Property ownership has been a wealth building tool for investors for a number of years. It has proven a relatively stable investment despite the recent downturns in the market. Investing in real estate and renting it out is a solid investment strategy employed by many property managers.
Making it a Success
Choosing the right property and tenants is critical in making your investment successful. This does naturally mean an increased amount of responsibility for you – you will need to screen tenants, collect rentals, effect repairs, etc. You can hand these responsibilities over to a property management company but there are some basic things you will need to consider first.
Whether to allow pets or not is one of these decisions.
The Disadvantages of Renting to Pet Owners
Most people love pets but when you are a property owner, there can be some problems associated with renting to pet owners. Pets can cause damage to the property – urine and waste stains are very difficult to remove from carpets, especially if allowed to set in.
Pets may additionally cause damage by chewing or breaking household items or fences – they can also cause a great deal of damage to landscaping.
Pets can also get quite noisy and this can cause problems with the neighbours. Although this does not necessarily impact directly on you as a property owner, it can end up being a problem in terms of dealing with complaints.
The Advantages of Renting to Pet Owners
You should not overlook the fact that a lot of people love having pets. Allowing pets can be an advantage in a market where renters have a lot of options to choose from. You will also have a wider range of candidates and will so find it easier to rent the property out more quickly.
This, in turn, allows you to charge a higher rental for allowing pets. In most cases, people will be willing to pay a higher deposit and a higher monthly rental in order to be allowed to have pets.
Pet owners are generally more responsible as well – it takes money to be able to look after a pet properly.
A further advantage is that pet owners will generally become more settled in the home and are not likely to consider moving and uprooting their pets in a hurry – leading to a more stable property turnover.
In general, you need to weigh up all the pros and cons involved and consider whether or not the possible disadvantages outweigh the possible advantages. At the end of the day, you are the only one that can make that decision.