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We are looking into possibly moving to St. John. We had found an apartment that allows pets, but they won't approve us because we aren't there or have jobs there yet. This is, of course, an understandable policy. We already have the how figured out of getting the pets there (we have two 50-60 lb dogs and a cat). We need to have a place to go once we get there, which is our only real dilemma at the moment. We have all the other logistics kind of figured out. We will have a decent nest egg to support us until we secure jobs, but I'm confident we will find something pretty quickly, as we are open to anything and are highly motivated individuals.
My question is, for those of you who made the move with your pets, were you able to secure a place to rent/live before you arrived? If you didn't, how did you go about the move? Thank you for any input.
Posted : May 23, 2017 3:23 pm
There's probably a few people with pets who found a place to rent before they arrived but that's the exception not the norm.
Conventional wisdom says DO NOT rent a place sight unseen and DO NOT rely on photos as you see online or as attachments to emails as being the same as "seeing". Thus that means checking out places in person during a pre-move visit or waiting until you actually arrive on island.
Posted : May 23, 2017 3:56 pm
It's best not to rent, sight unseen unless it's for a short time.
Pictures can be deceiving.
Location might have noise, etc.
Good luck.
Posted : May 23, 2017 3:59 pm
Good afternoon Jborgwardt,
I did it nine years ago by renting a pet-friendly place for a few months in the off season. From there it was easier to find a long-term pet-friendly rental. I agree with Alana about not renting long-term sight unseen. There are all kinds of reasons to avoid this, especially the safety of your animals.
The only other realistic option is to move first with no animals in tow, line up a suitable place for all of you, and fly them down later. If you don't have a good friend or family member to take them in, this approach may require one of you coming down before the other.
It is hard to find a pet-friendly landlord who doesn't know you yet. Once someone has met you and assessed you as a responsible tenant, pet policies sometimes become more flexible.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Posted : May 23, 2017 4:15 pm
Topic starter
Thanks for the input everyone! We will be there next month for a pre-move visit to be able to check out that place and see if there are any other options as well. I was just wondering if others were able to secure a place first or how they went about that. Having a place to go with the animals once we get there would surely make this process a lot smoother. I will check into pet friendly places to rent for a few months and see if we can go from there. That sounds like a good option for us.
Posted : May 23, 2017 4:21 pm
We do not have pets, but we are moving to St. John next month and were able to secure housing before coming down!
We had the option of a one year or 6 month lease, and signed for 6 months since we are renting sight unseen. I know this isn't ideal or recommended, but it will be an easier transition than our other plan of renting a place for just 9 days ;).
I follow different Facebook groups on St. John as well as Craigslist and was able to find something. Of course you have to be careful to ensure you're getting what you're agreeing to, but we spoke on the phone, the landlord provided references for us, and did a video tour for us. 27 days till we move 🙂
Posted : May 23, 2017 5:21 pm
Topic starter
We do not have pets, but we are moving to St. John next month and were able to secure housing before coming down!
That's awesome! Congrats! I know you shouldn't rent sight unseen, but we have done that before... when we picked up and moved across country from Wisconsin to Oklahoma with no jobs set up and didn't know anyone there. It was a definite reason why you shouldn't rent sight unseen and turned out to be awful, but it got us there and was a risk we were willing to take. And we certainly don't regret it! So we've done a crazy move like that before. Lol.
I know that places to rent on St. John are few and far between, and certainly more so that will fit our budget and allow pets. So, we were willing to jump at this one that happened to pop up. I'm hoping we can find another before we come down next month that we can check out and meet the owner, and fingers crossed... make work!
Posted : May 23, 2017 5:45 pm
A good idea is to have a letter from your veterinarian attesting to your dog's temperaments. I requested this when I was renting to tenants who had 2 huge Great Danes that I hadn't met prior to them moving in as they were flying in with them after they had rented the house.
One thing to consider is the fact there are very few fenced in yards when it comes to rentals and there are many roaming dogs.
Continuously crowing roosters and barking dogs, loud neighbors, nearby late night bars and restaurants definitely detract from harmonious living and sleeping through the night.
Posted : May 23, 2017 9:22 pm
Topic starter
Thanks Alana that's a great idea. I can easily get one of those.
Posted : May 23, 2017 10:58 pm
