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Whether you are a new or old landlord, you will find yourself deciding whether to welcome pets in your rental home or not. Sometimes, property owners may shut down the idea of accommodating tenants with pets but they might also be leaving the opportunity of making more income.
When you allow tenants with pets in your rental unit, you also need to craft a pet policy to ensure you are on the same page with tenants regarding responsibilities and the terms and conditions of accommodating pets.
In this article, Service Star Realty is going to help you find out how you can gain plenty of benefits as a pet-friendly unit!
The Best Reasons for Welcoming Tenants with Pets
1. Gaining More Income
You can collect a pet deposit, pet rent, or pet fee from tenants with pets. This is expected to cover for possible pet damage. However, if the pet is disciplined, you need not worry about potential pet situations that can ruin the investment property. Being open to welcoming pets helps you earn additional income.
2. Creating a Source of Happiness to Residents
Pets can benefit people emotionally and can even be therapeutic. Having a pet also requires taking an active lifestyle since they have to be taken on walks from time to time. Pets can also bring genuine happiness to the people around them.
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3. Drawing More Prospective Renters
With pet ownership increasing, more businesses have become flexible and offer more pet-inclusive spaces to accommodate the needs of pet owners. If you follow suit, you can broaden your tenant marketing pool and have more top-tier tenants to choose from that will fit your criteria.
4. Engaging Long-Term Occupants
Most tenants with pets prefer to stay in one rental unit rather than jump from one living space to another. Pet-friendly rental properties often score loyal tenants, making it an effective strategy to win long-term occupants.
As a tenant with a pet, it can also be an additional effort to find a rental that accommodates pets, submit additional documents, and undergo pet screening again. That’s why many want to stay in a fixed location as they also don’t like adjusting again since pets like being in a familiar place.
5. Attracting More Dependable Renters
Given that pet owners often take on the extra duties of feeding, walking their dogs, and scheduling vet visits, you can rely on them to follow property policies. As much as possible, they want to stay with their pets, so they are far more likely to keep the status quo.
6. Setting a Higher Rental Price
Wanting to live with their pets, tenants who are pet owners are willing to pay a higher rent price for having their pets around them. The issue is some rentals are not pet-friendly or there are often strict restrictions and requirements.
Assigning a high rental fee for tenants with pets is an acceptable practice. With pets around, landlords take on more maintenance tasks.
Risks of Accommodating Tenants with Pets
Like everything else, risks also exist when you decide to be a pet-friendly rental accommodation. However, mitigating risks is possible to reduce pet issues and maximize the benefits of accepting tenants with pets.
Possible issues when welcoming tenants with pets:
1. Increased Possibility of Property Damage
With pets around, you can expect some scenarios, such as stained carpets, scratches on furniture and flooring, and more. It is best to ask a potential renter if their pets have undergone training to ensure less damage around your unit.
2. Likely Potential Disturbance
Among the top complaints of tenants are pet-related issues concerning noise. You can reduce this possibility by alerting the pet owner and notifying them when a complaint is submitted to limit the escalation of the issue.
3. Dealing With Possible Injuries
Animals can become aggressive when triggered. They can cause other pets and people around them. Landlords can end up paying medical expenses. When screening pets, it is best to inquire if pets received training and are disciplined around others.
Some pet breeds and types tend to be more aggressive so you can set restrictions before accepting tenants with pets to limit your liability for medical costs when injuries occur around your rental property.
Adhere to the Fair Housing Laws
Landlords must know that under the Fair Housing laws, they cannot turn away residents bringing in an animal, even if their unit does not accommodate pets.
One of the protected classes is people with disabilities and they are allowed to have service animals since these are not labeled as pets. They are trained to perform tasks to aid a person with a disability.
Review your Insurance Coverage
Reading the fine print of your insurance policy is vital for landlords to learn the extent of liability coverage, especially when accommodating pets. The possibility of risks exists so you should know how much the insurance company will pay for pet-related injuries and the scope of their pet restrictions and breeds.
If you ignore this, you can end up paying for medical expenses from your own pocket if the insurance company you chose has several liability limitations.
Include a Pet Policy in the Lease
When creating your lease, make sure to cover pet policies and state if tenants are allowed to bring pets to the rental unit. If not, you can end up running into conflicts because of the lack of specific guidelines. You should also list the consequences of pet policy violations.
Bottom Line
It is critical to evaluate the pros and cons of welcoming tenants with pets. Although risks are present, you can always reduce the downsides and optimize your income.
You can also engage the services of third-party property management companies to help you manage tenants with pets, as well as handle property maintenance, rent collection, property inspections, tenant screening, and more.
Contact Service Star Realty today!
