One of the decisions you have to make as a landlord is whether you’ll allow tenants with pets to stay in your rental unit. Doing so can offer benefits and drawbacks, so you need to think in-depth about the reality of accommodating pets in your property.
If you decide to welcome them, creating a pet policy is essential to have a concrete guideline of your terms and conditions. Read further to learn how accepting tenants with pets provides several benefits to rental owners.
Why Welcoming Tenants With Pets Is an Excellent Idea
Renting to tenants with pets offer plenty of benefits, such as:
1. Receiving More Income
Tenants with pets expect to pay extra through a pet deposit, pet rent, or pet fee. As a landlord, you can categorize this as another option to earn an income. Although the additional fee is set aside for pet damage coverage, you can still increase your earnings if the renter maintains a disciplined pet.
2. Bringing Happiness to Renters
Owning pets can be therapeutic and help reduce stress and loneliness. They also help people live a more active lifestyle since you need to bring them outdoors often. This leads to fitness for pet owners.
3. Attracting More Potential Renters
As more people begin to see the benefits of pet ownership, more businesses cater to the needs of pet owners. This is a great opportunity to welcome them and expand your market reach. With more prospective renters, you can choose better tenants that suit your criteria.
4. Winning Long-Term Renters
One of the best strategies for earning loyal residents is to become a pet-friendly rental space. Tenants with pets prefer to stay in one location rather than jump from one rental to another since it is best to settle down in a familiar place for their pets. That’s why, if you want long-term tenants, you need to open your doors to tenants with pets.
5. Finding Reliable Residents
Those who own pets are used to accomplishing regular daily tasks, such as feeding and walking their pets, including visiting a vet for pet check-ins. Given the responsibilities that come with owning pets, they are likely to not have any issue complying with your property policies given that not all landlords accommodate pets as well.
6. Assigning a Higher Rental Price
Most tenants with pets are open to paying a higher rental fee for the privilege of having their pets around since pet-friendly rentals can be challenging to find. Some landlords will often have many requirements and restrictions.
If you decide to welcome pets in your rental, setting a higher rental fee than usual is not out of the ordinary. It is generally expected given the additional maintenance landlords would need to do in a property that allows pets to stay.
The Disadvantages of Welcoming Tenants With Pets
Some risks accompany pet-friendly rentals, but there are ways to minimize the impact of pet issues so landlords can optimize the benefits of accommodating pets.
Here are some possible issues of renting to tenants with pets:
1. Likelihood of Property Damage
Given that pets can be playful and rowdy, your furnishings can absorb damage, such as soiled and stained carpets, scratched floors and furniture, and more. It will be helpful to run a proper pet screening before allowing a tenant with a pet inside your unit. You want disciplined pets to reduce damage around your property.
2. Potential for Disturbances
One of the most common tenant complaints is noise. You can also get reported for noise disturbance or will be handling this issue when a tenant owns a pet that causes commotion. With pets, you can generally expect barking, howling, yowling, and squawking.
When this happens, make sure to send a notice to pet owners to resolve the situation and avoid complaints of noise disturbance.
3. Possibility of Injuries
Pets can sometimes get aggressive, especially around new people. This leads to injuries around the rental and you can end up being liable for medical costs. When running a pet screening, make sure to inquire whether a pet has received training and is disciplined around other pets and people. You can also consider setting restrictions around pet types and breeds.
Complying With the Fair Housing Laws
Being a pet-free rental does not mean turning down all residents with pets. The Fair Housing laws emphasize that you should not discriminate against renters with disabilities. This means allowing them to have service animals since these are not deemed as pets.
Checking Your Insurance Coverage
You need to take a long look at your insurance policy when it comes to liability since having pets around increases risks. Make sure that you know the limits of coverage for injuries caused by pets and whether there is a list of pet restrictions and breed-specific legislations.
Not doing this can mean absorbing medical expenses out-of-pocket since it might turn out that your insurance will not cover an incident.
Including a Pet Policy in the Lease
As you craft your lease agreement, it is vital to also include a pet policy if you allow tenants with pets on your property. Otherwise, you can face a lot of issues and conflicts due to the lack of clear guidelines. Be specific about the penalties for violating the pet policy.
Bottom Line
Before you approve tenants with pets on your property, you need to weigh the pros and cons. Just because risks exist, it does not mean you should close your doors to the idea. Mitigating risks is always possible. You don’t want to miss out on the various upsides available to welcoming pet owners in your rental unit.
If you are curious about the benefits of renting to tenants with pets, you can partner with a reliable property management company to ensure risks are avoided and benefits are highlighted. Contact Central Florida Property Management today! We’re here to help.
