As you can imagine, this is a heated topic amongst tenants and landlords (aka. the public and the public housing providers--who are also part of the public). We take an information and data approach to this which allows us to advise our clients on facts and a strong financial basis.

Of course, if you have a fear of animals in general, are allergic, or you just do not want a pet in your rental condo, it is ultimately up to you, however, financially speaking, this is a mistake.

I've put together the main factors you should consider if you're marketing your rental condo regarding pets or not.

We suggest allowing 1 pet up to 35lbs (but check your Strata/Condo bylaws first as they ultimately decide on the pet permitted. The vast majority accept 1 up to 35lbs)

1) 35% of prospective tenants have pets, and 80% of prospective tenants with pets have 1 small pet under 35lbs. This means having a "pet friendly apartment" gives you access to 93% of the prospective tenant market. Without is a crippling 65%

2) You get to collect an additional 1/2 month's rent as a pet deposit on top of the 1/2 month's rent for a security deposit if the tenant has any pets

3) The damage + pet deposit covers a good amount of damage which you would catch during a tenancy on one of your bi-annual inspections. This allows you much more leverage to collect the money, get the issues repaired during the tenancy, etc.

4) We find that prospective tenants without pets apply more often at pet friendly homes. The reason is speculative, however, they think that their application will stand out against the ones with pets, therefore getting you more than 50% of applications without pets

5) You can always choose an application without a pet over one with a pet

6) Pet damage comes from tenants who do not take responsibility for their pets. These are generally tenants who cannot afford to repair things or get the pet the help it needs to get over behavioural issues, etc. Basically, bad pets come from bad tenants. If you don't have a bad tenant because you know how to screen properly (more on that topic here: https://www.gvantpm.com/blogs/how-do-i-screen-a-tenant-in-bc), there is little to worry about as far as having a pet in the home.

We do not suggest posting without pets and then changing to with pets to generate more interest. It's one or the other out of the gate. Looking forward to any other comments on this topic as we always like seeing other perspectives on these very critical rental property decisions.

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If this article helped you or was missing something, we would love to hear your quick feedback on google: https://g.page/r/CY9STzAnxG_9EBM/review 

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Do you have any specific questions related to real estate investing, property management, or real estate in Vancouver?

I’m an open book so feel free to ask anything as it helps me craft future posts and educate others in this crazy market.

For a 1 on 1 discussion, you can schedule a call into my open calendar anytime:

https://calendly.com/keatonbessey/client_consult

Keaton Bessey

Greater Vancouver Tenant & Property

Management Ltd.

(604) 398-4047 ext. 2 | keaton@gvantpm.com | www.gvantpm.com

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