Landlords in Washington can breathe easy knowing that dog owners in the state are the most responsible in the country. This fact can make allowing pets in a rental property more tempting.
However, consider these pros and cons before you dive into allowing pets.
Pro: Larger Tenant Pool
Allowing pets in your rentals will expand your potential tenant pool to a much larger group of people. If you don't permit pets, you will automatically disqualify anyone with a pet, and there could be great tenants in that pool of disqualified people.
Limiting your rental pool will make it more difficult if you are trying to fill vacancies in a tough rental market.
However, remember that you cannot deny a tenant with a support animal. This would be a violation of the Fair Housing Act, which protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. Support animals are not considered pets.
Pro: Longer Tenancy Rates
Increased tenant satisfaction translates to longer tenancy lengths. One way to keep tenants happy is by allowing them to have pets. This could mean placing a tenant who already owns animals or allowing a tenant to get a pet while living in your rental.
People with pets also tend to exhibit greater levels of responsibility and consistency. That stability in other areas of their life can translate to longer tenancy rates.
Pro: Increased Rent Potential
When tenants have pets, you can charge higher rent. Another option is to charge a base rent and an additional pet rent. Either way, allowing pets into your rentals means extra income.
If there are a limited number of rentals that allow pets in your immediate market, you could charge more in rent because of the limited competition.
Con: Increased Risk of Damage
Allowing pets into your rental puts you at greater risk of property damage and increased maintenance costs. This could be from untrained or problematic pets or well-behaved pets with owners who do not clean up after them.
Either way, you can mitigate the damage risk by charging a pet deposit. However, Washington State limits how much you can charge for a pet deposit. The pet deposit cannot exceed 25% of one month's rent.
You can also charge only a single pet deposit per household, even if there is more than one pet in the rental. However, you can limit the number of pets a tenant can have.
Con: Noise Complaints
If your tenant has loud pets, you could contend with noise complaints. Your tenant's pets can become a nuisance to the neighbors. This will make managing your rental property more difficult and relations with the neighbors more contentious.
Consider Allowing Pets in a Rental Property
When you allow pets in a rental property, you have the potential to increase your rental profits. Allowing pets opens up your potential tenant pool, giving you more options to find an ideal tenant. While there is the risk of increased damage, you can charge a pet deposit or pet rent to cover this.
The property managers at Brink Property Management can help you set up a pet policy. That way, you can reduce the risk while accepting pets on your rental property.
Start allowing pets and increase your profit potential by working with Brink Property Management.
