QLD Pet yea or nay ?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Deck, 25th Nov, 2021.

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  1. Deck

    Deck Well-Known Member

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    Hi
    We are putting our previous ppor for rent on the Goldcoast, my wife does not want to have pets in it as she is still attached to the house and does not want it to be damaged/smell (we have fake grass outside, I guess pet would poo/pee on it).

    QLD has a new regulation next year that to my understanding pretty much restricts landlords to refuse pets.

    We have seen a PM today and she recons printing no pet on the ads is a no-no as we would lose 90% of the market. She would prefer to advertise as would consider small pet only.

    What do you think? The market is pretty strong currently, should we try to refuse pets in the ads or at least refuse applications that mention pet ownership? what s your experience with pets as a landlord (I used to have a cat a long time ago as a tenant & it was a bit filthy)

    Thank you for your input
     
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  2. standtall

    standtall Well-Known Member

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    Your agent is definitely not working for you … I would look into changing the agent. Pet owners are like 10% of the market, not 90%.

    Even the new legislation doesn’t give automatic right to have pets. If you have nice carpets, you are well within your rights to argue potential damage and that bond wouldn’t cover it.

    You need an agent on your side, not someone who is trying to make their job easier by saying yes to pets.
     
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  3. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    Hello Deck.

    My experience with tenants and pets is not good. Even when tenants say they’ll keep pets outside they always end up inside. So I don’t like pets. Especially those little white fluffy dogs that bark and yap at ya lol.

    Now, you say there’s a regulation up there that says a landlord can’t refuse pets. Well unless you want to bend the rules you can’t refuse a tenant with pets. I think that rule stinks.
     
  4. samiam

    samiam Well-Known Member

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    Ask agent first whether they are pet owners. If they do, don’t use them
     
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  5. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

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    Honestly, if you can avoid it do so, just saves so much stuffing around and bs if it goes wrong + less wear and tear. Your Agent is just sooking they might have to work a bit harder to find a Tenant (as opposed to one falling in their lap with a pet because everyone else rejected them :rolleyes:)

    You can make your property not pet suitable such as not having a fully enclosed yard, toxic plants in the garden, get creative, and these are grounds for why a prospective tenant will not be able to keep a pet at your premise.

    Nb. I'm not against pets, I'm against the Government telling private landlords what they can and can't do with THEIR property, eg. mandating pets unless QCAT order at Lessors time and expense to say no, what a crock...
     
    Last edited: 25th Nov, 2021
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  6. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    There's no way this argument would fly btw.
     
  7. standtall

    standtall Well-Known Member

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    It actually does.

    Tenant wants a pet. You respond by outlining the possible damage a pet can likely cause. Put it all on paper. Tenant now has to either increase the bond (unlikely) or sign a modified lease agreement taking full responsibility for the possible damage. You will be surprised how many tenants want to keep a pet but don’t want to be responsible for the damage. Case closed!

    I am all for the pets - as long as tenants take full responsibility for damage caused by their pets and there are almost none or very few who want to take responsibility.
     
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  8. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    Isn’t it going to come out of the bond anyway (to cover the insurance excess).

    Not sure what other ‘full responsibility’ is required?
     
  9. standtall

    standtall Well-Known Member

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    Most Insurance doesn’t cover pet damage.I am keen to know which LL insurance covers it.
     
  10. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    Teri Scheer provides pet cover - see screenshot below:

    9607C06A-0B07-403D-8B12-2D2F530D42AF.png

    Even RACV Landlord Insurance provides this cover too - see thumbnail below:
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: 26th Nov, 2021
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  11. Baker

    Baker Well-Known Member

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    Yea to pets! Especially dogs.

    Grrr to cats.
     
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  12. Phoenix Pete

    Phoenix Pete Well-Known Member

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    Pets in properties.... ok.... where do I start with the experiences I've had in decades managing properties...

    Here we go with a few standouts..

    First time I ran into the dramas a pet can cause is a semi I was managing - the tenant had a dog that was approved on an outside-only basis. No carpet at all.. only timber floorboards.. but when the tenant moved out the whole place absolutely stunk. Took time and effort for the odour to be undetectable.

    Then there's the case where another tenant was given the same approval (ie: outside dog only). One day I was driving between appointments and my route took me past the property. The front door was open and what do I see... the big dog running around inside. Got back to the office and advised the owner. Process commenced in terminating the tenancy.

    And then the case of an AFL player who was with one of the Sydney clubs and then moved to Adelaide to play with one of the two clubs there.... Two dogs this time.. with carpet in the property. The tenants had the carpets professionally cleaned but there were still stains.. and the underlay... YUKKKKKKKKK.. We claimed the whole bond - the owner ripped up the carpet and let the sub-floor dry out.. then replaced the flooring with nice timber boards..

    Finally, only two weeks ago... tenant moved out. He had approved cats. Carpet steam cleaned and appeared very clean.. but there was the familiar cat urine odour... and sure enough.. the underlay stunk.

    Add to the above the dogs that have dug up holes in the grass, dogs and cats that have torn flyscreen door mesh, scratches on floorboards, scratches on door frames, doors severely damaged by dogs scratching the hell out of them, and then there's the noise complaints from neighbours... dogs barking all day long, dogs barking all night long... and I even had a case where neighbours were complaining that a tenant of mine had a yapping dog. It was news to me so when I asked the tenant if she had a dog she flat out denied it... so I had to get the help of neighbours who supplied me with photos and video of the dog .. and when I put them to the tenant all I got was crickets. She quickly had the dog removed from the premises as she got the message from me that I was not going to put up with her lies.

    I am not against pets at all. I love animals.. but too many tenants either lie about their intentions to keep pets outside or they just can't control them at all.. meaning the owner and agent have to clean up the mess.

    Bonds often are not enough to cover the damage done to carpets and underlays, and the steam cleaning requirements of leases and the Act doesn't really do enough because, as shown above, steam cleaning does not clean the underlay which nearly always cops it from pet waste.
     
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  13. MB18

    MB18 Well-Known Member

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    The reality is that if a tenant wants a pet they will get/bring a pet.
    The only variable is whether or not they tell you about it.

    At least if you dont have a blanket 'no pet' policy you will attract the better owners who will likely have a pet suitable to your type of property in the first place, pay a higher bond (or comply with whatever rules for pets are in your state), and probably stay a lot longer as true pet friendly properties are less common.

    Sure, the pet might ruin your property completely, but I would speculate more landlords have had damage caused by humans than pets.
     
  14. Phoenix Pete

    Phoenix Pete Well-Known Member

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    Very true.

    Yes that is true as well.

    I don't completely agree with this. A higher proportion of tenancies with pets end up with damage or issues during or at the end of a tenancy, than the proportion of tenancies without pets.. ie: there's more chance of an owner/PM having issues with a pet than without a pet.
     
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  15. Deck

    Deck Well-Known Member

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    Thanks a lot for your input, we will try to get tenants without cat/dog then (even for a lower rent if that s necessary). If they lie and have dogs, has anyone managed to get the LL insurance to cover any of the pets damages ? Thank you
     
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  16. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

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    In certain areas, Pet Owners will make up a LARGE portion of applicants. For example, right now we have a property in Marsden for lease. Out of 40+ applications we shortlisted 3 of them as being acceptable, each of them had some sort of Dog(s), Owner decided she didn't want Dogs- so far it's caused an extra 2 weeks of vacancy.

    I don’t understand how a Property Manager suggesting to avoid alienating a large proportion of potential applicants is “definitely not working for you”. Who else are they working for? What do they stand to gain, other than achieving a quality applicant at a better rent with less vacancy?

    Also:
    - The standard lease agreement already makes the tenant responsible for any Pet damage.
    - Quality insurers comprehensively cover Pet damage.
    - You cannot take more than four weeks of bond, which is already the standard amount taken. Pet Bonds do not exist in QLD.

    What if you have a perfect applicant(s) attend- excellent rental reference from a similar property, solid income, great to deal with, but has suitable Dog(s) which were never any issue in any of their previous references? (This is a common scenario by the way- I'm not cherrypicking).

    Good tenants usually don’t have bad Pets- responsible people will make decisions that avoid damage, and take responsibility when damage occurs. Generally if you have Pet damage, you’ve also had other problems in the tenancy- it’s not often a bad Pet, it’s a bad tenant.

    I completely understand that many Landlords have had a bad experience with Pets, and it’s a risk factor that you can mitigate by not allowing them (As opposed to Landlords who have had bad Tenants, since you can’t ban people haha!). Ultimately you can refuse Pets, but in many cases, you may be costing yourself vacancy and maximum achievable rent.

    @Deck , in summary, I can completely understand if you are hesitant to rent to people with Pets, and your Property Manager should understand that is your preference- but are you sure you want to completely ban them?
     
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  17. Joshua George

    Joshua George New Member

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    Removing personal views on actually having a pet or not for one moment, it should also be considered that the marketing isn't too targeted and too closed off, thus reducing your pool of tenants who are any good.

    90% of tenants having pets is pretty optimistic - What's the research? Dogs, cats, fish, birds? It would be safe to bet a fair portion "have a pet". As a leasing agent and property manager, in my case it's probably more than 50% but less than 75%. There has been an increase during COVID with those getting "a pet".

    www.realestate.com.au has a search filter, it's a yes or no option. It will either fall into being shown or not being shown, pending how the user (tenant) is searching. The more people who can see your listing the better the outcome.

    Your agent should be respecting your wishes, but as a property "expert" should also be advising on marketing strategies to achieve the highest rent in the least amount of down time to the best possible tenant available. Otherwise you would just do this yourself?

    I'll probably cop it for advertising tactics not everyone will agree with, but in my mind you are far better off having less restricted marketing and 20, 30 or even 40 people at at open house than 5. Nothing creates a sense or urgency or force's the hand of a quality applicant more than a good open house turn out.

    Pets being considered isn't a right for approval, it's a tool to generate the most amount of interest and in turn applications, applicants and terms being put forward.

    I had 74 people who up to a house for rent in Metro Brisbane as a result of quality marketing. The successful applicant was not one with a pet.. But was one who in turned had a bit of FOMO
     
    Last edited: 27th Nov, 2021
  18. PinkPanther

    PinkPanther Well-Known Member

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    @Tom Rivera Agree with everything you said.
    What's been your experience with pet owners, say in majority of the cases?

    My current tenants have a cat and a dog (don't know the breed). My PM pushed for that application over another one since it was apparently "better". My insurance does cover pet damage though.
     
  19. Deck

    Deck Well-Known Member

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    Thanks a lot for your input. Honestly, 2 weeks is absolutely peanuts compared to the cost "wear & tear" from pets without talking about cost damages that would or would not be paid by insurance (which would have added cost after a claim), + peace of mind/smell.

    We will see/try anyway
     
  20. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Easiest thing to do is just don't accept a tenant with pets if you don't want to. Don't even need to ever mention it.

    You get multiple applications. Choose the no pets one. If agent says the best application is the one which has pets, just say your not comfortable with the application and want more opens. Most applications won't have pets anyway so it's not a big deal. If agent becomes difficult, it's easy to know time to fire and get new one.

    Often, you gotta be smart about how you go about getting the result you want while avoiding the things you don't so no one has a clue that it was the pets which was the issue.

    They can set whatever BS rules they want, but there's always a way around it. No one other than myself will be ultimately deciding who can live in my assets.

    Disclosure: I have tenants with small pets and no issues with it. Only places I'd never rent with pets are my new builds.
     
    Last edited: 27th Nov, 2021
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