Coffs real estate agent Justen Beashel’s tips for renting with a pet

A real estate agent reveals the secret to finding a rental with your beloved pet. See the top tips for getting your next application approved.

For many pet owners applying for rental properties has been a frustrating process.

Alouise Gibson, 29, is a single mother with pets who has applied for over 15 rental properties in recent months.

She often received rejection emails “within 12 hours”.

“Sometimes the rejection emails would come through instantly.”

Alouise Gibson, 29 with her furry friend and son. She spent months searching for a place to live and only managed finding a place through friends.

The young mum said parting ways with her beloved pets wasn’t an option.

“Being a passionate pet owner I’m not willing to give my animals up as they are more than just animals to me,” she said.

Many share her sentiment, with pets acting as support, friends or loved as family members.

Ms Gibson was eventually lucky enough to find support through the Dorrigo community.

“It's not what you know it's who you know. The girls I work with gave me a phone number of an old couple that had an empty farm house available. They allowed all my pets to come with me including my horse,” she said.

Property Manager at First National Real Estate Justen Beashel said the rental crisis is having a strong impact on rentals.

“The biggest thing is stock levels of properties. For every house that becomes available, only a small percentage are pet friendly,” he said.

Justen Beashel, a real estate agent in Coffs Harbour is a pet lover and hopes NSW introduces Victorian pet rental laws.

He encourages applicants to attach a pet cover letter to their application.

“It’s really lovely when I receive pet resumes,” he said.

He said a resume can have a strong impact on an application.

“It makes me think this tenant is amazing, they’re going that little bit extra.”

Mr Beashel said potential renters should treat their applications like a job resume, with particular attention to detail.

“What does it tell the owner when people send half baked information?” he said.

He also recommends including updated bank information and being realistic about applications.

“If you have a Great Dane and apply for a one bedroom apartment, the likelihood is not high,” he said.

Mr Beashel said focusing on less applications but doing a thorough job is better than mass-applying.

“Consolidate your applications to a few and focus on each application,” he said.

Veronica Gregory is able to have her pet snake under Victoria's rental laws. Picture: Tony Gough

Pet owners can also suggest to landlords that they are willing to pay extra for accidental pet home insurance if necessary.

Mr Beashel said they are “inundated” with applications, receiving approximately 30 per listing, with more than half of the applicants being pet owners.

“Good applicants with pets are getting the short end of the deal.”

He said pet owning residents are often the most responsible and clean tenants and hopes NSW will implement Victorian pet tenancy laws.

The Victorian Residential Tenancies Act was introduced in 2020 and states that a landlord “must not unreasonably refuse” consent for a tenant to keep an animal.

“Every tenant has the right to companionship,” Mr Beashel said.