Can I say "no smoking"?

[Terry Hoefer]

Our offer was accepted on a nice duplex today! The tenants upstairs would like to stay, and have excellent payment history. They keep their unit spotless and have nice furniture. We want to keep them, and I saw no evidence of them being smokers or having pets. Their lease is month-month. The owner downstairs has two dogs that were yapping in their cages when we viewed, and I thought I smelled a hint of cigarette smoke in the back hall. I also had to dodge little "land mines" in the back yard. When I lease to new tenants, can I mandate a smoke-free building? Each unit has a small balcony out back, and if they are neat about it, that would be my version of a compromise. I'm going to say "no pets", although I don't yet know about the good tenants I want to keep upstairs. Any thoughts on this? It's not just us that want to avoid smoke and other people's pets, I think many potential tenants would appreciate it as well.