After almost two weeks of hassling with PDFs and email, I received the restrictive - emphasis on restrictive - covenants on the condo in which we were - past tense - interested. And, bummer, but they prohibit pets.
Oh, you can have a dog - are you ready? - under five pounds! Now, I don't have anything against tiny dogs, but what kind of adult dog is under five pounds? I once lived with a toy poodle named Monte. But, heck, even he was eight pounds - and he wasn't carrying any extra weight either! You can have a cat if you owned it at the time you purchased the property. How generous. Good grief, Charlie Brown - or should that be "Good grief, Snoopy!" We were willing to accept the no flags, no hanging beach towels, etc., in exchange for being able to pick up and go without arranging for shoveling, mowing, etc., but no pets? In property we own? No way!
I don't know about the rest of you but I can easily place my number one stressor as housing. Yup, housing.
10 months ago
6 comments:
A no pets clause in a rental is bad enough. In property that you own? That's insane.
My niece has a dog that weighs 4 lbs. A papillon.
I feel obligated to point out that no other dog in my family has ever been less than 60 lbs. We are not 4-lb-dog people!
Good luck with the housing situation. A lot of people find they have to rent for a year or two before buying. It's awful to move twice, but it might save you headaches in the long run.
Condo/strata living is all about what the majority of owners in the building want their lifestyle to be. If having pets is an issue, you have to look at only those properties that will allow them. In "drf" and my case, we have had to eliminate many nice buildings due to the no-pets restrictions.
It's a bummer, I know, but it's a case of "democracy rules" and sometimes democracy "ain't such a good thing" . . . .
Agreed on all counts.
l-girl - We had planned to rent first, but finding rentals that allow pets that aren't 50% higher than the mortgage on a comparable property appears near impossible. We'll see!
web - The interesting thing tho' is that the covenants appear to have been created and put in place by the developers, not the current owners. I agree that if a group of owners (e.g., in a co-housing situation or a place that goes co-op with existing occupants) approves a restriction, c'est la vie. It's just frustrating that this is a "garden home" style place (one level, green space, etc) and that the covenants, apparently, pre-date the occupants.
Nonetheless, we're keeping all our options open and just have to be confident that something will work out!
Alan and I are very worried about finding a decent apartment in the neighborhood we want and can afford that will allow our two cats. I feel like we'll be searching for the Holy Grail.
And agree with L-girl, you would think it wouldn't be as bad with a place that you own.
a 5 lb dog? What falls into that category? Those little rat dogs??!?!
I hear you on the housing stressor thing. buying/selling/finding a place to live. We're in it right now and it's overwhelming.
Yes, housing is my biggest stressor, but I need to sell the one we are in!!!!
Like Yesterday!!!!!!
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