should i allow pets

[Jondell Johnson]

I own a 4plex in new Orleans and currently I don't allow pets but one of my tenants will sign a long term lease if allow a pet my questions is should I charge him more monthly on top of the pet deposit fee? and if so how much

[Adam Bartomeo]

I always allow pets. The benefits FAR out way the negative. All pets must be approved by the owner, we charge a pet fee, we increase the deposit, we get higher rents and our vacancy rate is close to zero.

The reason that all of this is possible is because we allow pets. Our last tenants pet must of had some accidents in the property because it stunk like urine. The deposit covered the odor removal and for new carpets and pad. We had the SFR rented within 2 days of move out.

I do a walk through a month before the tenants are moving out to give them an idea of what needs to be repaired for them to get their deposit back. (I don't want it to be a shock when they don't get all of their deposit back) I also let them know what they are not allowed to fix because I don't want them doing a DIY'er job when I gave them a professional job when they moved in.

My father in-law has about 10 properties that are similar to mine. His are in a better neighbor hood and are in better condition but his get lower rents and stay on the market WAY longer then mine do. He doesn't allow pets!

[Robert Curls]

We allow dogs in our SFRs, but not in our duplex. The SFRs have fenced in yards, where the duplex doesn't. I feel that we are able to get a little higher rents because we allow them. I'm not a fan of cats though, in fact I was looking at a property today that as soon as we opened the door, you were about knocked over by the smell of cat urine.

[Curtis Bidwell]

I agree with @Adam Bartomeo.  I allow pets, add a REFUNDABLE pet deposit plus monthly pet rent.  The refundable deposit gives them incentive to actually take care of things, the added pet rent ($15/cat, $25/dog, limit 2) builds up added reserves for the costs that are associated with having animals.  I have an addendum that names the pet and details their responsibilities including instant repairs, licensing, flea treatment, etc.