From ripped carpets and scratched floors to accidents and odors, we are all familiar with a pet’s potential to damage apartments. However, responsible pet owners can actually be beneficial to your income property. There are several important factors to consider when deciding on a pet policy for your rental property management plan.

Aside from the problems animals may cause, there are substantial benefits to allowing your tenants to have pets.

• Allowing pet-friendly rentals increases your bottom-line. A 2011 analysis of the condominium market in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics found that pet-friendly landlords who place no restrictions on pet ownership currently enjoy an 11.6 percent rental premium over those who do not allow pets.
• Tenants with pets stay longer. Even with a higher rent, tenants with pets stayed an average of 23 to 46 months longer than those without pets.
• Pet-friendly rental properties have significantly lower vacancy rates. In addition, these rental properties received twice as many applicants for a vacant unit than properties that did not permit pets. This allows property managers to be more selective when choosing a tenant considering you will have a larger group to choose from.
• Renting to pet owners saves time and money. Landlords spent less than half the average amount of time marketing pet-friendly housing, and spent less money on advertisements. 

Source: Ledy VanKavage, Esq., Best Friends Animal Society via DogFriendlyRental.com

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