Should You Allow Pets in Your Condo Building?

Should You Allow Pets in Your Condo Building?

As a property owner in Chicago you may be considering allowing pets in your buildings that you lease to tenants. There are many benefits to allowing the four-legged furry residents to join, but you should be aware of the downsides as well. While allowing pets to be a part of your rental community can add income, it can also bring some disadvantages to your property and your insurance coverages that you should know about.

When making the decision for your property management team in Chicago to allow pets, be sure to consider the following advantages and disadvantages.

Benefits of Allowing Pets

There are many advantages to you as the Chicago condominium property owner in allowing your tenants or future tenants to bring along their furry family members. Here are just a few of them you’ll reap when allowing pets to live in your building:

• Additional Income Potential – When allowing pets as part of your property management agreement, you can add additional income to your rental fees. This includes items such as a pet deposit and potential rent increases. If you want to allow pets, you could charge a percentage more per month for the apartment to cover the fees for cleaning after the pets.
• New Tenant Pool – When you do not allow pets in your rental property, it can limit the tenants you can find. There are many responsible tenants looking for sound housing that have pets and do not wish to leave them behind. That is a great number of potential tenants that you are closing yourself off to when you do not allow their pets to come along.
• Potential Longer-Term Clients – Statistically, people who have pets are looking to settle down and sign a lease for a longer term than those without the responsibility. They are most often those who do not like to hop from one rental to the next and usually stay in their home for a longer duration. This means that you could reduce the vacancy rate and keep sound, responsible tenants.

Disadvantages to Pets

While there are many benefits to you allowing pets, there are also some downsides you need to consider as well. Before your property management team in Chicago decides to allow them without any hesitation, consider these ideas:

• Possible Damage – No matter how well behaved a pet can be, there are potentials for damage to your apartments. This could be caused by a pet chewing on items in the home or having an accident on the carpet. This could mean that in-between tenants you have to invest in additional repairs and maintenance.
• The Danger to Other Tenants – While dogs and cats may be the sweetest of animals to their owners, there’s always a potential for dangers to strangers. It is very important that the animal be well trained and on their best behavior to prevent the risk of injury to another tenant in the building.
• Noise Issues – Dogs like to bark, and cats can meow if they have separation anxiety or even if they are just excited. It can cause neighbors to complain.

These are just a few ideas you should keep in mind when considering pets as part of your Chicago property management plan. You must weigh both the pros and cons before making this difficult decision.