It's Called Apartment HUNTING for a reason.

I’m helping 2 different clients looking for apartments in the Cleveland area. I’ve spent the last week working about 2 hours every day scanning Craigslist and the MLS for properties in lots of areas. What an exercise in frustration. Oh, and did I
mention that these clients have dogs over twenty five pounds? Landlords are
just lining up to rent to them. Right. And another thing, one of the dogs is a
pitbull. This is where I have to laugh or just give in and cry.  Right away, Lakewood is out for them. Unfortunate for so many reasons. But that is a whole other subject.

I spoke with 9 landlords directly and 7 of them did not take dogs of any kind. I contacted 18 property managers by email, voicemail and sometimes both. I got back 4 replies. Now, maybe it was because I identified myself as an agent and they don’t want to pay a commission or maybe they don’t take dogs. But, I would
appreciate knowing you got my call or email. Do you really have so much
business that you don’t need to make a contact out of a Realtor? Not all my
clients have dogs and you aren’t required to pay me a fee. Maybe you are that
busy, and if so, good for you. I guess you’re assuming it will stay that way.
Good luck with that.

Okay. I’ve been guilty of ignoring a call or email about something I have nothing to do with. I figure they’ll get the hint if they don’t hear from me. But, I’ve only
done this a handful of times in my life. After this experience, I will never do
it again. If you leave me a message, I will respond to you. Unless you’re a
robot. They still don’t have feelings do they?

So, back to the apartment hunt. I finally just told Ms Pitbull that she needs to look into buying something. Talk to a loan officer and see where you stand. You can buy something and pay half as much every month as you would in rent right now. That is the truth. In the meantime, I’m looking into properties available on
Cleveland’s west side that are on the market for around fifty thousand just to
give her an idea. They’re everywhere. Some of them are unbelievably cute. Then
it hits me! Why don’t I buy one of these properties and rent it out to people
who have dogs including “dangerous” breeds? Is it legal? Can I discriminate in
reverse and not rent to dogless people? What about my liability? So many
questions to answer. Anyway, I’m not in the position to do that right now. But,
maybe this buyers market will hang on for another year or 2 and I can actually
do it.  That’s assuming that all these hours that I’m working for free actually pay off one day.

Yes, Realtors work their fannies off. Yes, some of us drive a Lexus or Mercedes. Not me. Not most of us. I’ll just speak for myself when I say that I like my job. I
like helping people (and their dogs) find a nice place to live. I like to help
them sell their houses if that’s what will bring them happiness. In today’s
market, it may just be to keep their sorrow to a minimum.  It’s hard work. A lot of the time it’s thankless. But, if I can find these people a space that they and their dogs like, it’s worth it. I’ll close by asking for help. If any readers know of anything that will suit these clients, let me know. You won’t earn any money either, but you may help to make someone happy.