Renting! Landlords and apartment brokers!
I'm currently looking for an apartment in the Boston area, and my price range is on the very low end, so I am aware my options are limited. One problem I'm running into is that most of the apartments I'm interested in are listed through brokers as "no pets allowed", and I have two guinea pigs. I've never run into problems negotiating this with landlords in other cities, regardless of what the rental ad originally said. I've offered to get pet-specific references from my past landlords and/or pay a pet deposit, but the broker I've been corresponding with has just flat out not acknowledged my proposals and has limited me to the one (very undesirable) pet friendly apartment available. I'm not sure how to address this going forward, as I've only ever rented directly from the owner.
Do any of you have experience or advice for navigating a competitive housing market with your pigs? Specifically, how do I deal with the added complication of brokers? (Almost nothing is listed by owner in this area, even on Craigslist, so avoiding brokers is not an option.) Should I try to avoid the topic until I'm closer to signing the lease?* Am I really, truly limited to apartments that say "pet friendly"? It seems hard to believe that every single landlord would categorize caged pets in exactly the same manner as a dog or cat, but maybe I've just gotten used to the much less competitive housing market in Vermont.
*Please don't suggest lying and signing a lease without telling the landlord! As a pro-rescue community I'm sure we all know why that's a bad idea, right?
Do any of you have experience or advice for navigating a competitive housing market with your pigs? Specifically, how do I deal with the added complication of brokers? (Almost nothing is listed by owner in this area, even on Craigslist, so avoiding brokers is not an option.) Should I try to avoid the topic until I'm closer to signing the lease?* Am I really, truly limited to apartments that say "pet friendly"? It seems hard to believe that every single landlord would categorize caged pets in exactly the same manner as a dog or cat, but maybe I've just gotten used to the much less competitive housing market in Vermont.
*Please don't suggest lying and signing a lease without telling the landlord! As a pro-rescue community I'm sure we all know why that's a bad idea, right?