Did you know that around 70% of U.S. households have pets? As a result, landlords often get bombarded with applications from pet owners.
But should you accept pets in a rental property? Agreeing to this has pros and cons, so you should consider it thoroughly before deciding.
As a landlord, you must decide how to handle this issue. If you decide to accept pets in your rentals, you'll need to create some guidelines to follow.
Keep reading to learn more about this important issue with rentals.
Risks of Accepting Pets in a Rental Property
If you're like most landlords, you want good tenants. Therefore, you should run thorough tenant background checks to find the best ones.
The purpose is to reduce your risks as a landlord. After all, owning rental properties is a real estate investment, and you need to protect your units by choosing the right tenants.
Unfortunately, accepting tenants with pets creates some risks. Pets can harm people and cause damage and odors to apartments. They can also be noisy, causing distractions to other tenants.
Benefits of Accepting Pets
Considering the risks is vital before accepting pets in a rental house, but it's not the only factor. There are plenty of benefits to offering pet-friendly rentals.
First, accepting pets increases the number of people who contact you for rentals. You might receive more applications to choose from for each available unit.
Next, you can charge more for rent. People will pay more to rent a place that accepts pets.
Additionally, pet owners know that finding pet-friendly units is challenging. Because of this, they might rent from you for longer.
Rules and Guidelines
When accepting pets, creating a list of rules and guidelines is critical. Your guidelines and rules can:
- State which pets you accept and don't accept
- Rules relating to noise
- Instructions on taking dogs outside for bathroom purposes
- Extra fees you charge
- Consequences of breaking the rules
Setting out clear rules and guidelines protects you. It also helps you eliminate any potential confusion.
Other Considerations
You might also consider accepting pets at some units and not others. You can base this decision on the property type and location. You can even base it on the property's condition.
For example, you might allow pets at some older units you own. On the other hand, you might not allow them at the brand-new apartments you built.
Additionally, you should review the laws in Texas relating to support animals. These laws state that support animals are not pets. Therefore, you might have to allow support animals in all your rental properties.
Hire a Property Manager
Accepting pets in a rental property offers many positives. However, it might also require more work. If you have questions about this issue or other management issues, talk to a property management firm.
Contact us at Texas Prime Real Estate. We offer property management services and can help you decide how to handle pets. We can also assist with other management duties, decisions, and tasks.
