Are You Moving to Sydney with Your Cat or Dog?

This week's Mailbox Monday post is about finding pet-friendly rentals in Sydney.

Today's Question:

My husband has already relocated to Sydney and has been chatting with his co-workers about rental properties.

He was surprised to learn that it will be very difficult to find a rental with our cat (just one). His co-workers said that lying about pet ownership is common on rental applications and recommended that we take this route. I don’t feel comfortable with this.

Is this standard practice? Can you offer any insights?

Lauren's Reply

So this is going to crack you up. You'll need to create a pet resume for the real estate agent/owner.

Yes, your cat will need a resume.

Check this article out on how to write a resume for your cat.

It's probably not absolutely needed if you find an owner who has pets and understands life with pets. I'm sure they would be more relaxed about it.

Rent with Pets is specificly for pet-friendly rentals but, unfortunately, they have very few listings.

I would instead use Domain.com.au to search for pet-friendly rentals. You'll have to start your initial search that won't allow to filter by pets allowed. After you click search, you can then select the pets allowed option on the left sidebar.

Gumtree.com.au also lists apartment rentals, some are by the owner which might be a good option. If it's pet-friendly and rented by an owner, you will probably have better odds.

As far as just keeping your cat a secret, that's a bit risky. Though we have never had someone check on us after we rented a place, but then we also didn't get any complaints.

If the rental is in a building with a strata management committee, then if pets are allowed is handled through them. So if you try to be sneaky and end up renting in a building that is not pet-friendly and you get caught, there are usually high fees and a deadline given to have the pet removed.

What Are You Taking to Sydney When You Move? Do You Know Yet?

The truth is you don’t need to know right now, for sure, what’s going with you.

But you do have to get a shipping quote ASAP, especially now.

Why? Because international moving companies need to schedule your move to Australia far in advance, some ask for 6 months in advance. Yes, COVID has changed everything, including international shipping.

When filling out the form below…

  1. You don’t need a street address for where you’re moving to, only the city and country. What they really want to know is the main shipping port.
  2. Moving date is an estimate. You don’t need exact dates right now. Go with your best guess.
  3. Estimate volume is an estimate. Don’t bother with calculating your volume. Use one of the estimates below for your estimated volume.
    • Studio or 1 Bedroom —> 20 m3
    • 2 Bedroom —> 25 m3
    • 3 Bedroom —> 30 m3
    • 4 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom + Car —> 50 m3
  4. Use your “real” contact details for BOTH phone and email. Yes, the form is secure. If you don’t use your real contact details, then they can’t get in touch with you for your quote. Makes sense, right?