Pet fee for monthly rental

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
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Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
Looking at renting out the garage apartment for a few months, and the potential tenant wants to know how much more we would charge if they have their dog living there too. When were were living there, we had our 30lb mutt living inside and out, and she never damaged anything other than some nose and paw smudges on the door :D Theirs is a medium sized dog, probably 40-50lbs ish, Portugese Water Dog if that means anything to anyone. $100 a month too little? Too much? Charge a security deposit? Piss cleanage fee?
 
Ask for free babysitting every other Friday and call it even :D
 
In all seriousness, I personally find the extra monthly fee for pets to be nonsense and an obvious money grab. It doesn't cost you, the landlord, more on a monthly basis for the pet to be there any more than if it were an additional person. Yes, there may be more damage or things to replace later - an extra security deposit is pretty reasonable IMO. How much? No idea what is normal these days. Maybe some of the slumlords like @Ron or @rockcity will chime in.

Nothing more to add beside... I hope she's hot and it's not too much of a distraction :D
 
I assume they aren't crazy sketchy since you are willing to let them stay on the same property you live on.

I would just charge a pet deposit, and if the pet does any additional damage over that amount they pay for it.

Like others said, an apartment is probably going to charge like 500 + 50 a month.
 
Pet deposit that will cover full carpet replacement. And if it goes above that that’s why you get the first months rent as a damages deposit. Above that and it’s small claims court. Went through this when I used to rent my house to a family (no the claims or damage thing just the money up front part)
 
RatLabGuy said:
In all seriousness, I personally find the extra monthly fee for pets to be nonsense and an obvious money grab. It doesn't cost you, the landlord, more on a monthly basis for the pet to be there any more than if it were an additional person.
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I think this is where my situation is a little different since I actually live there too. Right now, no one else's dog pees or poops in my front yard, and no one else's dog barks at the UPS/Fedex/USPS/Amazon truck on its daily rituals. Obviously I have to decide what that is worth to me, but I'm trying to get a gauge on the market too.
 
RatLabGuy said:
In all seriousness, I personally find the extra monthly fee for pets to be nonsense and an obvious money grab. It doesn't cost you, the landlord, more on a monthly basis for the pet to be there any more than if it were an additional person. Yes, there may be more damage or things to replace later - an extra security deposit is pretty reasonable IMO. How much? No idea what is normal these days. Maybe some of the slumlords like @Ron or @rockcity will chime in.

Nothing more to add beside... I hope she's hot and it's not too much of a distraction :D
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Clearly never been a landlord. Pets will destroy a home in no time. I absolutely love dogs and mine are great, but about 80% of the tenants out there with " perfect little angels" will leave your place in ruins.

I have a no pet policy but if it isn't a breed not allowed by insurance and they prove it's a well behaved dog and they are decent owners then sure, ok to have a dog and cat. Depending on the house theres a 250-$400 deposit and about 10% more per month pet fee. If I could charge a children fee I probably would too.
You spend 4 months and a small fortune renovating a house, let suzy pet owner move in and let me know a year or two later when they move out what a money grab it was when you're putting in new floors, blinds, trim, clawed up doors, paint, possibly subfloors if they let it piss indoors, the dust bowl of a back yard and possible insurance claims.
 
@RatLabGuy love ya - but its clear you ahev never been a landlord.

I charge half a security deposit plus $75/month (minimum, I actually get $125/month in one home but its nicer) for small dogs under 30lbs.

No cats and no large dogs.
Every one's pets are perfect, never have an accident and never chew on anything. 1 in 5 may fit that bill. The others have an occasional accident that leads to stains that leads to me replacing all carpet. At best. Or they chew on the base boards, or stair treads...or they freak out in a storm and do untold damage.

Then there is the pet smell. We love dogs. We have them in the house. Some people hate them. It will cut down on future tenants. I have to ozone the house for smells at a bare minimum.
Holes dug in yard.
Should I continue?
 
Ron said:
@RatLabGuy love ya - but its clear you ahev never been a landlord.

I charge half a security deposit plus $75/month (minimum, I actually get $125/month in one home but its nicer) for small dogs under 30lbs.

No cats and no large dogs.
Every one's pets are perfect, never have an accident and never chew on anything. 1 in 5 may fit that bill. The others have an occasional accident that leads to stains that leads to me replacing all carpet. At best. Or they chew on the base boards, or stair treads...or they freak out in a storm and do untold damage.

Then there is the pet smell. We love dogs. We have them in the house. Some people hate them. It will cut down on future tenants. I have to ozone the house for smells at a bare minimum.
Holes dug in yard.
Should I continue?
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We must have discussed this before
 
Any time I've rented, I've had a monthly 150-300/month fee. Plus I've never gotten my 1st/last month deposit back. Those conversations usually go something like this: 'Oh the carpet/drapes smell like dog now, it'll cost me at least what your first and last is, and you'll be lucky if I don't take you to court. Lady, those are $30 drapes from Ikea, and the whole condo is tile, rent is $2400/month.' Then I usually get blamed for the stain on the carpet in the hallway or elevator so it's justified. Plus I've been hit with Pet deposits, which is usually somewhere around a month's rent. But that is with a 150+lb dog too so YMMV.
 
drkelly said:
Sounds like FUCK being a landlord.
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I could never stand it. I know there are guys here that make a damn good living on it, and one of my best friends has 100+ properties and constantly tries to get me involved...but the few rental properties I had, were by far the biggest financial/business headache I've had.
 
braxton357 said:
what a money grab it was when you're putting in new floors, blinds, trim, clawed up doors, paint
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Knew people with smallish dogs who chewed the muntins on all the divided light wood windows facing the street. Knew another guy with a Weimaraner that dug a hole straight through a wall.
 
I'm not at all doubting its expensive to replace and fix shit from pets. I'm sure its a nightmare. I love my dog and, well, tolerate the cats, but I cannot stand the smell of my own house.
And I have zero interest in being a landlord and dealing with peopl... and their pets...

But does it cost you an increasing amount for every month? Is the damage 4x as bad after 4 months as 1 month, and 24x as bad after 2 years etc? I assume the cost is asymptotic over time, a lot of damage early on and then it slows way down in accrual. Is that right or do damages continue to acrue?

Just charge a big ass flat fee that will cover any and everything, and a big ass deposit. Or don't allow it. Just seems more transparent and connected to the actual cost.
When we rented our last place the landlord had something like a $500 or $1000 pet charge. We only had a cat and I'd have rather ditched the cat, but wife and kid didn't agree. He gave the option of paying it monthly for a year (note, making it about ths ame as Ron's monthly) but then it was done. We rented about 2 years and it seems reasonable in hindsight.

All I know is, my wife's parents rented the same place for 7 years with a dog. At $100 a month that would have been $8400 in pet fees. That would be a rediculous amount forked over for the doggo.
But I'll concede, you guys in the business know the math of how it works out much better than I would.
 
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braxton357 said:
Its not so bad lf you avoid being a sucker and renting to friends, family or shitty tenants. And hire a property manager
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this is what I've heard from every one of my friends that actually enjoy it. The consistent trend being very picky about tennants and having a good manager.

Which brings me back to my prior post. @jeepinmatt is she worth it? ;)
 
RatLabGuy said:
this is what I've heard from every one of my friends that actually enjoy it. The consistent trend being very picky about tennants and having a good manager.

Which brings me back to my prior post. @jeepinmatt is she worth it? ;)
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Hey now, 1 woman in my life is more than enough trouble ;)
 
jeepinmatt said:
Hey now, 1 woman in my life is more than enough trouble ;)
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Ah, so you're inviting another dude, that comes with an inevitably cute ass puppy, to live on your property? You're either confident or stupid.
Or both
 
RatLabGuy said:
Ah, so you're inviting another dude, that comes with an inevitably cute ass puppy, to live on your property? You're either confident or stupid.
Or both
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Definitely one of the two, but I still haven't figured out which. :D
 
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