Key Takeaways
- Allowing pets can increase your pool of qualified applicants, helping you fill vacancies faster and reduce lost rental income.
- Pet-friendly rental policies often encourage longer tenancies, leading to lower turnover costs and more consistent cash flow.
- Responsible pet owners can be excellent long-term residents, especially when supported by thorough tenant screening and clear lease terms.
- Pet deposits, pet rent, and one-time pet fees can help offset additional maintenance costs while protecting your investment.
- A well-managed pet policy can make your rental property more competitive, strengthen tenant relationships, and improve long-term investment performance.
Landlords often have a “No Pets Policy” to avoid the risks of having pets in their rental properties.
Concerns include things like noise disturbances, property damage, and maintenance or repairs associated with pet ownership. These have typically outweighed the potential benefits of renting to tenants with pets.
However, the rental market has evolved considerably over the past several years, and landlords are becoming more aware that having a properly managed, pet-friendly rental policy can be a valuable business strategy rather than a liability.
Landlords who understand the advantages of allowing their tenants to own pets can find ways to ensure both parties benefit from the arrangement and develop successful long-term landlord-tenant relationships.
At Keyrenter West Seattle, our team specializes in helping rental property owners navigate the ins and outs of property management, from tenant placement and leasing, to rent collection, maintenance, and more.
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Benefits of Having Tenants With Pets
Here are some of the main benefits of having rental tenants with pets.
Increase Qualified Applications
Each landlord desires that every tenant they enter into a lease agreement with is a qualified applicant who pays their rent each month, treats their rental property with respect, and follows the terms of their respective lease agreement.
One of the best and easiest methods for landlords to increase their pool of potential qualified applicants is to welcome a tenant with a pet in their rental.
By having access to a bigger candidate pool, landlords can benefit greatly from:
- Many ways to compare potential renters.
- Added flexibility in screening potential renters.
- More chances to find tenants who are stable financially.
- Quicker decisions on leasing a property.
Landlords can evaluate more potential tenants based on their income, prior rental history, references, and overall reliability by using a larger pool as opposed to a smaller one.
Shorter Vacancies
When properties are vacant, it can cost landlords money. Each month that goes by without a property being leased is money the landlord does not receive. All the regular monthly bills (mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, property maintenance, etc.) continue during this time.
Pet-friendly rental properties generally attract more attention because there are often fewer housing options for pet owners compared to others. When landlords advertise their properties as “pet friendly” with clear and specific guidelines, they tend to receive:
- Many more inquiries for listings.
- A larger number of property showings.
- A higher number of lease applications.
- A shorter vacancy period.
Reducing the number of vacancies in rental units has a direct impact on improving the yearly rental performance.
Encouraging Longer Lease Terms
Finding a new home is typically difficult, and for those moving with pets, it can be even more difficult. Pet owners usually go to great lengths to find a place to live that will work for both them and their pets. After locating a suitable pet-friendly unit, they are often less likely to move again until necessary. Having a longer-term tenant will benefit landlords through:
- Lower turnover costs.
- Fewer advertising costs.
- Lower cleaning/repair costs.
- More stable rental revenue.
It is more economical to retain a tenant than it is to continue replacing tenants.
Creating Consistent Cash Flow
Creating consistent cash flow through reliable occupancy creates a stable financial base for a landlord. Each time a tenant renews a lease, it relieves the landlord of the uncertainty related to marketing the unit again, selecting possible applicants, and preparing for another move-in.
Long-term tenants who renew their lease provide:
- Regular monthly rental income.
- More efficient financial planning.
- Improved budgeting for repairs/maintenance.
- Less overhead when managing tenant accounts.
In many cases, the steady income produced by consistent occupancy makes it worth taking the risk of allowing responsible pet ownership.
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Building Tenant Loyalty
Many pet-friendly landlords will build strong relationships with their renters. Welcoming pets into your rental home offers a welcoming introduction and makes tenants feel at home right away.
This relationship can cause renters to:
- Renew their lease agreement.
- Immediately report all maintenance requests.
- Communicate promptly.
- Abide by community regulations.
- Care for the property with care.
Generally speaking, the development of a positive landlord-tenant relationship is dependent on a mutual understanding of expectations and reasonable behavior.
Enhancing Your Property’s Marketability
In a competitive rental marketplace, even the slightest difference between rental properties can affect the decision-making process. Therefore, if you let your tenants have pets, you could create an advantage over similar rentals that don’t allow pets, creating more opportunities for the leasing or rental agent to work with that particular tenant.
When competing rental options provide similar features like:
- Rent per square foot.
- Square footage.
- Amenities.
- Proximity to goods/services.
One of the few differentiating factors that could prompt a renter to take the next step in their rental process may be having a “pet-friendly” policy. Consider including this for your Seattle rental property.
Attracting Responsible Pet Owners
The mere fact that someone owns a pet does not necessarily mean they are a high-risk tenant.
Responsible pet owners exhibit many of the same qualities that are attractive to landlords, including:
- Having stable employment.
- Having an able/available income.
- Having long-term housing objectives.
- Having a positive rental history/reference.
- Demonstrating an interest in keeping their residence in good shape, etc.
Since finding a new home for a pet can often present obstacles, it is not uncommon for a pet owner to strive to maintain a good rapport with their current landlord. It is
All applicants should be evaluated based on their individual merits, and not based on preconceived notions.
Offering Extra Revenue Sources
Landlords are able to add charges related to pets to cover their additional maintenance costs. Within this framework of available local laws, there is the option for a variety of charges related to pets:
- Pet deposits.
- Monthly pet rent.
- One-time pet fees.
Any revenue generated through the use of such charges could contribute to the costs considered for:
- Expensive cleaning.
- Minor repairs to anything stated above.
- Run landscaping.
- Carpet replacement.
- Scheduled maintenance.
The suggested fees should always be reasonable and outlined in the lease agreement for new tenants.
Bottom Line
Landlords will have the opportunity to become much more profitable, as long as they carefully prepare beforehand with clear expectations. By opening up their rental properties to responsible pet owners, landlords are likely to get a much larger pool of qualified applicants for their rental properties.
Less time in vacancy, more time in a longer tenancy with potentially higher quality finishes in the space will give owners increased length of stay, increased number of income-producing days/months/year, better performance/capacity to make a profit, and better investment performance for the long-term.
Partnering with a trusted property management team can not only provide expert guidance and insight, but also serve to reduce the stress and responsibility of owning and operating a rental property.
