May
04
Should I rent my house to a tenant with dogs?
By
I have a new 5 bedroom house worth over $600,000. Since I relocated to other states and could not sell it out in this sluggish market, I want to rent it out. I have a family interested but they have two dogs. Should I rent it to them? What is problem with dogs?
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15 Comments
May 6th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Dogs can damage the carpets or floors… but often they cause no damage at all especially with conscientious owners. You can put a clause in the rental agreement that says any damage caused by pets is the renters responsibility if you want to rent to these people and the dogs are the only concern.
May 8th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I don’t see a problem with dogs do you know thees people how old r the dogs r they clean people r questions you need to find out i have two dogs now and they r fine to live with they don’t mess the house I think it should be ok..
May 10th, 2010 at 1:16 am
i feel your uneasiness. im a dog owner and i feel you should but at the same time, your house is worth $600,000: Just request a hefty non-refundable deposit and you’ll feel more secure.
May 12th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I dont see a problem with it, as long as they are’nt really big dogs. My friend has a seperate security deposit just for the dogs, for any damage done to the lawn or just wear and tear from the dog.
May 15th, 2010 at 12:35 am
no – i am sure there are others w/o dogs or cats that you can rent to
May 18th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Dogs can tear up the carpet or other flooring, in addition to knawing on the wood outside and killing the grass in the yard.
Make sure that you have the equivalent of one month rent to keep as a security deposit. This way, you can have a buffer for any repair expenses you may have on the home after these tenants move out. Also, make sure you have it written specifically into the lease that if the tenants’ dogs ruin the carpet or anything else in the home, that you will be able to take them to court to pay for repair and/or replacement of these items.
May 18th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Scratches on doors, walls & floors
digging holes in yard
“accidents” inside house that are not fully cleaned. When you clean up such a spot from a carpet, you only get the top surface clean.
I love dogs, but with that new house, I wouldn’t rent to people who have them. Remember, renters are never going to treat your house as gently as owners would.
May 19th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Have they rented before? If so ask for their references and check with previous landlord to see if there was damage done. I have a separate deposit for pets and it is quite standard.
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:33 pm
When I used to rent, I would apply at any house I wanted, even if it said no pets. Mainly landlords are afraid of pets because of those dogs that ireesponsible people have that are untrained, loud, obnoxious, destructive animals.
I had a book with pictures of my dogs, receipts from training, copies of all shots records, and letters of reference from former neighbors and friends that attested to the nature of the dogs, and myself as a dog owner. I ended up living in two different places over 7 years, both of which had said “no pets” in the ad.
I would ask your prospective tenants to prove that their dogs are members of the family, not lawn-destroying, carpet-defiling poop factories.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Most likely they are coming from a rental – call their previous landlord – and ask for references – dogs can do damage – and In my state you can not charge an extra pet deposit – but most of the time dogs do damage because of lazy owners…What kind of dog are they? Are they well behaved? Meet the dogs…are they under control and obedient? A good tenant who pays on time and will care for your property is worth the price of normal wear and tear – Are they home with the dogs – or both work out of the house? I am a dog lover – I would see how well the dogs behave in front on me then make the decision…
May 22nd, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Dogs don’t read nor sign. They want a place to eat, sleep and poop. Imagine that in your $600,000 home. Prepare to replace the carpet very, very often. Frankly, no matter how many vitamins they take or chlorophyll tablets, dogs have a distinct odor.
Plus, there is a liability if the dog ‘accidentally’ bites someone.
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:45 am
It really depends on how well the dogs are trained…. dogs can be extremely destructive!!! make sure you get one months security deposit and and you might want to think about a pet fee as even the best behaved animals have an occasional accident..
May 24th, 2010 at 10:38 am
u need to figure on replacing carpets, wood work, fleas in house and out, HVAC system – dogs like to chew them parts, yard/grass, fence, extra property liablity.
increase rental to cover possible damages.
you can allways give back what u don’t use.
sure LOL
only thing worse are cats.
May 27th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I don’t care how “trained” the owners say a dog is, it’s still a dog. Let’s say by some miracle it doesn’t pee inside the home at least once, it will still smell like a dog, and leave dog fur all over the place. Do you really want that in your $600K home?
May 30th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
As an owner of apartments I operate under the presumption that basically all people are good. However, there is nothing wrong with dogs; the problem typically is with irresponsible pet owners! So what I do first is obtain a credit check. A credit check will provide you the applicants’ creditworthiness as well as whether they have been evicted from prior rentals. Moreover, check with prior owners who have rented to them. And personally call their employers to verify employment. A source that I use is.
After I’ve run a credit check, employment check and background check and if all is okay I require an additional deposit of $500.00-$1,200.00 per dog (depending in what area of the country your home is located) plus I add $35.00 to $50.00 per month per dog. Obtain copies of the pet’s license so you can be assured that each pet has received its annual shots. The additional deposits are pet deposits which are in addition to the security deposit.
It has been my experience that when I didn’t follow the format that I’ve provided above I’ve had to spend several thousands dollars replacing carpeting, replacing landscaping, and woodwork.
Hope this helps!