All Forum Posts by: Daryl L.

I doubt this view applies to everyone but as a tenant, I assume that the pet fee covers any damage and if I'm not getting it back why should I care. A deposit I should be able to get a full return on when I move out, at least from an honest landlord. Just my $0.02

Rereading your post, is the pet fee in addition to, or instead of the other 2?

Funny you should mention that about animals vs. kids.  I've seen damage caused by children that is waaayyy worse than anything an animal, even a neglected animal, could do. 

I've never had any pushback on deposits if damage was animal vs. non-animal related but that's a good point. The most common damage has been to the yard, which I'll usually overlook, or chewing to the exterior of the house/interor trim which I will not. Also animal waste in carpets was an issue once but none of my houses have carpet anymore.

I'm in a unique position where I'm a landlord and a tenant due to my job which has me travel for long-term projects. I have 3 rentals and I grew up in a rental family (father owns 30+ from single-residence, to efficiencies, to commercial) so I understand the pains that come with all of that. I'm fairly new to renting (only been doing it really for the past 2-3 years for work) and something I often run into is Pet Fees.  I have a 150lb Great Pyrenees/Mastiff mix who travels everywhere with me so when I find a place it has to be pet friendly. In all of my rentals I ask to meet the animal and evaluate on a case-by-case basis if I have any reservations and I charge a refundable pet deposit (if the animal doesn't cause any extra damage, I don't keep the deposit).

My question is do you charge a non-refundable fee or a refundable deposit, and why?

This is very true. Flood insurance can vary block by block on any street and the FEMA website is well....less than user-friendly. Properties listed as "Flood Zone X" may be listed as such on the LSU page but not on FEMA which can result in a surprise annual cost if you finance the property.

I've tried this a couple times, once when unemployed, once when self-employed. No W2 income meant I couldn't find anyone to loan me money, even though I had a small, but successful rental portfolio. 

Unfortunately, you're likely better off waiting until you have stable income (and even then, if there's a period of unemployment in your past 2 years it may be difficult to get traditional financing).

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $127,500
Cash invested: $8,000

First house bought, on a 30-yr mortgage. Transferred to a rental after 4 years of living in it.

How did you finance this deal?

Standard 30yr note.

How did you add value to the deal?

Remodeled kitchen, updated bathrooms. Installed new HVAC.

What was the outcome?

Value has almost doubled in 8 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Having rental property in a different state is difficult....even with a good property manager.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $16,000
Cash invested: $12,000

Bought a complete project in an area just on the edge of a college campus that is rapidly expanding.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash Purchase

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Being Absent makes it difficult to get work completed on the house.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $16,000
Cash invested: $12,000

How did you finance this deal?

Cash Purchase

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Being Absent makes it difficult to get work completed on the house.

 This.  Where you advertise the property makes a big difference in some markets as to what audience you reach.  If you don't advertise where the best potential renters are, you'll never get the best price.

 Very helpful, THANK YOU!  That is exactly what I needed, there's so much he said/she said on this topic it's difficult to separate the pepper from the fly sh.....well you get the point.