Struggling to pay mortgage and Bills

Oldernotwiser

I think most rooms are lettable at the right rate; perhaps you could drop your asking rate and advertise somewhere that dog lovers will see it?

Would you accept a lodger with his/her own dog as places that will accept pets are hard to come by?

Gothicfairy

Hammyman wrote: »

ALL dogs pee in the house at some point or another, especially those left for over 13hrs a day as the OP said theirs is on a Wednesday.
and on what do you base that ? My dogs do not and never have pee'd in the place. That is what outside is for. I walk them and when working someone else does which is what the op also does


And the OP is showing all the signs signs of what ?. You've not lived it so you've not got a clue.You have NO idea what I have lived and I am not about to go blabbing on a public forum but if you want to swap childhoods then be my guest. You're merely stating your point of view from your own beliefs which bear no relevance to the OPs.

My point of view has as much to do with the ops post as your does, Ie not much.
You are blaming your parents dogs for the fact that your parents did not love you enough, that is not the dogs fault is it..that is your personal issue between you and your mother and father.
At some point you have to move on and you can not carry around all the sins of your childhood as they will drive you mad, your life is what it is and what it was........you have to learn to deal with it like everyone else.

PasturesNew

Advertise the room cheaper in exchange for dog walking. There must be somebody that'd walk the dogs at a cheaper rent.

MissMoneypenny

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think most rooms are lettable at the right rate; perhaps you could drop your asking rate and advertise somewhere that dog lovers will see it?

Would you accept a lodger with his/her own dog as places that will accept pets are hard to come by?

Or offer a dog loving lodger a bigger discount if they can walk your dogs, if their working hours are different to yours? That would save on dog walker fees too.

EDIT just read to the end of the thread and see I have posted the same advice as PN

seven-day-weekend

I think that probably the dogs will have to go if you are intending renting as it will make it much more difficult to get a place to rent. I understand this is not what you want, but you have to be realistic. They are restricting your choices and without them you would have far more flexibility, time and money.

Your remark about rather being homeless I'm sure is not based upon reality - would you rather be living in a bus shelter providing you could keep your dogs?

Have the old sick one put down, rehome the other one to a loving home, and then you will have more money, more chance of selling your house and more chance of renting a property.

I hope it works out for you.

ETA: The suggestion of other posters of offering your spare room cheap to someone who will also walk your dogs is a really good idea, and definitely one to be tried before getting rid of the dogs.

MissMoneypenny

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I think that probably the dogs will have to go if you are intending renting as it will make it much more difficult to get a place to rent.

I rented in 2007 with 2 dogs and didn't have have any problems. I just emailed all the letting agents on rightmove (even the ones that said they didn't take pets) said I had 2 dogs and didn't want a place where a smoker had been; I was spoilt for choice.

Lots of people can't sell their houses as they don't want to/ can't make a loss and can't pay their mortgage without a tenant.

Avani

OMG, some nasty people about. Please dont blame me for your appalling childhood. I have no children. No one is suffering. And no, my flat doesnt have an overwhelming stench of urine. But thanks for trying to blatantly offend me. I do maintain very high hygiene levels.

When I have a viewing, I remove all dog related stuff, such as bowls, leads, food etc, and a friend comes and picks up the dogs while the viewings are taking place. Not one viewing has ever come across one of my dogs. I spend hours making sure the whole flat is immaculate.

Sorry, I am showing all signs of what? neglecting the children I don't actually have?

Yes, I will advertise it as dog friendly Thanks

Sorry but I am not going to put my old dog down due to inconvenience, he hopefully has another year left in him. He isnt in any pain, so no reason to put him down.

Avani

Thanks everyone (well, not everyone if I am honest, as some of you have been down right rude and insensitive when I was only asking for advice)

Along with your ideas and some conversations with my mum we have decided on the following:

New kitchen in January to increase the flats appeal
I am not going to rent out the second room. Realistically trying to sell the flat with non stop viewings, with 2 adults in the house and 3 dogs (my lodger had a dog.... with reduced room rates - like you all suggested ) was causing me too much stress... juggling long working hours, 3 dogs, keeping a lodger happy and constant viewings was probably having a negative effect on my ability to sell.

I am going to see how I manage. My mum is on standby to give me any deficit as a 0% loan as we think selling the flat with one less dog and one less person, and one less room to keep tidying will in the long term probably work out in my favour.

I am hoping to buy somewhere cheaper when I sell my flat, which will be much more affordable for me and enable me to live comfortably without relying on a lodger financially.

Avani

Hammyman wrote: »

I kept out of this thread because it is a subject that angers me beyond belief because as a child I was on the wrong end of such an infatuation with dogs but with that flippant comment and smiley saying you'd actually be homeless, as you're obviously living in cuckoo land maybe a wake up call is in order.

You are like my parents who also love their dogs like you do. At age 16 I couldn't wait to leave home because the animals were put over the kids and we lived in abject poverty living off egg and chips, living in one room in winter because thats all we could afford to heat and having the bailiffs constantly round - however the dogs never missed a meal of their favourite foods, had £100s spent on them on vet bills etc. The effects of living in such poverty and the crap you got at school as a result was for one of my brothers was so bad that he underwent years of counselling in his 20's to help him get over it and constantly suffers depression.

My parents had a house repossessed, have been bankrupt twice in the last decade and live on the bones of their backside despite the two of them having an income the equivalent that the four of us in my house are living on quite well and lower outgoings for everything else but their dogs. They rent but wherever they rent the dogs wreck the houses. When they left one council house, after 5 years of living there the damage from urine penetration of the walls was so bad that the council had to replaster the ground floor room the dogs were put in on a night time. And it wasn't as if they didn't let them out - being a council house in the country they had a 200ft long garden with kennels at the end that they used to let the dogs out in and put them in when they went out. Yours may not be that bad now but at the moment you've only got two compared to the five they had but you show all the signs of being someone who will own as many as they think they can so 10 years down the line you could be well towards double digits. They can't afford where they are and are looking to move but knowing they won't get the deposit back, won't get a reference off a landlord, have no credit and not many landlords will accept dogs they are stuck where they are.

None of my siblings or I go to visit that much because the house reeks of dog and they're immune to the stench. Even coming to visit us, they can't stay for long after having tea because "they must get back to let the dogs out". Their dogs rule their life. They can't afford to go on holiday because they can't afford the kennel fees. Because of the state of the house, dog sitters are out.

They are now approaching retirement and have only just started to see that the dogs have actually meant they've had a life of needless misery and poverty - the house they bought in the 70's for £6000 and were evicted from is now worth quarter of a million quid as it was a big 6 bedroom georgian house. They're also actually beginning to see that they were in some way actually cruel to their dogs by not being able to give them the time they should, the same as you.

You are starting to head down the path that they did as you're showing the same obsession about two animals who actually only appear to "love you" because you feed them and give them somewhere warm to live. Might want to think about that.

Sorry, couldn't even be bothered to read all this. Sorry you had a bad time, but this is completely irrelevant to my situation. Thanks for the self diagnosis, but to be honest, it sounds like you need more help than I do. Telling me I am heading down the same path as your parents is ridiculous. Especially since you have never even met me.

DannyboyMidlands

A new kitchen is probably not a bad idea if you can do it cheaply but considering you have been on the market for a year, you're gonna need to drop the price to something competative in order to sell.