International Movers

[baloo]

You can always offer to pay more rent, say $20 a week to help tip the balance in favour of getting the cats in. Though the rental market is tight in Oz right now so if it's a nice place you may find even non-pet owners offering more to secure the place.

[canuck]

has a friend who told a landlord, nope no cats, no pets was part of the lease. He then found out she had cats and made her life a living hell until she had to move to save her sanity.

Be upfront, not worth running into a possible psychotic situation later. Also state that any damage done by the cats will be righted by you before you move if it is an issue.

Most landlords worry that you are one of those cat owners who let the litter tray fill up to the brim, the cat scrapes the poo/pee dirty litter on their floors, the scent leeches into the floor/walls and they have to hire professional cleaners to get rid of the reek.

I know some cat owners who are like this, felt ill going into their home, others, no smell at all. If I was a landlord I would probably prefer the no pet clause unless I was assured guaranteed by said cat owner my house would not be a cattery. ps: her cats were the exact cats I would not want, scratched up all the carpets and flung poo out of the litter tray, she loved them, I thought they were demons.

[TheD]

Yuck

[Aliya]

K, maybe we can give you written references for the cats, esp Furbabe, being your cat caretaker??

[baloo]

A landlord is not going to care about a written reference about pet cats from people in another country. He's not going to check the references.

[Tas]

which reminds me, you need contact details for references from your last rental place.

I pled a sob story about being back from overseas and stuff.

you may or may not need these if you are provided with a relocation assistant who does all the dirty work.

[kittykat]

Or they could be like us and all catlovers. I have no problem with a tenant with a puddy tat. Shows me they are caring and loving.

[Kooky]

I'm hearing stories of people paying up to a year's rent up front to get places.

I've just filled in the Homesearch questionnaire, tried not to be too demanding and stressed the cat issue.

Current LL's agent is coming round soon so I'll ask about a reference, thanks Tas. I hope, the shit we've taken from them, they'll be nice to us. Bathroom is sodden, as usual.

It's all go. So many forms to fill in X-rays to have At least I get a holiday next week and fly on an Airbus

(Fu's health permitting)

[Fat Bob]

Or they could be like us and all catlovers. I have no problem with a tenant with a puddy tat. Shows me they are caring and loving.

Says to me "single and desparate" if a chick or "gay" if a bloke.

[JJ]

Dont worry about the cats. The quarantine people here were fab. Although the facilities are a bit dismal (lots of sad moggies in cages) but they get a double level cage with a skylight at the top (so fresh air). While the website said you needed to book months in advance, the actual AQIS guys seemed quite bemused when I phoned up 5months in advance, so there shouldnt be any issues.
Ref cats and flats, its all been said. Its a bit disheartening going thru flathunting here in general and specifically when all the nice places are "no pets" but if all your other ducks are in a row so to speak - ie. references, financials etc. then you will be ok. Cats obv. easier than dogs. Be sure to have references from your new employers ready at hand when you view - get them to phone the rental office asap to sing your praises as these references are the ones they pay attention to - (anything foreign -reference wise - is sneered at here) and get the deposit lined up before you go house hunting - having everything going thru on the day will really sell your case and make sure that you beat all the other zillions of people who are after the house (and viewing it at the same time). A strategy I used was to find out where the rental office was, arrive at the viewing 10mins early, then if its the one, make a bee-line for the rental office, introduce yourself to the senior manager of the place (as opposed to just dealing with the minion who is showing it to all and sundry) and sign the application there and then. Well, you may find this all obvious, but I was quite shocked at the whole rental process after the cushy Vietnam system

[Possum]

I can't keep up with JJ Weren't you in NY or back in Singers.....

[Kooky]

Thanks, JJ. I'm going to have to make a note of all these points as I'm a bit of a headless chicken at the moment. My ever thoughtful husband has set us up on some site called Remember the Milk, so we can share tasks.

Do you think they show any preference to people with company relo agents? Ours, BTW, has asked if we have any specific properties in mind. Bearing in mind that we won't be moving in until the end of May, I'm a little concerned about her...

[Tas]

yes to some extent
a half decent relo agents will be able to get you to see a list of stuff before the general mob. and these can be signed up before they see the light of day on any advertising site.
I don't know this from personal experience, only from my work friend, only the golden children of our company get this assistance if they are deemed as worthy and from the parent british company (no bitterness here.....).....


list started for the plastic folder
*reference and address last landlord(despite what JJ says about being ignored but it's still asked for)
*evidence of salary (contract letter with start date or payslip)
*contact of HR at new company
*bank account details (in event direct pay though system e.g. RE connect one card)

(They want to know ALL your private stuff)

[baloo]

We used the work appointed housing agent and ditched them very soon afterwards. Her research seemed to consist of scanning the websites the night before we were due to meet her.

Work also only paid for 1 day so after a day of flat hunting, she refused to work with us again.

[Kooky]

I hope we're getting more than a day as we're using that before we move.

OK another question, another thread I think. Hmm, doesn't really fit in any forum so I'll put it in this one.

[Burbage]

I consider myself a bit of an international mover. But maybe not in the way you mean.

I've also heard that there is a curfew on cats in some parts of NSW. Worth checking if you're thinking of letting them out.

[Kooky]

A mover and a shaker, Burb - undoubtedly.

Yeah, I keep forgetting to look into that.

[Kooky]

I've been gobsmacked by this:

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm

[baloo]

Why ? It's something we were looking into when we were thinking of buying a place. Admittedly your cats are streetwise so could probably fend for themselves but in the case of our whimpy indoor cats, those cat runs seemed like the ideal solution.

[Kooky]

Oh it's a great idea, just amazed at how fancy some of them are! Hard to do in a rental but I would look at something like this longer term.

Han and Bo are not streetwise at all, they just go into neighbours' yards and eat their plants. Han escaped out the front a couple of weeks ago, then spent a couple of hours in the drain, screaming, until I realised he was out.

[Aliya]

I am sure I brunged them up right! They lived on the gin balcony of my old place and hardly were ever inside as young kittens, what did I do to them in early life that made them such wosses? Xiao Hei, my last kitten which I kept is a complete bruiser (except when sick and comes running to mummy for a cuddle)

[Aliya]

PS you are now doomed on finding an apartment as you now have four cats as you are taking that evil little baby bird catching Xiao Hei with you!

[Kooky]

I have enough trouble with Fu the Rat Catcher, thanks. That's probably why he's got a swollen face.

[Pinklepurr]

As far as I know almost all tenancy contracts in australia specifically state no pets/animals/fish/birds or whatever as part of the contract. However if you are upfront about owning animals you will be less likely to strike any problems. My tenants at home have a specific alteration to the contract to allow them 2 cats and a dog on the property (and since they have four kids I am sure they have a few other things there as well) as long as no damage is done as a result. Lots of landlords put this clause in their contracts.

The one sticky point you may come across is the number of animals you have. It is not a landlord thing but a local council ruling. Lots of Australian councils do not allow more than two cats or dogs per property. I know that when my parents and sister moved into a house together they had to get written consent from all the neighbours (6 in total) to agree to having four cats on the property (a large 5 bedroom house on an acre block) and only got them to agree because two of the cats were over 13 years old.

As for those cat runs, they are a bit OTT, but my friend has an incredible one, runs all around their back garden, upper and lower levels, through the garage, and into the house. Keeps them sane as they had two cats "stolen" (no proof, but never came back and very suspicious) and now it gives their cats an outside world to explore in relative safety.

[Aliya]

That is a very cool idea, K, somthing DIY for Neo to do on those summer weekends, apart from mow the lawns My parents would never get a cat in OZ, even though Mum was the President of the Animal Welfare for Queensland, she said the birds were so beautiful she didnt want to get a cat that would eat them.