Take Your Time!
The best kind of apartments take time to find; you’re likely not going to stumble into a veritable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on your first day home-hunting. Don’t rule out bottom-dollar savings on good units that include pet allowances! There are state-run low-income housing solutions which will allow you to have pets; there’s just an up-front deposit.
It’s generally a good idea to avoid apartments which require a recurring monthly fee for pet ownership. A few hundred dollars should cover any messes pets make in the home of an average tenant.
A pet-deposit in addition to a general deposit which accompanies rental is more than apt to cover the cost of cleaning a unit when a resident moves on. You shouldn’t need to pay monthly on such a thing. If you can afford it, fine; but know you’re paying a fee that you don’t need to.
Location Considerations
All that being said, part of your rental decision will involve not just pet-costs, but location. If you’ve got dogs, you’ll need to walk them—though this is easier to do in an apartment than similar animal catering for other pets.
Cats are going to have a harder time being able to roam as would be their prerogative if they live in an apartment. They’re more likely to be indoor animals. Still, there are apartment complexes which feature backyard patios with ground-floor units that let on a common area surrounded by other units. In such areas, your little feline may be able to roam at will.
Many considerations go into finding the right apartment, so don’t be hasty. Look at location, pet deposit/pet payment considerations, and consider the sort of pet you’re looking to keep. You’re more likely to find something that fits you in a location which includes a great variety of choices.
This website features a number of websites in Dallas, TX that are friendly to pet owners. Basically, you enter that into search parameters on the site, and the units which will allow pets pop up. Dallas/Fort Worth is an area with millions of people, and so every conceivable rental living paradigm imaginable.
Greater Accuracy With More Targets
You can find studio apartments, rooms for rent, top shelf condominiums, luxury apartments, hostels—you name it, it’s in Dallas/Fort Worth. You’ll be able to find virtually all of those options in pet-friendly and non pet-friendly colors. You can likely find all variety of price as well, but location will be an issue.
How long are you willing to increase your commute so you can save money living with your pet? You’ve got to do the math on that. If you’ve got a 20-mile commute to and from work every day, that’s 40 miles round trip every day, or 800 a month in a 20-day work-cycle.
That’s 9,600 miles in a year, commute alone. The average mileage someone puts on a vehicle every year is about 15,000. If 9,600 is in commute alone, you’re likely going to put more wear and tear on your car; maybe even as much as 20k+ miles annually.
Travel Considerations
Increased wear-and-tear decreases value, and you don’t get as much long-term use out of the vehicle. The average cost of a mile is about 60 cents on a mid-sized Sedan. That’s $24+ a day for a 40-mile round-trip commute. At 25 miles and $3 per gallon, your daily total is $29+. It’s not just gas you’re paying for, but vehicle depreciation.
Call it $30 to make things easier, and consider this: you’re paying $600 a month just for your car. So if rent in a unit with pets and a backyard were $600 a month, your true monthly costs are $600 when you factor in the decline of the asset which is your vehicle. Meanwhile, an apartment at $1100 that’s right near where you work would end up cutting $1,200 of your equitable annual loss in terms of vehicular wear-and-tear, as well as fuel. That’s not to mention conserved time.
A 20-mile drive can be anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours, depending on traffic. A half hour to four hours a day on the road is wearying. A short walk across the street won’t likely be so much trouble.
What you save in travel could ultimately go to the vet bills associated with your four-footed family member. Then again, there could be crime in the neighborhood closest to where you work, predicating the need for a solid alarm system, which can itself be a cost. With every solution, there’s likely to be a trade-off somewhere.
Making The Right Choice
A final consideration when looking for pet-friendly rental properties is the rent-to-own approach. In such situations, you’re more likely to be able to avoid pet difficulties; especially if you find somewhere that you intend to remain at perpetually.
If it’s going to be your property anyway, then you’re the deciding agents on whether or not pets can stay. So take your time, weigh your options, and don’t forget little details like travel costs. At the very least, be sure you look at half a dozen units before you make your choice.
