{"id":73816,"date":"2019-11-19T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T19:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=73816"},"modified":"2023-08-08T15:06:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T21:06:00","slug":"2015-07-09-allowing-pets-sense-or-scents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2015-07-09-allowing-pets-sense-or-scents","title":{"rendered":"Does Allowing Pets in Your Rentals Make Sense (or Just Scents)?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n      <iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=BIGPOC5952132851&#038;light=false\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>  \n\n\n\n<p>To be quite honest, in my close to 30 years in property management, I\u2019ve never had a problem with pets. My problems have always been with the pet\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n<p>For example, it\u2019s usually not the pet who doesn\u2019t change the litter box, and it isn\u2019t the pet\u2019s idea to have eight dogs in one apartment. Yes, that has actually happened to me. I bought a duplex once with two one-bedroom units, where I inherited a tenant with one dog who suddenly had a record-setting eight pups.<\/p>\n<p>The funny thing was that my tenant decided she wanted to try and keep them all. People are crazy. Obviously, the idea of turning a one-bedroom apartment into a kennel didn\u2019t work out very well.<\/p>\n<h2>No Pet Policies<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard many of the super <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/30\/how-to-be-a-landlord\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">landlords<\/a> talk about how they have these \u201cno pets\u201d policies; they\u2019re the type with zero tolerance. One guy I know claims he walks through his apartment building unannounced with a dog whistle trying to catch unsuspecting tenants. This may be taking it to a new level, but I do agree to a point.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2014\/07\/18\/4-things-check-allowing-pets-rental-property\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">4 Things to Check Before Allowing Pets in Your Rental Property<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I have a no pet policy, too, especially if I have a newer unit that\u2019s in high demand or a unit that\u2019s just been renovated with a lot of new carpet and flooring. Other than a seeing-eye dog, my first inclination is \u201cno pets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-93979\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-policy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"336\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-policy.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-policy-300x144.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>When Pets Make Cents<\/h2>\n<p>Still, there are scenarios when pets can actually make you money. For example, when I\u2019m looking at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/04\/how-to-rent-your-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rental property to purchase<\/a>, one that has a strong pet odor can be bought&nbsp;at a good discount.<\/p>\n<p>There are ways to get rid of the odor in most cases, whether that\u2019s removing the carpet, sealing the floor, or using a product like OdorExit to mask the bad smell. It\u2019s pretty rare that you would have to replace wood, as you can usually encapsulate it, or in other words, seal it off. Anyone who\u2019s done a fire restoration job would know what I mean.<\/p>\n<p>There are some other scenarios that make sense, too. Maybe you have a property that\u2019s tougher than normal to rent or isn\u2019t in the safest area. Maybe you can charge a pet deposit or a monthly fee.<\/p>\n<p>If you catch a tenant with a pet, this may be a good solution. If the unit had a previous tenant with a pet or the carpet is on the way out, maybe pets would work out okay in this scenario, and you could get some extra cash flow.<\/p>\n<p>Paying pet fees is not a logical thing; it\u2019s an emotional one. To many people, their pet is a family member for which expenses are considered well worth it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-93978\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-rental.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"336\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-rental.jpg 702w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/pet-rental-300x144.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Know When to Draw the Line<\/h2>\n<p>That being said, there are times when we all have to draw line, and for many, the line is at wild animals, reptiles, or dangerous breeds.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/2012\/09\/04\/rental-property-pets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Why I Allow Pets in My Rental Properties<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Please note that many homeowner and landlord insurance policies will not cover you with these types of situations, so be sure to check with your provider and review the <a href=\"_wp_link_placeholder\" data-wplink-edit=\"true\" target=\"_blank\">pet screening best practices<\/a>. Also, this is a good reason to explain to your tenant why it may be an unacceptable situation.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, insurance policies only cover legal activity, so it\u2019s the landlord\u2019s responsibility to stay up-to-date on any municipality or deed restrictions in regard to pets. For example, I have several rentals in a town that banned reptiles after a large snake ate the neighbor\u2019s small dog.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, it\u2019s a crazy world property managers live in.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/real-estate-investment-calculator?utm_source=renewsblog\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-91220\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"85\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-02.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-02-300x36.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>So, what\u2019s your craziest pet story? What is your policy when it comes to pets in rentals?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s discuss in the comment section below.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a landlord, is there any upside to allowing pets in your rentals? Take a look at some of the pros and cons so you can make an informed decision!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":807,"featured_media":117463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5183,7119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landlording","category-biggerpockets-daily"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/807"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}