Green Square Blog

When owning and renting out an investment property, there are a number of considerations to be made. Finding the right tenants for your home can be one of the most difficult but there is also the question of whether you are going to allow the furry kind.

Dealing with properties over the Green Square region, I am finding one growing common denominator; pets are now as popular as takeaway coffee! Modern tenants don’t want to wait until they can purchase that home with the big backyard to own a furry friend, they want one in their apartment now. As a landlord, it can be hard to know whether you should allow pets to live in your investment so in this blog, I want to shed some light on pets in investment properties, your rights and my experience.

 

The upside of saying yes to pets

Some landlords we speak to are quite reluctant to accept any prospective tenants who come with pets and they have every right to (it’s their property after all). However, the main upside of considering / accepting a pet tenant is that you are gaining a significant competitive advantage. Pet-friendly rentals are highly coveted so allowing tenants to bring along their animal companions will result in much higher demand for your properties. These days, pets are now even coming with their own references from previous landlords & property managers (true story!).

 

Know your rights

As a landlord it is important for you to know that your residential tenancy agreements does protect you and your investment property if you were to accept a pet. Section 45 of the agreement states “the tenant agrees to have the carpet professionally cleaned or to have the premises fumigated if the cleaning or fumigation is required because animals have been kept on the premises during the tenancy”. As a landlord, this should give you peace of mind that any ‘accident stains’ or ‘dog park dirt’ in your apartment will be taken care of when your tenants vacate.

Just a side note - in some states of Australia, a landlord is able to accept two bonds; the tenant’s residential bond and a separate ‘pet bond’, providing added security for the landlord. However, in NSW, it is illegal to accept any other form of bond other than the residential bond from a human tenant.

 

My experience with pet tenants

Being in property management now for over 5 years, I can say that I've seen my fair share of “horrific incidents / damage” and 99 times out of 100, it wasn’t the pet who caused them, it was the human residents. Yes, there has been the occasional piddle stain or dirt patch left on the carpet but all tenants I have had the pleasure of dealing with have accepted full responsibility for this and remedied the issue when they vacate. There are also a few tips and tricks I've learnt along the way when allowing tenants to have pets in units including baby safety lock gates on bedroom doors to stop the pet going into the room and rugs which protect the floor.

 

The Wrap

The decision of whether to allow tenants to bring a canine or feline friend into your investment property is a tricky one. I hope this article has helped you weigh up the pros of increasing your tenant pool against the cons of the varying levels of hygiene that pets bring to a property. At the end of the day, ask yourself ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ - it's probably not be as bad as you think.

 

If you want to ask me any questions on the above or find out more about my view on pet ownership for landlords, my contact details are below. I’m always happy to help!

 

Take care,

 

George Matis
Senior Client Service & Property Manager
Raine & Horne Green Square

M : 0427 883 335  .  T : (02) 8397 7800 E : [email protected]