Should I allow pets in my rental home?

Hey, guys. Chris Knight here. Business development manager with Red Door Property Management. I wanted to jump in for just a quick couple of minutes and discuss the most common question I get from most of my clients, and that is, should I allow a pet in my rental property? And in short, the answer is absolutely yes, you should allow your property management company to at least market the availability to animals. Why? Roughly 71% of all applicants do have some type of an animal. Now, what's most important here is to ensure that the proper due diligence is being done on the front end to ensure that your investment is being properly protected. 

Number one

You will want to make sure that you are securing an additional pet deposit in addition to your standard rental deposit. We do require a minimum of a 250 additional pet deposit. This can be adjusted based on your comfort level. 

Number two

Upfront screening. This is huge. For example, Red Door does require photos vaccination records and a verified rental history report based on the pet's previous behavior in the tenant's previous rental. 

Number three

My most important when I consider allowing a pet, and that's going to be his routine inspections and holding the tenant accountable mid lease, primarily so that come the end of that lease term, you're not going to, at that point, try to hold your tenant responsible and exhaust the security deposit. This is going to ensure that not only is your investment being properly protected, but it's also going to ensure the least amount of vacancy time.

That's just my two-cent. Check back for more.