WatchMost complexes simply deny pets. Those that allow them, often charge pet premiums which I assume is just a money grab because they know pet owners have limited choices. Then there are those that ask for larger deposits ($250-$500 per pet). Or those asking for cleaning deposits when they move out($150-300).
So far, I've let people own pets and not really worried about it. I'm renting to premium people. These units are very nice and the quality of tenant has been very strong so far.
I figure if they leave and the animal has done damage, they won't make me go through a small claims case, and if it's over their deposit amount, the $500 extra isn't going to do anything anyway because their rents are already in the $2000 range. I could see asking for $500 extra if they were renting for say $1000, but in the $2000 range, I have a decent amount held anyway.
Is there anything I am missing? Dogs could scratch up the floors or stain it with pee/crap that is left there for hours while someone is at work. Possibly redoing part of the floor. Repainting, some touch up work.
Cats spraying, that concerns me. I've never dealt with it, but I suspect it's not that easy to clean up.
I see pet owners are generally being abused by the system, so they're happy to not be screwed by someone and will actually pay slightly higher rents because of their limited choices.
Are there other reasons not to accept pets? Any major horror stories?
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Patrick says
OK, I think you can now successfully upload images to comments when you edit them.
Earlier, image upload seemed to work only when you first create the comment.
Please tell me about other bugs!
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pkennedy says
Has anyone tried an industrial ionizer. I was looking at an apartment that had one running and it was impossible to smell anything. It was like the ions made the whole place smell fresh in a very neutral way. I even turned off the ionizer and it still was perfect. It just made me wonder why they had it there in the first place. Grow house?
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JohnAlexander says
Hey, I like cars too!
I have two cats and when I was looking for my rental house in California I originally avoided everything that mentioned "No Pets." But then I realized there was almost nothing left and changed my strategy.
Being that I am one of the best tenants ever (only been a homeowner), I put together a family resume with photos, to include my cat. I have the best cat ever so I didn't need to embelish anything, but I mentioned his age, his vet, and some cute quirks of his. Included photos of the house I had just left due to divorce, a beautiful place with gorgeous landscaping.
After touring desirable properties with the owner/manager, I brought out copies of my resume, copy of my credit report, and a filled out generic rental application. I then mentioned my cat. Needless to say the house I chose made an exception to their pet policy and allowed my cat. It was the perfect house, only had three owners and had never been rented before. We were very happy there.
I took beautiful care of it, even doing some upgrades using my own money. Absolutely no smell as the catbox stayed in the garage with access via a pet door through the garage door, replaced that door before I moved.
As long as you look and act like the exact tenant they want in their house, they will likely make an exception for you. Don't show up with your makeup streaked down your face from the night before, wearing sweats and dragging a snotty kid. I toured during the week so I was fully dressed and ready for work - hair done, makeup on, work clothes and heels.
I had numerous properties that wanted to rent to me after I had my ducks in a row.
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Emeryville, CA
I had no problems in the inner Bay finding a place that allowed pets. I've rented houses, duplexes and am now in an Apartment building. I didn't get "laid away" per se, although my current unit is a bit pricey. Most of my rentals have been under 2K. No pet fee nor deposit, except on the apartment building.
The newer construction multi-family buildings have a lot of nice soundproofing, serviceable carpeting, frequent janitorial service, gardeners, etc, but most importantly good clientele. My building has a lot of professionals, Doctors, hipsters and whatnot. Two fast elevators means that many, even with friendly dogs, just wait for the next available elevator (which arrives in under a minute or two). They also take the stairs, or wait until you pass. Everyone is very courteous!
Just my .02. Rent to good people and it won't be an issue!
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Landru3000 says
Just Jack London Square? Nowhere else in Oakland? (Or S.F.?)
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errc says
Uh...I've never paid more than 29.99 for a pair of pants. Shirts, I don't even bother with anymore.
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Regarding the previous concerns of fleas the carpets and furniture should be professionally cleaned between tenants anyway. This takes care of the vast majority of any flea infestation. A few flea bombs will eliminate the rest. After the carpets have dried sprinkle boric acid onto the carpet. This stuff works wonders at preventing flea infestations and even to eliminate chronic flea problems. Heck you could even treat your tenants to free frontline/advantage.
As for pet stains on hardwood I don't know of any fix but I have not had to confront such a problem firsthand. I suppose replacement of the panels as a last resort. Prevention with a good wood sealent is probably the best course but that is just a guess.
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robertoaribas says
patrick, really, you oughta silence this prankster hoaxster for masquerading as a community college teacher that s/he is trying to make look bad.
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JodyChunder says
You still wear pants? Why?
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San Ramon, CA
What do you mean by "premium people"?
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New Renter says
What a hassle. I have a better idea: Don't rent to dog owners.
You know a flea is a parasitic blood sucking organism? And it spreads the following diseases:
Lyme Disease, Cat Scratch Fever, Rocky Mountain Fever, General Plague, Endemic typhus, Zootonic Disease, Bartonella, Erlichiosis, Rickettsiae, Meningoencephalitis, Tapeworms.
(trailer park accent) "I don't care I love my dawg!"
Ha Ha Ha
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Victorville, CA
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New Renter says
I have a buffalo sofa and I'd chafe like hell sitting on that without some sansabelts. Sometimes I can get away with just a Kimono.
rufita11 says
You caught that, too...I think it means eugenically engineered humans within one or two degrees of mammalian perfection, but just shy of the sheer brilliance required for being a SFH rental baron in Redwood City.
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Michael Cooke says
(necessary footnote denoting hilarity)
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San Ramon, CA
robertoaribas says
Robert just became my hero. Sorry about your loss :(
All of my landlords have LOVED our dalmatian. He's super quiet, doesn't destroy anything and loves everyone, so we were able to get a good resume on him. We also put up lots of videos and pics, so anyone can check him out. Now he's earning Google ad money every quarter ;p
Our favorite place was a tiny house with wall to wall tile. I absolutely hate carpet anyway. There's really no reason for it in the Bay Area.
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pkennedy says
Nope. My best friend let her baby crawl around without a diaper a lot and the landlord had to replace the carpet when they moved out of the house. Pretty disgusting. The landlord thought they had been keeping a pet without permission. Nope--just a kid peeing all over the place.
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Michael Cooke says
As are slumlords.
Are you really complaining about cleaning the carpets between tenancies? Isn't this required by law in many areas? Flea foggers and boric acid powder are neither expensive nor a hassle.
That is unless you are a slumlord...
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rufita11 says
Sound transmission. Tile, hardwood, laminate, vinyl all reflect sound while carpet kills it. Carpet keeps the home much quieter.
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San Ramon, CA
Michael Cooke says
How much does a brush that broad cost? Is it more expensive than your pants?
All snark aside, I will not let my dog put his nose on anyone and will not get in an elevator with him if there are others in it. I am always surprised at the number of strangers who run up and love on my dog, even kissing him in the face--I won't even do that. I was in downtown Walnut Creek and a perfectly normal looking guy leaned over and gave my dog an ear massage, sticking his fingers all the way in--my dog was in heaven :).
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San Jose, CA
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rufita11 says
How old was the carpet and how long had your friend been living there? The carpet may have needed replacing anyways.
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San Ramon, CA
New Renter says
I visited a few times and the carpet looked new. The house itself was only about 15 years old. They kept the house very clean, but liked to air out the baby ;p.
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San Jose, CA
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Regarding carpet and pet/kid stains.
Mohawk did a publicity stunt a few years ago where they installed smartstrand (triexta) carpet in the living enclosures of a black rhinoceros, six African elephants and a few camels. The animals lived on the carpets for a few weeks doing what they do best. The carpets were then cleaned using ordinary methods (hot water extraction, spot cleaning etc.) The results were pretty impressive, at least what can be seen on the videos.
http://www.smartstrandchallenge.com/
I have since read some comments elsewhere that the test samples did have some residual odor but given the severity of the tests and the ordinary methods of cleaning this is not surprising. I'd guess that using a dilute bleach solution would kill any residual odors.
It shouldn't matter anyway as the carpet has a lifetime warranty for pet stains. Put this or similar carpet over a good spillguard carpet pad and pet/kid stains should not be much of an issue.
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rufita11 says
That's what lawns are for!
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Los Angeles, CA
Patrick says
I disliked someone's post last week by accident - is this reversible? Same question for Like-ing a post. Thanks.
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Los Angeles, CA
CL says
Of course, MOST of the good people are homeowners. The best tenants are mostly the best of the rest, give or take a few market timers, folks in temporary transition*, etc.
* Even this isn't necessarily a great tenant, because s/he's going to move soon and require turnover.
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Los Angeles, CA
Michael Cooke says
You could easily replace the word DOG with KID and tell the same story.
As for toy/small dogs being better, they are the worst of the dog kingdom. They are usually the yappers and incessant barkers, and often, the dogs that are aggressive and wannabe-dominant over other dogs and people. Hence the term "small dog complex".
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Los Angeles, CA
New Renter says
What god forsaken town is that? If you have ever owned, did you replace the carpets every year or two? If so, why?
Oddly, paint and carpet lasts homeowners for years if not a decade or more, but tenants only a year or two.
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San Jose, CA
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JG1 says
If you actually read my post I said CLEAN, not REPLACE
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Los Angeles, CA
Mea culpa re: your post.
The tenants should clean at moveout however - some leases specify this (where allowed by law). And my comments about the lifespan of renter paint and carpet vs owner paint and carpet stand.
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
New Renter says
My friend had four cats and the management finally changed the carpet after seven years. The padding almost fused into the concrete. They had to use a shovel to scrape the padding up. We sprayed enzyme deoderizer on the stained concrete. The smell was so bad the worker almost passed out. We found him on the lawn on his knees puking. But once the new carpet was in you would never have know there were cats.
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zzyzzx,
I can haz image re-size?
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San Jose, CA
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ELC says
That sucks. Hopefully the management company took some precautions this time by sealing the concrete and using a quality carpet pad.
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San Jose, CA
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JG1 says
Which is also why most SFRs demand a substantial cleaning deposit.
Your post implies I had said the carpet should be replaced between renters which I did not. Of course carpet - properly installed and maintained - should have a useful lifetime of many years with the length of that lifetime proportional to the quality of the carpet, pad, install, maintenance and degree of use.
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A box is all he can afford in San Fran.
All those homeless people you see in SF are investment bankers making six figures.
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Redwood City, CA
Before people started getting abusive and discussing one off situations, it seems that allowing pets isn't terrible. What I would call "cheap" damage is that around doors where they might scrape things. That isn't horrendous, and their deposit will cover that.
The carpet/flooring issues are a little troubling, but it appears that the limited supply and higher rents for these places will attract many extra good tenants, allowing for higher possible rents and at the very least, a larger pool of people to select from. Over all it is probably worth it.
I will avoid large dogs that might cause death, that could be a costly law suit, even though extremely unlikely. These places aren't suitable for large dogs anyways, so it's partially moot. But smaller pets and cats seem ok. There are decent ways to repair the damages a cat/dog might cause.
The comments regarding children doing similar underfloor damage, that was some extreme one off case. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else making those complaints. Those are just things to deal with in life, not something to worry about. There are plenty of odd people out there, but I'm just interested in the cases I'm likely to run into.
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Los Angeles, CA
pkennedy says
While a large dog might be inherently more dangerous due to size, strength, bigger teeth, it is really the breed and the way the dog has been socialized and trained that determines how dangerous it is. Pitbulls aren't that large, but they are probably more dangerous on average than a giant Newfoundland, a breed known as the gentle giant.
New Renter - I addressed my error in a follow-up post. If you want an apology, here it is: Sorry for misreading your post.
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San Jose, CA
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JG1 says
My apologies, my Latin is sorely lacking as you may have already gathered :)
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JodyChunder says
Lose the sofa, you can thank me later.
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Romnesia might tie them to the roof of a car and drive off to Canada.