seen both sides. When we left our darwin house, the landlord inspected it and was in shock as it still looked brand spanking new, no different to when we moved in with 4 cats, 2 dogs, birds and our son. I would have been thoroughly ashamed if there was so much as a mark on the walls.

Debyork:

Of course many people need to rent (my own kids do), but really, if you have spent $80,000 on rent I think you need financial advice. With that amount outgoing, there's no reason you could not have bought your own investment property. I dont understand why you are havinga go at your landlord's income? It's no business of yours at all, just like as you say about paying an employee, that it would be no ones business what someone earnt.

You say yourself, you have a great life, things repaired for free, move when ever you want, no mortgage, no responsibility.But, the landord is evil??? Bit confusing.

What on earth makes you think those people with investments dont spend time with their families? or are materialistic freaks? And surely you have had to work long hours to pay all that rent? why is that nay different than paying a mortgage?

From you post, you appear to be very bitter about something, dont take it out on those of us who are trying our best to look after our own security later on so we are not a burden on an already over burdened pension system.

You can rent all your life, whinge about it, get a pension, rent assistance etc. later on,

someone else can work hard, use their money wisely to look after their future , and get NOTHING at all. Yet you have decided they are doing this to be greedy. There is no 'right or wrong', this is different for each individual. but please give property owners a bit of thought, they are not the devil in disguise.

If you are there paying it, dont complain, do something about it. Get your own place. or sit back and enjoy the lack of responsibility.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Monah

[Debyork2]

Geez...where did I say I hated investors, say my landlord was evil, or whinge about renting? I have nothing against investors-I just think it's no good complaining about the problems that are part and parcel of owning a rental investment....'OMG my tenants are awful, messy, don't pay their rent and trash the place', 'I don't make anything out of it-in fact it costs me money', then WHY DO IT? I didn't whinge about renting- I said there are some awful landlords-and there are, but mainly I pointed out the positives of renting & that drew criticism for not 'caring' about the house , a good analogy would be a rental car....it is in one's best interest to take very good care of it and return it in the condition it was when you first took it, but would you care if all the wheels fell off it the day after you returned it...of course not. Because you don't 'care' about it-only in as far as it has any effect on you! My landlord is very good-he keeps his end of the deal by keeping the property well maintained and we fulfil our obligations by keeping it clean and tidy and paying our rent, we've been here for 4 years so obviously we are OK tenants, but that doesn't alter the fact that we pay him money-he doesn't rent it to us out of the kindness of his heart & if there was no benefit to him, either long or short term, then he'd be a goose if he didn't sell it wouldn't he? I haven't whinged about paying rent anymore than a lot of posters have whinged about paying their mortgages-none of us like forking out, but it seems to me some people are a bit over sensitive about perceived criticisms. As for the question about buying a house-well, I would be the first person in the queue if I won Lotto but I don't fancy burdening myself with a huge mortgage & break out in a cold sweat every time interest rates go up, neither do I wish to buy a house for the sake of it, there is a perception that everyone in their right mind wants to own a house and that simply isn't the case, a house can be a millstone around your neck-and one quite frankly, I would prefer not to have in my present position.

[Nekhbet]

I said an investment PROPERTY is a luxury item. IE you dont need it to survive. I didnt say investment in general did I?

as for houseing affordability, my grandmother managed to own 5 properties simply working in market gardens over the years. She came to Australia with nothing. Couldnt see that happening now unfortunately that house prices are out of proportion to most average wages.

TA- its not a matter of choosing to go and spend more income than what rent goes in- its automatic. Our rental costs us $400/ month above the rent PLUS any repairs and maintenance. I'd hardly say that our rental currently generates income for us.

and if property prices crash, you have a problem. Have you worked out what you would end up having if you put your morgage + rental money into a term deposit account or something at a reasonable interest rate?

Edited August 26, 2010 by Nekhbet

[Cosmolo]

The property we chose to invest in was a better option than savings/ term deposits. Some people consider property to be a better and safer investment than other options- so why is one a luxury and the other is not.