To allow pets or no pets, that is the question! As many of you know, deciding whether to allow pets into your rental property sometimes is not an easy decision. There really can be a positive and negative on both sides. Let’s review some thoughts on this issue and hopefully it will help you in your future decision making!
Positive
- A pet can be extra income to you, the property owner. Asking for a pet deposit or pet fee is not uncommon and helps ease the idea of allowing a pet to live in your home.
- Also, pet rent can be a monthly charge added on top of your base rent received monthly.
- It’s possible that your rental may rent faster. Many renters these days have pets and when you have a no pet rule, your prospective tenant pool is limited.
- Did you know most pet owners typically stay in a rental longer than those without pets? If every time you move you had to get your pet approved and pay an extra cost, why move?
Although we at RPM Colorado do property reviews throughout the year, there is still that chance a tenant may try to sneak a pet into the rental. If it’s allowed up front, this can be averted.
Negative
- It’s not always a pretty picture when tenants move out and sometimes adding a pet into the picture makes it worse.
- There’s a possibility that the neighbors could complain about the pets being loud or getting on their property. Is that an extra hassle you want to deal with?
- If you get a responsible pet owner, that’s great! But if they are not up to par and don’t clean up after their pet, your yard could become a land mine.
- Who wants to deal with the pet odor left over from a previous renter? If animals are not properly groomed/cleaned or leave behind a “present”, renting your place may be more of a challenge.
In the end, it really is your decision if you want to allow pets or not. We hope to have helped clarify the good and the bad. Just remember it really can be a benefit, as extra income is always nice! We wish you luck in your decision making!
