Apartment Living: Finding the Right Place to Call Home

When it comes to leasing an apartment for rent, most landlords won't even consider allowing a pet into the property. However, this is potentially leaking a lot of profit, and it is worth your while considering allowing pets into the property.

Benefits of Having a Pet-friendly Agreement

Allowing your tenants to keep pets in the property will undoubtedly give you an advantage in the market. The vast majority of apartments available are advertised as "no pets allowed." Whilst this does have its advantages, it limits the number of prospective tenants that can let the property. People are extremely attached to their pets and will go to any length to secure a property that allows their pet to stay with them.

As such, because pet owners have difficulty finding a suitable property, chances are they will do everything they can to keep hold of it. This means that, should you allow someone to move in with their pet, you will likely be leasing your property to very reliable tenant.

Finally, allowing pets in the property can help strengthen the relationship you have with your tenant and ensure that they will want to renew their agreement when the initial term is complete. As a landlord, you will know that the worst thing for business is an empty property, and it can often be difficult to keep hold of good tenants. Therefore, having a trusting relationship that benefits the tenant can help secure their business for a longer period of time.

Drawbacks of Allowing Tenants to Keep Pets

There's no doubt about it, making the decision to offer a pet-friendly apartment is difficult, and you need to weigh up the benefits with the drawbacks before putting your apartment up for rent.

The main drawback is that a lot of pets, by their nature, are messy animals. Obviously, some are worse than others – a Siamese cat isn't likely to destroy your lounge, but a bored and unhappy Rottweiler just might. As such, you need to ask prospective tenants about what kind of animals they intend to bring into the apartment. For additional security, you may even ask to meet the animal before allowing the tenant to sign the lease. This may seem harsh, but if you are going to have a trusting relationship with your tenant going forward, it is absolutely necessary.

You also have to consider the costs of allowing a pet to stay in the apartment. For the most part, it will be significantly more expensive to clean an apartment that hosted a pet. You will need to pay for a professional deep cleanse of the apartment once the tenant moves out in order to remove any stains or odors that have been left on the furniture. Although the animal may not have destroyed furniture, they will definitely have let their mark, and you will need to pay for this.

When it comes to preparing a suitable tenancy agreement, you will need to make sure that you include clauses that clearly state what is expected from the tenant. You should outline exactly what they are responsible for cleaning and whether they are expected to replace any damaged goods. So long as you have suitable measures in place, allowing a pet into your property can be a very good way of securing a happy tenant for a long time! 

For more information and tips, reach out to other local apartment complexes in the area, like Meadowdale Apartments.