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Pet owners: Here's how to win a rental property, without lying about your pet.

Being a renter and the proud owner of a Siberian husky can produce a few teeny tiny issues.

It’s no secret that ticking yes to “Pets” on your rental application can result in a BIG, FAT, RED CROSS through your name. So, how can you boost your chances of rental success without lying about your beloved Fluffy, or Max, or Knuckles?

A pet resume.

Oh yes, reader friends! A pet resume. 

“[Many] property owners would consider allowing a pet if they knew the full background and behavioural tendencies of the animal,” Nadia Crighton from Pet Insurance Australia says.

“It’s basically allowing pet owners to showcase how responsible they are, and how good their pet is.”

While only a quarter of rental listings specify as pet friendly, pet resumes that include information about vaccination records, registration papers, and training information can bolster landlords' ease with having animals in their property.

An added bonus for pet lovers? Rent.com.au has added the concept onto their website, making the process approximately 19475820% easier.

Here are some tips to give you and your family the best possible chance of securing the house of your wildest real estate dreams with the Picture Perfect Pet Resume.

  • Be prepared. Have all the information on hand that will prove your pet is brilliant and wonderful and polite and will therefore make a terrific tenant.
  • Get to know your local agent. Get them onside. Introduce them to your very-well-mannered house-trained pet who definitely does not bark ever. Make them fall in love with your pet. Buy them a pizza to speed up the process. Whip out the Maltesers if things seem dire. Escalate to wine if truly necessary. Etc etc etc.
  • Keep up-to-date with your pet care routine. Think all the fun stuff - fleas! worms! grooming and training! Have evidence of this. Sell yourself as the responsible, pet owning, go-getter you really are.
  • If you're looking at an apartment, get to know what the body corporate rules and regulations are. (Boring but Worth. It.)
  • Have room to move on the price you want to pay. Be willing to offer a few extra clams. Money talks, you guys. Money talks.

Now go snag the house of your dreams, pal! Thank us later.

You can find out more about pet resumes here.

LISTEN: How to find your home style, according to design queen Shaynna Blaze.

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Top Comments

Emma 7 years ago

I feel as if this entire argument is archaic, renter rights in this day and age are a complete joke.
The control that the landlord has over the property currently is bizarre with how absolute it is.

Paying a rental fee, which is not small, should give tenants the right to live as they want for the duration that they live there, with the agreeance that the premisis is returned to the former state upon exit.

The amount of landlord's who've commented "my house/ my rules" garbage is appalling. They are earning an income from the property, they should not get a say about what happens in the place during the time as long as it is legal and non destructive.

Not all pets are destructive and smelly, and these are the kind of things that can be addressed by the end of lease/ with the bond.
If the smells are penetrating the house and unable to be removed, it seems like there is a bigger problem with the upkeep of the walls/ carpets on the landlord's end.
You can not expect people to pay a high price for. Garbage house and then be able to blame them for not being able to maintain the property.

I wouldn't ask my landlord if I could have a baby, and I feel like it is a smiliar discrimination to have to ask for pets.


BB 7 years ago

All dogs smell like dog - no matter how clean they are - just as bad as a smoker in the property ... you can't get the smell out. The unit my MIL just started renting had to have new carpet and fresh paint on the walls because it was the only thing that got rid of the smoke and pet smells. Yuck.