One of the things that comes along with pet ownership is dealing with how labor intensive it can be to care for and clean up after them. It seems like if you happen to miss a day or two of cleanup, the mess can get out of control at a ridiculous pace. When somebody decides to rent out a property, often times their first thought is not to allow pets. It can be challenging to trust their tenants to properly care for the pets properly and to clean up after them to a respectable standard. The fear is that the property value could decline if damage is done through having pets living in the property. While these feelings are often justified, there are many scenarios that play out differently. In reality, there are quite a few reasons why it might be beneficial to allow pets to live in a rental property. In this blog post, we are going to go over a few of the reasons why allowing pets might just be a good idea after all.
Increase the pool of prospective tenants for your rental
The number of rental properties that allow pets traditionally fluctuates but is generally found to be somewhere right around 50%. When a landlord decides not to allow pets, they are effectively putting themselves on one side of that equation. By allowing pets to reside in a rental property, a landlord is making their pool of potential tenants much bigger than it would be otherwise. Some studies have shown that up to 75% of renters are pet owners, and pet ownership showed up to an 8% increase during the pandemic since more people were able to work from home. Finding a pet friendly rental can be a big challenge for renters. A landlord can help them and themselves because allowing pets will greatly decrease the potential for a rental property to sit vacant for any significant amount of time. The shortage of pet friendly rentals also can help drive up demand and rent rates for properties that allow them.
Increase your renewal rate
When good tenants decide to move on, it can definitely create a stressful situation. The fear is that the next tenant might not pay on time or take care of the property as well as the previous renters did. Sometimes you might even have to go without a month or two of rent if you have any trouble finding new tenants right away. Having a pet friendly property makes for loyal renters. Oftentimes, they know how difficult it can be to find a new rental that allows pets. This makes them less likely to want to move out of the pet friendly property they have.
Increase your earning potential
Increasing revenue is smart in any business model. There are a couple of ways to accomplish this that have become fairly common in pet friendly properties. The majority of landlords will charge an additional pet deposit at move in. This pet deposit is usually nonrefundable or only partially refundable and is designed theoretically to pay for a more thorough cleaning of the property after the tenants move out. If the tenants take good care of the property though, the additional cleaning might not be necessary and the deposit becomes revenue. It is also becoming a fairly common practice for pet friendly rentals to charge an extra “pet rent” fee every month. Even a seemingly nominal sum such as $30 a month will generate an additional $360 annually in revenues.
Increase the quality of tenants that your property is attracting
People who own pets are often found to be part of the more responsible segment of the general population. As anyone who has cared for a pet can attest, it takes a great deal of time and effort to care for them. The goal is that these types of individuals will also take similar pride in caring for your property. They are more likely to treat the property as their own home rather than just a place to live.
When considering whether or not to allow pets, remember that there are many reasons it is actually a big benefit to do so. If you are worried about managing a pet friendly property or have questions about how to structure everything properly, don’t hesitate to call your local Hampton property management company PMI Green Rock.
