We have discussed in past posts the pros and cons of allowing pets in your corporate rental.

If you are open to marketing your property as pet friendly, you will likely attract a greater number of potential renters.  More travelers are now bringing their pets along – nobody wants to leave their beloved Fido behind – and the numbers continue to increase every year.

In the annual Corporate Housing By Owner Report, 73.8% of responders said they accepted pets to get their properties rented.

But if you do choose to allow pets, CHBO strongly recommends you charge a pet fee and/or pet deposit to your tenants.

To give you an idea of how much you should charge, annual report responders said they were charging an average fee of $175, an additional deposit and an average rent increase of $39.  Full service corporate housing companies are charging a fee $261 and a deposit of $271.

If a prospective tenant has more than one pet, an additional charge per pet would be fair to ask for, but don’t make it a deal breaker.  Remember, the goal is to get your property rented.

Opening your door to pets provides the opportunity for you to make more money.  And don’t worry, pet owners will typically expect additional fees and are happy to pay up to bring along their four-legged family member.

As discussed in Part I of The Pet Dilemma series, allowing pets in your corporate rental enables you to attract a greater number of potential renters.

But if you allow pets, here are a few things to ask and a few rules to set to ensure good pet practices:

What kind of animal is it? Most animals are fine, but you may want to avoid allowing tenants with pitbulls or other animals that could be considered dangerous to the families living around you. A dangerous animal might require you to change your homeowners insurance and you don’t want to have to deal with that added hassle.

Is the animal noisy? Dogs like to bark, especially at strangers and passerbys. This can be very annoying and disruptive to neighbors. Make the owner agree that the dog will be kept inside most of the time and only outside when supervised by his owner. You may even set hours (i.e., the dog can’t be outside after 10pm) to ensure the dog isn’t barking late at night.

Who is going to clean up? Outline specific rules on what you expect your property (inside and out) to look like while the tenant lives there and upon returning the home to you.

Who will pay for damages? If the pet chews through your wood coffee table, spell out in your contract that the renter is responsible for all damages – big and small. Note: Don’t forget to collect an additional pet security deposit – typically 50% more than a regular security deposit – to insure your property against damages caused by the animal.

How old is the pet and is it house trained? This is actually a very important to ask as you don’t want a puppy “marking” up your carpet or having accidents in your bed. Make sure the animal is at least one year old and is house trained.

How many pets? It’s wise to limit the number of pets to one large animal and maybe two small animals.

Is the pet properly vaccinated? You don’t want any animals carrying or being exposed to disease on your property. Ask for proof of vaccinations and make sure they’re up to date.

Also, be sure to check with your insurance provider to ensure you’re effectively covered to allow pets in your corporate rental.

Overall, allowing pets can be quite lucrative. Be sure to ask the right questions so you product yourself from liability and your property from damage.

We are constantly asked whether a corporate rental should allow pets. On one had, your property is furnished, so there are things that can easily be damaged by a pet. On the other hand, you want to maximize the number of renters you attract, after all, this is an investment and you don’t want your home sitting idle without any renters.

So, while pets can be a pain, we think homeowners should make every effort to allow them. Here’s why:

First, you open the door to a larger pool of possible tenants. Traveling with pets has become commonplace these days and more traveling executives and relocated families are bringing Fido along for the ride. It’s also unlikely that an executive or family traveling with a pet for months at a time would want to stay in a hotel – so a corporate rental is quite attractive for this audience.

Second, you open the door to making more money. Yes, you can charge more for renter’s who bring along a pet – and you can demand a larger security deposit too. People traveling with pets expect this and are happy to oblige because they simply want to bring Fido along.

Third, you might increase your occupancy rate. Because you allow a larger pool of possible tenants, it’s likely your rental property will have very high occupancy rates – boosting your bottom line!

Fourth, if you own a single family home, it’s the best way to get more renters. Traveling executives like to be near their office, so they may not venture too far off into suburbia. But those that require temporary, furnished rentals homes AND have pets will turn to the single family homes listed for rent, even in a less desirable location (suburb vs. city) just so they can have a yard for their pet to play in and so they can be near parks. So I’m saying if you have a property not centrally located, allowing pets might be one of the few ways you attract a constant stream of renters to your property.

If you do decide to allow pets in your rental property, there are a few precautions and rules you must abide by first. Read Part II – coming soon!