Take tenants with pets or keep searching?

Had an open on my IP the day after it went up on the net.
With no internal photos - Just a photo I took of the outside. Says 'photos coming soon'.
Professional photos should be ready today.
Got 6 parties through on Saturday, two put in an application.
One party has a maltese dog and a ragdoll cat and a 1 year old baby.
The other party has 2 fox terriers and no children.
Both professional families, good incomes, clean history etc.
Which is better, less destructive?
Agent says carpet must be cleaned and pet treated before they leave.

Property will be vacant from 17 August. Should I wait and see if I can get someone with no pets and have another open this Saturday after the photos go up? Or will I run the risk of these applicants going elsewhere or worse, having a vacant period given the notice period that people have to give and that it is only 3 weeks until vacant?

 

3 bedrooms with carpet. All other areas tiled

 

Not sure what everyone's fear of pets is, majority of them are completely fine.

Doesn't mean don't vet (pun) them first of course. Check if the pet is desexed, breed, age, etc as these are factors in their behavior. My application form also has a space for the council rego number too.

Given you've got such a large lead time though, get some photos up and hold more opens. You can then choose the best applicant from across the opens held.

Should also be communicating with people at opens about what their time frame on moving is. Ie if it doesn't match up with your available date (ie their lease ends tomorrow or in September) then they shouldn't bother applying. Just like with product sales, its worth getting prequalified leads in.

 

I didn't realise 3 weeks was a long lead time. If someone was moving wouldn't they be looking earlier as they have to give 1mth notice don't they? (I understand too that not everyone is leaving a rental)

 

Depends on the area or the current market cycle. 3 weeks here would be a lot, given we're averaging 12.5 days at the moment.

 

Maltese and Ragdoll will be fine. Fox terriers should be ok too. Check if they're desexed.

Little kids tend to do more damage than animals. Think screwdriver being used as a musical instrument on daddy's nice new 2-pak kitchen (mine did this to me. I know, he shouldn't have been able to reach the screwdriver...), walls being used as dodgem bumpers for ride-in/on cars, or as canvas for finger painting.

Can you charge a pet bond or extra $/wk for pets?

 

I think the worst damage would be to carpets in the bedrooms. Pet hair, urine, fleas, but I am assuming the pet treatment takes care of that. Small dogs cannot scratch tiles. I cant see a small dog doing much damage to the glass sliding door (some (bigger) dogs go nuts at doors and rip them up). The other doors have those aluminium diamond security grills.
Small dogs probably cant do too much damage to walls and anything significant they would have to pay as unfair wear and tear.
The cupboards aren't very flash. I just painted them with tile paint. Tidy but not glamorous.
As for the child, I don't know how much damage a one year old can do, if they get to 3yrs and get hold of a screwdriver then that's a couple of years of rent already I have. Its not a brand new kitchen/bath.

Will post a link when the photos are uploaded in a few hours for feedback on resilience to pets.

 

50% of Australians own dogs and another 24% intend to get one+ in the near future.
(Random source)

Here, this is from RSPCA:
Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world. About 63% of Australian households own pets. There are an estimated more than 25 million pets in Australia.

Dogs are the most common pet, with 39% of households owning a dog. There are estimated to be 4.2 million pet dogs in Australia; 19 dogs for every 100 people. Cats are the second most common pet, with 29% of households owning a cat. There are estimated to be 3.3 million pet cats in Australia; 15 cats for every 100 people.

 

As an owner of a dog (pictured) who hasn't "gone" inside since he was a puppy, doesn't bark and doesn't shed, I really appreciate owners who consider pets. I am also willing to pay more to a landlord who accepts pets. Of those landlords who have tenants with pets, I'd be interested to know how many horror stories v success stories there are.

 

Almost definitely in my opinion. Given you've had two decent applications with crappy photos you may have no trouble waiting for more applications. What's the vacancy rate in the area?

 

True, if it's likely to be a destructive pet.

I sometimes wonder if you're going to get a tenant with a pet whether it's better for them not to ask/tell? They're likely to make sure there is no obvious sign of the pet (and damage) at inspections and try to ensure the pet does no damage.

 

Common concerns for landlords, but mostly based on the horror stories. Pet hair, urine and fleas are unpleasant for the pet owners too as they'd have to live with it, and if they're decent tenants I'm sure they'll do their best to look after their pets and avoid these things (decent vacuum cleaner, toilet training, worm/flea treatment). Reference checks should give you a reasonable indication of how they left their last property.

Cats can scratch up carpet and curtains, but if the tenant has a scratching post for the cat it's usually fine. Cats that haven't been desexed have a tendency to "spray" to mark their territory. 'Spray' is worse than urine and the smell is harder to get out. Otherwise cats keep it pretty clean, and stick to their litter box..

Small dogs can scratch, chew and destroy stuff just as easily as big ones.. My puppy chewed his way through reading glasses, an electric shaver, a wooden baby gate, a fabric "play pen", a number of books and toys etc... fortunately he stopped at around 9 months-old.

 

Consider that property management applications are utilised to assess a tenants history, use it to find out how the applicant and their pet treated the previous property.

 

I'd take the one with dogs, providing everything else lines up. (I say this because Mr 3 got his hands on a pencil the other day and ran down the hallway, when he was younger I caught him with a texta drawing all over the walls/doors).

Most properties I manage are pet friendly and generally don't have an issue, good tenants tend to look after the property and their pets quite well. Bad tenants are usually the ones that allow their pets to cause damage to the flooring, urine etc.

 

We've always allowed pets but stipulated in the tenancy agreement that they must stay outside and that the tenant is responsible for repairing any damage caused by their pets (including but not limited to carpets or curtains). Also that carpets must be professionally steam-cleaned and flea bombed when the tenants leave. We've never had any problems with pets and it certainly increases your tenant pool. I'd take small pets over small kids any day!

 

Investment Property Wavell Heights, Queensland, 4012
Says the vacancy rate is 1.93% which is pretty good I think.

Here is the link to the property for your analysis:

29 Handcroft Street Wavell Heights Qld 4012 - House for Rent #418936898 - realestate.com.au

Median rent for the suburb is $450wk. Two PMs recommended list at $465. I got worried I might not get a tenant and said $455. The agent said that was generous.

 

Cats will not stay outside I don't think. Dogs maybe.

 

For most councils it's illegal to have cats outside after dark. Also worth noting even though a pet clause says they must stay outside, it's not enforceable (as with pretty much any additional clause).