Everyone seems to love pets! Whether you’re a dog person or a cat person, a loyal companion can make our days all the easier. However, property owners may be a little less excited to hear their potential renters have a furry friend moving in with them. So, what exactly are the rewards and risks of accepting pets into your rentals?
PROS
Accepting pets into your rental will open up the market to more people. This means more prospects, less days your rental is vacant, and more money in your pockets quicker! Turning someone away simply because they have a pet means you’ll have to dedicate more time into finding another renter. Every day your property is vacant is another day of lost income. Nevertheless, bringing in the wrong tenant can lose you more money than you’ll make.
CONS
Accepting pets usually comes hand in hand with more damage to your property, unfortunately. That means you’ll need to spend more money every time a tenant leaves and you plan to bring a new one in. As you can imagine, pets wear and tear the floor much more than what’s expected from a typical tenant. Pets can scratch wood floors although vinyl is a bit more resistant. Pets and carpets very rarely play well together as the pet can shed their fine hair into the carpet and leave allergens for future tenants. The fact is, there will always be a risk of the pet urinating on the floor. Many landlords accept pets with an increased deposit and/or increased rent for this very reason!
WHAT WE RECOMMEND
We recommend that you accept pets in your rentals. Why? Today up to 40% of tenants looking for a home already have pets. That means that you could almost double your market of potential renters by simply accepting pets. Also, more and more renters are applying with emotional support and service animals. If the tenant provides proper documentation for their pets, we have to accept them regardless of your property’s pet policy. Our pet policy covers all bases since we increase the deposit and also slightly increase the rent based on the number of pets.
CONCLUSION
There are a few things we can do to mitigate damage and increase interest in our properties. As mentioned before, you can accept pets with a higher deposit and/or increased rent. This way when your tenant moves out, you have extra funds to repair any damage that was made. Another tactic you can use to filter out certain pets is to say you “Accept Pets with Restrictions” so that you can restrict certain breeds of dogs that may cause more damage to your property. Big playful dogs – like a Siberian Husky, for example—shed many hairs and are prone to barking and wanting to play at off hours of the night. This can become a problem if neighbors decide to place noise complaints.
It’s not easy deciding whether or not to accept pets into your rental. It requires some time and thought to decide what’s best for you and your investment. The biggest takeaway should be this: Accepting pets can help minimize the cost of vacancies, but they can also open the door to possible damage. Nevertheless, there are steps we can take to ensure our property is protected to the best of our ability, such as only accepting certain kinds of breeds or accepting pets with a higher deposit or increased rent to offset any damages the tenant and their pet may leave.
