Pet Friendly Rentals

Pet Friendly Rentals could give you an edge in the market…

Allowing pets is often a difficult decision for the owners of rental properties. Do the benefits outweigh the possible negatives of pet friendly rentals? Do pets really cause more damage than they are worth?

The benefits to offering pet friendly rentals is easy to see, you get a bigger pool of potential renters. The more interest in your property means reduced periods of vacancy, longer-term tenancy, and possibly higher rents.

There are a lot of former homeowners that are entering the rental market over the last several years. These former homeowners often have established income, strong credit histories, and multiple family members that often include pets. To allow your rental property to be an option for these renters you will need to be willing to allow pets. Just having your property listed as “Pet Negotiable” can increase the showings of your property and let you decide if you are willing to accept a small dog or cat to get your home off the vacancy list and generating income.

The most common reason landlords are fearful of renting to pet owners is the notion that pets cause damage. While it is very true that a pets can, and have caused damage to rental properties in the past, a study completed by www.firepaw.org found that on average landlords were making more of their rental properties that allow pets versus those that do not. What you can also notice from this study is that even in the properties where the pets did cause damage, the damage amount was often less than the additional security deposit required from the renter.

Lets say you are completely set against having a pet at your property. If you are managing the property yourself, you will need to look up the local laws on Companion and Service Animals. You may not be legally able to deny pets under those situations. You also must consider the chance that a potential tenant will try to bring a pet in without authorization, and hope you don’t notice. The best solution to these two issues is to find a professional property management company to handle your rental. Real Property Management Select will perform quarterly property reviews of your property to insure only approved pets are at the property. We also can qualify all documents to make sure you are properly following the local laws regarding Service and Company animals.

For more information on the subject of pets in rental properties, check out realestate.msn.com or tenantscreeningblog.com.