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A Landlord's Guide to Allowing Pets in a Rental Property

A Landlord's Guide to Allowing Pets in a Rental Property

As a landlord, you'll have to make many tough decisions about how you're going to run your rental property. At least some of these will pertain to your attitude towards pets.

Do you want to allow them? If so, what kinds, and how many? You may have a firm opinion on this topic already, but if you're not sure, then this guide can help you decide. 

As with anything else, there are, of course, pros and cons to allowing pets in a rental property. This guide will take you through some of the most important ones to consider. Read on to find out everything you need to know to decide your position on this important topic.

The Benefits of Pets in Rentals

Before we look at the reasons why you might not want to allow pets in our rental, let's look at the reasons you would. First of all, it makes your pool of prospective tenants considerably wider. From a business standpoint, this is a big advantage.

Did you know that over 70% of renters own a pet? If you make the decision to not allow any animals in your apartment, you're immediately excluding yourself from a huge chunk of potential tenants.

You're making it more difficult for yourself to find and keep quality tenants. Either that or you're encouraging your tenants to lie to you about whether they have pets or not, which can lead to all kinds of issues.

The Drawbacks of Allowing Pets in Rental Properties

If disallowing pets from apartment buildings poses such a threat to business, there must be a very good reason so many landlords land on this decision. And, surprise surprise, there is.

It's perfectly reasonable for a landlord to have doubts about allowing pets. For one, they can cause all sorts of property damage to an apartment. Shedding, soiling, causing smells—the list goes on and on. 

You may find yourself having to perform extra inspections of apartments with pets, to make sure they're not being damaged. As well as this, pets can be loud and disruptive, and this can affect other tenants. This, in turn, can also affect how easily you're able to fill your properties. 

What Should You Decide?

Obviously, both options have their pros and cons. So, what should you decide? Which is best for you, your buildings, and your business?

The good news is, it doesn't have to be black or white. For example, you can outline a policy that allows tenants to have pets that live in tanks or cages—like fish or guinea pigs—but not larger animals like dogs or cats.

You might also decide to allow pets, but ask that tenants who do have pets pay a little bit extra on top of their deposit so that you'll be able to take care of any permanent damage that does occur.

At the end of the day, the decision is up to you. It's something that each landlord must decide for themselves.

Pets in a Rental Property: Yay or Nay?

If the thought of all the extra work that goes into allowing pets in a rental property is too much for you, then we can help. Income Property Advisors can help you handle the heavy lifting involved with being a landlord—and offer sage landlord advice. Get in touch today to see how we can help you.

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