Concierge pet service agreement as an alternative to pet rent? (apt complex, lease)

[Brice4TCIE]

Just spit balling here ... Any feedback welcome!

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INTRO
I represent a small family owned an operated apartment community in a very pet-friendly locale. We've been trying to strike a balance in Pet Policy between 'friendliness' and risk management.

The obvious solutions are to place restrictions on pets (or decline them all together) and/or to increase fees/charges/deposits.

Then there are the arguments for trying to separate 'good' owners from 'bad' owners during the application process.

A creative alternative that's come up is to work out a preferred vendor arrangement with one or more local concierge (direct-to-the-door) pet services companies.

The theory is that increased levels of pet care will reduce complaints and unit damage long term while improving quality of life for pets, owners, and neighbors. Everybody wins.

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NUMBERS
Approximately 40% of our tenant population currently owns pets. (Down from closer to 70% when we acquired the property 2 years ago). Another 10-20% would adopt if rates were dropped.

Cost wise, we are currently charging Tenants up to $1,000 deposit, $500 in fees, and $40/mo in 'pet rent'. (While apartment rents range from $975-1,100).

The monthly cost to have a single pet walked once/day 5 days/wk is ~$300 ($15*5days*4wks [20 instances]).

The monthly cost to have additional pets serviced on the same schedule from the same address is ~+$5/instance.

This means that, with scale, consumer pricing for this service approaches ~$100/mo (1/3 what a tenant would pay individually).

It may be possible to get the cost to tenant down to as low as ~$75/mo. (Possibly lower since our property contains a sizable, fenced, dog-friendly, yard running the length of the property).

On average, a unit that's had a 'good' pet owner generates no complaints, presents minimal 'damage' upon turnover, and adds an extra 10-20 man hours in turnover costs (odor elimination, dander removal, additional appliance servicing, etc). In these cases, the deposit is fully refunded and we more or less break even on identifiable added costs (Most of these 'good' owners have pet situations for which we charge closer to $250/$150/$10 respectively).

On the other hand, units that have been occupied by a 'bad' pet owner generate many complaints, present significant damage, and can add upward of 40 man hours to turnover costs. In these cases, deposits are not refunded and additional costs are incurred. Depending on their amount/nature, these costs are either eaten (by us) or billed back to the former Tenant.

The question is what sort of cost savings/value added would we, as a rental property, realize by offering an incentive to utilize such a service? And, at what numbers/structure would such an incentive make sense?

For example, being able to achieve a 2% increase on rents as a whole would (as the result of value-added to Tenant community) allow us to eliminate pet fees/monthly charges entirely.

Obviously there is more nuance to this and any added-cost-to-tenants should be proportionally shifted toward pet owners but the rough idea seems workable.

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FEEDBACK
Pet owners - How would you feel about utilizing a pet care service (walks, feeding, attention, boarding as needed, emergencies, unit access, etc)? Would it be something worth paying for? Any other questions or concerns you'd have?

Non owners - Would reduced pet noise/mess have any meaningful value to you? Would you be concerned at all that increased pet volume as a result of increased pet friendliness outweighs any benefits?

PM/LL/Owners - Would you consider something like this for one of your properties? Have you heard of or tried anything similar? (As I mentioned, we're small and family owned/operated ... We're working with limited context here). Are there any additional quantifiable costs/benefits I've missed? Any other alternatives that come to mind? Any additional liability concerns you foresee?

[Corn-fused]

As a pet owner, no I would not be interested. I can easily get someone off of craigslist for a nominal fee if/when needed. I think you will find it difficult to find tenants to make a commitment for every day service and pay upfront monthly fees like that. You could definitely recommend a service but that is far as I would go.

As a LL/PM we would never have considered anything like that when we did allow dogs. It is far too much maintenance just to manage it. We have good responsible pet owners and at this time we only allow cats due to too many previous problems with dogs mainly; barking and not picking up after themselves on property, etc. We had no problems whatsoever with giving one warning and then evicting if not resolved. We eventually just phased out all dog owners.

As a non-dog owner, that is a given that there should be no issues regarding habitual barking and it should be addressed and resolved by the LL effectively. I do not see where that type of service is necessarily going to resolve those types of problems completely, not to mention all of the additional expense to tenants on top of your deposits, fees, etc. Plus, I personally think it would be too much babysitting and too much maintenance. Again, I would recommend a service as a courtesy but not go any further.

I would think that it would help more if you were to screen thoroughly upfront and communicate with potential tenants on the breeds of dogs, requesting pet references from previous LLs (if applicable), and also get vet references, etc. Also go through in depth prior to renting to pet owners what the duties, responsibilities and expectations are, what will and will not be tolerated as well as the consequences if any of those things are abused. This should also be addressed in the lease.

We find that the more that we are upfront and communicate with our tenants and vise versa the fewer issues we have. And many times, a lot of it is resolved during the screening process if the applicant knows where you stand and if the applicant knows that they have a problem pet (or might have one) they know you mean business and they end up not following through with their application. It is best to nip it in the bud prior to renting as much as possible instead of having to deal with the problems later.

[Electrician4you]

I allow pets on some rentals. My additional deposit for pets is a pretty hefty charge. Enough to have the tenant put some skin in the game. I don't charge a monthly pet rent. I guess I could but I don't. I recently implemented a renters insurance policy for 100k coverage but that's regardless of pet or no pet. I offer no services for pets at all.

[Katie1]

I bet the Law would Not allow you to do that. Sounds weird to me. IF you getting a lot of problems with allowing pets I suggest you STOP! Or set higher standards...except pets that Have Been to Obedience Classes or Have CGC. Don't except Puppies or Kittens [in my apt complex Nothing under 6 months.] MUST be house or Litter box trained. UTD on Shots, Worming & have City tags. Must be S/N. Owners must pickup after their dogs. No dogs over 40# ....certain breeds are banned. THOSE are some of the Rules we live by to have pets.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Having a nice walk midday does not stop an untrained dog from barking when alone. It does not stop a dog from fouling the house because a dog needs to go outside more than once a day.

Who is going to pay the dog walker? Because some tenants will promise whatever you ask for but in practice, they won't come up with the money to pay for it.

I doubt that you would get as much discount as you hope for. The dog walker comes to one area, but still must go to each individual house, secure the dogs, walk then all, and then go back to each individual house to return the dogs.

I assume you are considering paying a second service to come around 3-4 times a week and clean up any dog poop on the grounds.

As a dog owner, I would be reluctant to pay $300 a month for a dog walker. I can take care of my own dog and I don't like having a stranger opening my door and the additional risk of my dog escaping. Every adult dog I've ever owned has been able to go 8 hours without accidents. Also, is that $300 a month per dog, because I have 3 dogs.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

OP, I allow dogs and have had very little trouble from dogs in my rentals. I interview the dog before it is accepted and I evaluate the dog's manners and training. I evaluate how well cared for the dog is. I discuss with the potential tenants their philosophy of dog care.

I also have a list of breeds I do not allow. It is my insurance company's banned breeds list plus a few of my own.

I do not allow puppies. Dogs must be over 12 months old and over 18 months old for terriers. I require rabies vaccination and dogs must be neutered or spayed. The dog that is permitted is described and named on the rental agreement, no additional animals may be added without written permission.

I only use month to month rental agreements and if the dog causes any problems, I simply give the tenant notice to vacate. I've had two different tenants sneak in a pit bull and those tenants got their notice to leave, no arguing, no remedy, and no second chances.

I happen to have free standing houses with fenced yards and 3/4 of my houses have dog doors. If I owned apartment buildings, I would not allow pets. The tenants can't get along as it is, complaining about the noise of walking and plumbing running. I wouldn't need to add all the additional complaints about pet noise, pet dirt, and whatever aspect of the pet bothered the neighbor tenant's delicate little sensibilities.

[Brice4TCIE]

Thanks for the feedback!

TO CLARIFY
Not talking about handling any pets directly. Not talking about running any program. Simply talking about leveraging a better rate for tenants as a perk of residency ... And then offering some minor concession to offset tenant-paid charges with proof of enrollment. (Similar to putting up a flyer for %5 off the restaurant from across the street dropped off).

No new staff, no new service, no liability assumed for tenant pets, no new charges to tenants.

The question was cost/benefit of this as compared to status quo with current requirements/policies.

Nothing to be required in leases or by tenant. Adjust C/B analysis for participation rates.

As an aside, preliminary talks showed licensed/bonded/insured service providers willing to go as low as 50% discount with 5 or more participants. They'd set it up as a regular time slot and otherwise handle business directly with tenants as if they were any other customers. (Not bad if it's something a tenant is interested in already!)

CONCLUSION
Sounds like general feedback is that it's not worth any sort of material cost/concession on our end, that additional walks/attention will have no material impact on complaints/damage/maintenance, and that non pet owners wont care.

There is little-to-no value to be added.

Time is better spent elsewhere. Wouldn't hurt to put up a flyer or two if a vendor is willing to do a promo. Higher standards at time of application trump higher deposits/fees/rates or any mitigation services/practices post move in.

The idea of month-to-month for pet owners is an interesting one we hadn't considered. Could modify that to include an option for standard lease conversion after a specified trial period. This would allow us to drop pet fees by tying costs to the M2M surcharge instead (as well as reducing the risk of protracted notice/eviction/non renewal processes).

On a related note, we've done pet interviews in the past but perhaps accepting/requiring a reference letter from a pet care professional could be an improvement. (Currently this is done talking to past LL in rental history verification but this doesn't work for new pets or for tenants with gaps in rental history. [Have accepted obedience program certs in the past as well]).

[lkmax]

As a former renter and a pet owner, I'm intrigued by this. I just think you'd have to put some thought into it.

I disagree that a mid-day walk wouldn't make a difference in soiling the house and stuff like that. The thing is, people expect their dogs to not use the bathroom in the house for periods of like 8-12+ hours. Don't you have to use the bathroom at some point during that time period?

I think that even dogs that are well-trained and that will try to hold it and don't want to use the bathroom in the house probably will at some point when left home alone all day, every day.

I might be able to go 12 hours without using the bathroom most days (I'm not sure, I've never tried...never been in a situation where I was locked away from a restroom or a way to the restroom for that many hours a day, day after day, like dogs often are), but I would imagine that a day would come at some point where I'd have to go no matter how much I didn't want to. You guys don't think so? Have you never had to stop at a fast food joint or something like that on the way home or on a road trip because there was just no way you could hold it until you got to your destination? Do you go the entire work day -- every single day, without fail -- without using the restroom even once?

A mid-day walk absolutely would help with some dogs. I work from home, for example, and I take my dogs out first thing in the morning, then at lunchtime, then in the mid-afternoon, then the evening, then before bed....so basically, a schedule of me taking them out in the morning, a walker taking them out during the day, then me taking them out when I got home and so on could probably become their new "schedule" pretty easily...more easily than me just taking them out at 7am and then not taking them out again until 6pm or something like that.

However, I think it would only help TRAINED dogs that will "hold it," even with a pet walker. Some dogs are not trained at all and will do their business anywhere because they don't know any better. Something like this would not help them.

I also think a mid-day romp outside and a little attention might help with whining, crying, barking, boredom chewing/destruction, etc. Again, this is only with trained dogs that are usually pretty good anyway but that might start having issues when left for so long. Irresponsible dog owners with dogs that are not properly trained are going to cause problems regardless, but a dog is still a dog, and a service like this could certainly help if it were a well-trained dog with responsible owners.

So, I would definitely still screen dogs and tenants carefully, but I do think it would be a helpful service. I think it could be particularly smart if you can negotiate with the company to where you don't have to pay anything yourself but to where you can score a discount for tenants due to bringing the company such a volume of work and where you can provide an incentive for tenants to use it without putting your rental business at much more risk. Maybe crunch your numbers about where you can reasonably reduce your pet fees or pet rent without putting your business at more risk but where tenants will be saving a bit of cash. Or, say, charge the pet deposit and pet fees for all dogs, but drop the monthly pet fee for owners who use the service or something?

[Kim in FL]

Would I use a service like this? Probably not. Not unless you were licensed, insured, bonded and had some sort training or education and your employees had full background checks done and could provide references. I don't like strangers in my home having access to my belongings.


My dog (60lb lab mix) is home alone for 10 hours a day and doesn't have accidents. He poops twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. He doesn't bark at all while I'm gone, nor does he whine or chew on things (other than his toys) while I'm gone. He pretty much just lays around the house and plays with the cat.


You can't compare the digestive systems of dogs and humans.....it's not even remotely close.

[Koale]

Would you mind explaining why all the pet fees? What does the pet rent cover? What is the additional $500 pet fee and of course your $1,000.00 'deposit' is refundable as all deposits are. Please explain the other monies you charge.
Koale