Should I have a pet friendly rental home?

Many property owners have a hard time deciding whether or not to allow pets in their home or investment property when it comes time to draft a lease with their property management company. There are pros and cons to having a pet-friendly rental home, which can make the property more or less profitable—we’ll start with the negatives.

The Cons of a Pet-Friendly Rental Home

The biggest downside to having a pet-friendly rental home is the potential for pet damage, such as:

• Stained carpets
• Ripped up carpets
• Scratched or chewed vinyl flooring or hardwood
• Scratched or chewed fixtures, including door frames, cabinets, walls and more

These kinds of damages can be costly to the property owner, but when you don’t have a pet-friendly rental home, most pet owners will completely overlook your property. In their eyes, their pet is a part of their family and is not going anywhere. In fact, a common concern among non-pet-friendly rental homes is that the tenant will claim to have no pets on the lease agreement and then bring them anyway—this can be even worse because now you don’t have a pet deposit to cover damages.

The Pros of a Pet-Friendly Rental Home

Even though the threat of potential property damage is high with a pet-friendly rental home, there are a lot of benefits:

• You won’t miss out on pet owners as potential renters—so many people own pets that you can be shutting the door to a large market of tenants simply because you won’t allow pets
• You can charge for pets—this includes pet deposits, monthly pet fees and charging for any repairs due to pet damage that aren’t covered by the deposit

Many property owners are choosing to have a pet-friendly rental home given the high number of applicants with pets. It’s an excellent opportunity to reach out to more potential renters, but in the end, it comes down to your own personal preference as to whether or not you’ll allow pets in your property.

If you want to learn more about having a pet-friendly rental home, contact Coakley Realty today!