Pet policy

[Mark Forest]

After gaining a little more experience it seems the two most common problems with house are water damage from various sources and pets. In a very short amount of time a dog can do large amounts of damage to a house and yard. They of coarse urinate, defecate, and then they dig holes, and run paths though the lawn. Worse yet is cat urine. Even charging a non-refundable pet fee does not truly compensate me for the time and materials to fix these messes.

How many of you have gone “no-pet?” Is it much harder to get a tenant to fill a vacancy? I used to like dogs and cats. Now I just see them as property destroyers.

[Mike Franco]

You get a bigger share of the renter pool, many of which are lousy tenants with neglected pets who piss all over the place.

I'd say, don't let that "extra 50% tenant pool" blind you.
That phrase makes it seem like you're missing out, but the reality is, there are plenty of qualified people who don't own pets.

Do you guys who allow pets actually get more applicants who are qualified? people who NET 3x rent per month?
Are pet owners so much better?
Owning a pet is like raising a baby. There are costs that eat into their income.

I've had no shortage of people see my house and I have a no pet policy.

A weight limit on dogs has no bearing on whether they will tear up your house or not. 10 pound dogs piss all over the place too. and 50 pound dogs could be very docile.

One of these days, I'm going to do a pet experiment, and see how much better the applicant pool is.