Attention landlords of Halifax, as a renter I would like to share with you a few simple tips that may cut the seemingly annoying phone calls you so attentively answer in half…
1. Where is the unit? Silly question I know but on more than one occasion I have had to ask. Simply stating “west end” can be a bit broad.
2. What is included in the rent? I often wonder if they know themselves.
3. Does it have a laundry facility? Yes some of us like clean clothes from time to time.
4. WHAT IS YOUR PET POLICY???
When I call you to ask if you allow dogs please do not scoff and instantly take a rude tone with me as YOU were the one that did not include this information in your ad. My dog is cleaner and quieter than probably most of the tenants you have at the moment. I understand some people do not take care of their animals and give the rest of us a bad rap but a simple “No, sorry we do not accept dogs.” would suffice. There’s absolutely no need to get angry! We’re adults, or so I thought. Happy Hunting Dog Owners of Halifax! —Four Simple Questions
This article appears in Jul 5-11, 2012.
Agree! It sucks hunting for a place for this reason…you gotta ask these questions a hundred damn times, basically every apartment you check out. It gets tiring. Especially if you’re a pet owner & keep getting laughed at. I have a cat and that was tough, I can’t imagine if I owned a shithound. Where would I live? Maybe that explains all the homeless people with dogs panhandling. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how good a pet parent you are, these animals can be disobedient & destructive. My friend took REALLY good care of her dog and it destroyed her new house, and new furniture within a week. My own dear feline friend has ruined 2 sofas and my carpet in my living room, aww well zees is life!
I didn’t think dogs and cats got along that well?
This pisses me off too. They don’t give any sort of info other than a phone number, not even the move-in date! So you call them and they act all bothered by you and like they wonder how you got their phone number. It’s super irritating, like you see a building and think “this looks shitty enough for me to afford” then find out the unit for rent is like a four bedroom or something ridiculous.
Landlords that cheap out on the ad by putting as little info in the ad as possible aren’t the landlords you want to rent from. If they’re chintsy on the ad, how are they going be when something major and expensive happens?
I totally agree!
The last time I was hunting for an apartment I didn’t even bother calling unless the ad gave me most or all of the information I needed. I am sick of landlords being lazy! If they can’t post a proper ad or answer a few questions… imagine how difficult they will be when you need to contact them for a repair issue.
Damn, the more I read about landlord and rent bitches and comments, the more it hits me how much I lucked out. Maybe it has something to do with not being in Halifax itself?