The Advantages to being Pet Friendly
I see a lot of posts and listings for rental properties saying "NO PETS". While I understand the thought and the potential for damages, I also would like to point out some of the advantages. As a Dog owner myself (Five Dogs), I made the decision to make my properties pet friendly and have benefitted tremendously.
So...what are the advantages of letting Fido and Fluffy in? Lets take one of my properties as an example.
I have a SFH rental in Bellingham WA. 3 br/2 ba 2 story, 1650 sq ft. When I purchased it 3 years ago I designed it to be pet friendly. Cork floors, fully fenced back yard, kept the older hardwood upstairs, tile, etc. It is currently listed up for rent. Lets take a look at my experience:
1) Rental rates. When it was last rented, the market for the house for rental rates sat at $1600/month. It ended up renting at $2200. It is currently back on the market for rent after two years of perfect previous tenants and because it is pet friendly there is a bidding war on it. It is currently up to $2600 a month with non refundable pet deposit. That puts me about 24% above market rates. The average owner applying has two dogs. At $800 each for pet deposit, that is an additional $1600 over and above the deposit for any damages plus I get to keep the pet deposit. Last tenants had zero damage with three dogs...zero.
2) Demand. I advertised this house last night. I already have 10 people wanting to see it as of 6 AM. The market here is somewhat tight...but Pet Friendly SF Houses are rare as hen's teeth. It puts you at a significant advantage if your market is saturated with rentals when 9 out of 10 landlords say no to Pets.
3) Quality of Tenants. I find the vast majority of Pet owners to be responsible people. If you stick to older established families with multiple dogs, that is the sweet spot. Their income/rent ratios tend to be very high.
4) Responsibility. The majority of pet owners are responsible people. Caring for a living being tends to do this. I don't mean to say you won't find irresponsible pet owners...they are out there for sure just as there are irresponsible parents and tenants, but as a general rule most pet owners tend be responsible people. It takes money to feed and house and care for animals, plus a certain degree of empathy. I find this makes for good tenants.
5) It may change your numbers. When you do an analysis on a property, one thing you look at is the income produced by the property. The numbers are the numbers. But what if you have a property that is right on the line? What if that property generated an additional 20-25% income? Would that make a difference to your calculations. Do some research and see if the Pet Accessible market is extremely tight in the area, it might make the difference between a property making the numbers and not making the numbers.
Granted, renting to pet owners is a gamble...but I would argue that renting to Humans is far more risky. I've seen far worse damages caused by humans than most Dogs or Cats, both which are known quantities.
So...if you are thinking no pets, you may want to re-evaluate your position.