Benefits of Having a Pet-Friendly Property

While pets can be a nuisance for property managers, they can be a huge asset in your business as a way to attract potential residents and beat your competition in what you offer your tenants.

Whether you’ve had a furry friend in your life or know somebody who does, you know plenty just how important pets can be to a person. More often than not, pets are more than just pets – they’re family! A potential tenant with a pet will always ask, first and foremost, “Do you allow pets?” Your answer can be a “make it or break it” for them!

With a pet-friendly property, you can therefore increase your potential tenant base exponentially and avoid vacancy in your property.

They are certain benefits to inviting tenants with pets. Pet friendliness is known to propel happiness and keep spirits high. Dogs, for example foster values for a close-knit community – when neighbors go out to walk their dogs, it gives them an opportunity to meet and connect over their animal best friend. Pet care also requires a certain level of responsibility from the owner, and therefore gives the landlord some insight into how responsible they might be as a potential tenant.

A happy, well-groomed pet, for instance, is a good sign of cleanliness and care. All in all, pet-friendly properties invite happy and social settings which reflect well on the property and promote tenant satisfaction.

Despite the difficulties of making a shift towards a pet-friendly property, such as shift can be incredibly rewarding as a landlord. There are a couple of ways to smooth your transition to pet friendliness:

• Have a “Pet Interview” Before signing the lease, invite your potential tenant to a “pet interview” so that you can sit down with the pet and their owner prior to their move-in. By asking to meet the pet, you can stay knowledgeable about the pets on your property. This can help make your renter feel welcome while simultaneously allowing you to become acquainted with the pet breed and personality to assure lease compliance.
• Set Expectations for Acceptable Pet Behavior While you might think this is common knowledge, it is helpful to set expectations for a pet-friendly community by educating pet-owners about social acceptability in regards to their pets. To ensure that they will be respectful of the property and community, considering preparing pamphlets discussing pet care, advice for maintaining good care of the property (ie, avoiding scratches on doors), and the importance of good pet behavior when outside the home (ie, on a walk). You can even go above and beyond and offer some doggie bags to promote this behavior.
• Charge a Pet-friendly Service Fee Accommodating pets is an additional service and can be treated as such. When it comes down to it, pets are pets – tenants can’t always control what a pet might do. For security, it is advantageous and quite reasonable to present a potential tenant with a security deposit or additional fees for pets. If you plan to introduce a limit on the type of number of pets in a household, a good way to do this is my introducing your fees as “per pet” fees. Some property management solutions (like Rentigo) even lt you add this onto a tennants monthly bill
• Host Pet-Friendly Events for Your Property Community Hosting social events is always beneficial for property management as a way to encourage a sense of community by introducing neighbors and promoting good interaction. However, it is sometimes difficult to promote attendance of these events. Pet-friendliness is a good way to hook your residents and get them out there. This way, residents can avoid conflict between pet owners and even feel a sense of communities by allowing them to make “dog friends”!

Pet-friendly properties have way more advantages than disadvantages. With so many potential residents looking to give a home to their furry friends, allowing pets means expanding your business! Make the shift to a pet-friendly property and, done the right way, you won’t regret it.