elmwood, homeless in Cleveland?

The BBQ Pit
1

It may just happen.

Why? Because of this.

All I want is a clean two or three bedroom house or townhouse with a fenced yard, within a half hour commute of Painesville, for $1000 or less a month. That’s all.

Unfortunately, that probably won’t be the case, because most prospective landlords think my two calm, gentle, friendly, obedience-trained, non-shedding, non-smelling, non-moulding and carpeting-eating, hypoallergenic adult Portuguese Water Dogs will shit and piss everywhere, eat the doors, dig up the lawn, and trash the place. A reference from my old landlord? MEETING THE DOGS THEMSELVES, since they’re in the hotel with me and I can take them to a house viewing? Nope. Pets bad. Dogs worse. About 80% of the rental houses I can afford within commuting distance don’t allow dogs.

So, what kind of places did I find that I could rent? Places with brown carpeting that hasn’t been cleaned since it was installed during the Vietnam War, teeny tiny places where I can’t fit normal-sized furniture, places with junked boats and/or cars owned by the landlord on the property, and places that smell like feet and/or stinky French cheese.

C’mon … this is freakin’ CLEVELAND. People aren’t moving here in droves. When a guy with more references than God comes to you and wants to rent a place, why turn him away only because he has two non-human creatures living with him?

No way am I giving up my dogs. I’ll sooner commute to my new job from my parents’ house in Buffalo than give 'em up.

2

BTw … renting a place in Orlando with dogs? No problem.

Renting a place in Kansas City? Cute pups … sign the lease!

Cleveland? Nope. Because … CLEVELANDERS HATE DOGS!

3

If you’re going to be working in Painesville, why are you looking in Cleveland?

I went to this site
http://www.places4rent.com/search/search.asp
selected the “advanced search” option so as to include pets as a condition, and got 139 hits. (Of course, I did not specify price, number of bedrooms, etc.)

The towns I included were Painesville, Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Chardon, Madison, Perry, Richmond Heights, Concord, Wickliffe, Willowick, and Willoughby. (You might drop Chardon or Ashtabula for Conneaut and another Cleveland suburb).

For newspapers, the Lake County News Herald isn’t fit to line a bird cage, but since it is the “local” paper, you may find more apartment ads there than in the Plain Dealer:
News Herald Apartment ads

4

If you were looking for something on the west side I might have been able to help but I doubt the commute from Lakewood to Painsville is what you had in mind. I’ve been managing my fathers rental properties long enough to know that I can’t take everyone’s word as to how well behaved/trained that persons pet will be, so I don’t, I take cash. Offer to pay an additional security deposit for the dogs, cash up front has an amazing way of soothing a land lord’s doubts about an issue.

5

There’s a house for rent at the corner of 300th and Fern in Willowick.

6

Sorry to hear this, elmwood. When I was still living in Cleveland, I got the distinct impression that Cleveland landlords not only hate pets but kids as well, because there were tons of no pets/no kids ads listed in the paper. I wonder if it is still legal to do the ‘no kid’ thing …

Anyway, when we moved from VA to NC 3 years ago I was anxious about finding a rental with my two big dogs too, but we found a very nice apartment by using http://www.realtor.com. Click the ‘Apartments and Rentals’ tab there, put in your city and state, and then your minimum and maximum rents. You’ll notice a little link below the min/max boxes that says ‘Select Amenities’. Click that and then select the Pet Friendly box before doing your search. That will narrow things down to places that accept pets, though of course the individual property owner’s definition of ‘pet friendly’ will certainly vary, so you’ll need to contact them to find out specifics.

I was incredibly grateful for the Internet during our search. It saved us hours of phone calling and legwork to find a suitable place.

And tomndebb? I take exception to your comment about the News Herald. I used to work there and it most certainly is fit to line a bird cage. :wink:

7

Point taken, romansperson.

8

Yes. I recently took a landlord class from a lawyer teaching about ‘protected classes’ when you rent. Fair Housing act and all that.

from this realtor’s page:

So as long as I fairly and equally tell everyone “Adults Only” or “No pets” or “No Smoking” and enforce my rule, I am not breaking the law, as I understand it (I’m not a lawyer).

a cash deposit up front is a great idea. I require my tenants to have renter’s insurance and put their dogs on the policy. Offer to do this.

By the way, elmwood, my wife has 2 rental houses but they’re in Akron and rented. Sorry. Keep looking. Try Mentor.

9

Checked out the Plain Dealer, News Herald, Free Times and Scene over the past several days. Nothing but small apartments, and houses that are barely suitable for human habitation. Oh, that and “no dogs allowed.”

Couldn’t find any rental agencies or management companies; those listed in the phone book, both Cleveland and Lake County, have non-working numbers or cover the West Side only.

realtor.com has apartments only. I need a house or townhouse with a fully or partially fenced yard. Even then, I looked, desperate for something, and found only small apartments; under 1000 square feet.

I could only find small apartments on places4rent.com.

I’ve offered refundable pet damage deposits of up to $1,000. No takers.

I might have to do a drive-by of the house for rent in Willowick. Hopefully, they’ll accept pets.

It’s strange. I had no problem finding SINGLE FAMILY HOUSES WITH FENCED BACKYARDS in Kansas City where landlords were willing to rent to dog owners. Here in Cleveland/Painesville/Mentor/Wehatecanine Heights … nothing.

I’ll be working in Painesville, but I’ve expanded my search to Eastern Cuyahoga County; Mayfield Heights, Lyndhurst, Euclid, South Euclid, University Heights and even Cleveland Heights; I’d be looking at 35 to 40 minute commutes from there, but it’s worth it as far as I’m concerned. Tried Mentor. Tried all those communities that begin with the letter “W.” Tried Eastlake. Tried Painesville. Tried Concord. Tried the various Something Heights 'burbs along I-271. Nothing. If I get desperate, I’ll be looking at Lakewood, even though it would be a one way commute of an hour.

I may place a “house wanted” ad in the News Herald.

10

You may have to reduce your expectations. I don’t recall there ever being much of a house rental market in Cleveland ever - apartments, yes; houses, not so much.

11

Try Perry, Madison, Conneaut and out that direction where SR 2, US 20, and I-90 all get you to Painesville pretty quickly (driving out of the sun each way). Also Chardon, Thompson Twp, Hambden Twp, maybe Munson, Claridon, and Montville Twps.

12

They also list houses for rent but those are under “Find a Home”.

Rental & Sale listings for the Cleveland Metropolitan Area

13

I soon will have a vacancy at my house and you are welcome to come here Elmwood I could use a bad ass to keep the kidlets in line. I will require you to beat kidlets up on a regular basis. Are you up to it? Your commute may be longer then you wanted but hey I live in sunshine most all the year-round.

14

Sorry, Isabelle … maybe you should have made the offer a few years ago, when I was living in Orlando. (I owned a house with a pool after I rented, which DEFINITELY keeps kids in line.)

I tried looking for the house at 300th and Fern in Willowick. Didn’t see any “For Rent” signs, although I did see an abundance of very impressive Virgin Mary shrines. I almost heard the Godfather theme in the background, which is probably a sign of a very safe neighborhood. Nobody messes around where made men live.

I thought about commuting from the Erie/Buffalo direction, but I’m a single guy. There are probably slim pickings in Ashtabula.

I’m giving up on the fenced yard requirement. I’m also going farther west, and looking at places in Tremont tomorrow, on the West Side. I’m also going to look at apartments and flats in Cleveland Heights; the area seems a bit more dog friendly than points further east.

Thanks for the rental home listing! I didn’t know it was on there!

15

If you plan on staying in the area for a while, there are some houses in Ashtabula for sale under 50 grand. I live in Mentor-on-the Lake. Welcome to NE Ohio. Lake Effect Yo!

16

Sounds like there are more NE Ohio dopers than I thought around here.

While in Tremont, don’t forget to also check Ohio City and Lakewood, in case they haven’t been mentioned.

Why are you renting anyway? Are you only here temporarily? If your budget allows, buying seems to make more sense to me. Also, as a landlord, If someone offered to help maintain the property to my satisfaction, I’d consider putting in a fence for his animals if I knew I could count on a 2 year lease or so.

Maybe we should all get together for lunch in downtown Cleveland someday and hash this out together.

17

I agree with BMalion - if you can afford $1,000 a month rent, then you could certainly buy a decent house with a mortgage in that range and then you’d be able to get the amenities you want, though if you aren’t staying long I know that would be a hassle.

Painesville and the near West Side both have reasonably priced houses. I’ve lived in both areas, and of the two the West Side is nicer - I lived in the Westpark neighborhood of Cleveland for 3 years and if I’d stayed in Cleveland I’d have bought a house there eventually. Driving from there to Painesville would kinda suck though - takes about an hour.

Heck, if you are interested at all in buying it looks like my MIL’s house in Madison might be back on the market - she moved into a condo and the people who wanted to buy it hit a snag in their financing. No fence, but one could easily be put up, and she’s the original owner, so it’s been kept in perfect condition.

18

You’re quite welcome.

I didn’t notice that feature myself until a couple months ago. Must be new.

19

I’ll be buying in a year, once I’m established at my new job. I’ve got the down payment, the income and the good credit – enough to get something for $170,000 or so – but not the recent employment history. I was laid off from my previous job, and out of work for about six months until I found something in my field (urban planning) in Painesville.

For now, too, it’s just easier to move when you don’t have to worry about a house closing, or visiting houses for weeks. I’ll be pickier about the house I buy, as opposed to what I’ll be renting.

I have an application filled out for a renovated 2 bedroom front house in Tremont, and tonight I’m looking at a place in South Euclid, and two in Cleveland Heights. I might have to drop some flowers by one of those Virgin Mary shrines in Willowick, and keep my fingers crossed.

20

Update: I found a place! It’s a clean, good-sized three bedroom, one bathroom, two story house with a partly finished basement and an enclosed sunroom in Lyndhurst. The landlord liked Guinness and Bailey, and he’s sending me a lease to sign.

I suggest a Cleveland-Akron DopeFest at the nearby Legacy Village when it opens in a couple of weeks. Bah … let’s just get stinko in the Warehouse District.

Thanks for all your suggestions!