Should I allow pets in a rental?

[Geoff Pettis]

Should I allow pets in a rental?  Does this limit my rental pool?  What are your thoughts?

Being in the property management business I receive many questions regarding pets.  It's about a 50/50 mix.  50 percent would like to bring their pet.  50% don't have a pet.

I'm curious what the BiggerPockets crowd thinks?

[Nathan Gesner]

Yes, you should accept pets.

Over 50% of all renters have at least one pet. Refusing pets would eliminate 50% of all renters, maybe more.

Animals pose an increased risk, but you can mitigate that risk through proper screening and increased rent/fees. The most important thing to remember: bad renters have bad animals. Animals that dig, scratch, bark, chew, and bite, are almost always owned by high-risk tenants. If you screen your tenants properly, you reduce the risk of getting a bad animal. You can/should also screen the animal with a picture, vaccination record, proof of age/breed, etc. Consider using petscreening.com (free to Landlords).

The second part is monetizing the opportunity. There are so many renters with animals and so few animal-friendly rentals that it increases demand. Tenants are willing to pay more to keep their animal with them, sometimes hundreds per month! I recommend non-refundable fees or increased rent, not an increased refundable deposit. Again, you want to use this opportunity to reduce risk AND make more money. I charge a minimum $25 per month per animal (small dog under 20 pounds or a cat) and up to $100 a month for a large animal. I also charge a $300 fee up front for each cat or for any dog that has been owned for less than a year (puppy or rescue).

Finally, I have an animal addendum that stipulates the rules about being leashed, cleaning up after, noise, damages, and more.

There's more to it but it's definitely worth investigating and figuring out how to reduce risk while increasing profit.