by Brian Birdy, NARPM 2017 President Elect
To allow or not to allow pets! Many property management professionals feel that pets are a problem and that no owner wants to have pets living at their properties. I believe as a property manager, it is our role to make sure owners understand where pets fit into the rental process and how having pet friendly rental properties benefit them and add value to their rental property.
Benefits of Making Your Rental Property Pet Friendly
The first thing that being pet friendly does is increase your pool of potential renters. Allowing pets is one of the key things you can do to attract the most tenant applications. A 2014 survey by apartments.com found that at least 72 percent of renters are pet owners. So, by not allowing pets you are automatically eliminating a large majority of potential renters. Another benefit is longer occupancy periods because tenants with pets stay longer. According to a study by FIREPAW, Inc. , renters with pets stay longer, on average more than twice as long as as renters without pets. Additionally, the study found that renters with pets didn’t do any more damage to a property than renters without pets. And lastly, don’t overlook the potential increased revenue on a property through charging pet rent. Pet rent is becoming nationwide trend where renters who have pets understand and expect to pay an additional amount per month for each pet they own.
Include a Strong Pet Policy in the Rental Lease
Once an owner understands the value of having their rental property be pet friendly, the next step is to put in place an effective pet policy. A sound pet policy will not only allow for all the benefits mentioned above but will also protect the owner and the rental property. It's very important that a pet policy excludes renting to unacceptable pets. There are about 14 dogs that are listed as uninsurable for nearly all insurance companies. Each insurance company will have their own variation of this list so you will want to make sure your pet policy list matches the insurance company’s. What about non-canine pets? Your pet policy needs to cover restrictions on any other types of pets not to be permitted. A common example of this is prohibiting ferrets. Also, conditions for certain types of pets must be written into your pet policy such as a condition that requires all reptiles, amphibians, rodents and birds to be caged.
One of the strongest components in a solid pet policy is to have a separate pet application for each pet. Some information to consider collecting in the pet applications is a photo of the pet, pet’s name, breed and size, and proof of license and vaccinations. You can even have the applicant come in with their pet to make sure you know what pet you're renting to, don't just take their word for it, you want to investigate for yourself. And lastly, but very important, don’t neglect to charge pet rent. Collecting pet rent every month is how being pet friendly directly increases revenue, a great benefit for owners.
For more information on this topic from Brian Birdy click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJyP3oMeqFI
