Pet fee and pet deposit?

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Not all cats spray, that's the work if not neutered male cats. That is a horrible smell! That could be avoided by asking that cats be fixed before allowing to rent.

It's the cost of doing business for a landlord whether you are replacing a pet ruined carpet, filling holes where junior tried out dad's new hammer , or trying to remove the stench of a smoker.

Incorrect. Though most common in unneutered males, ALL cats can and do spray - male, female, whether fixed or not. Admittedly, the female isn't as noxious smelling, but it's still bad.

I had a female fixed cat who started spraying when I got a second cat. The carpet in one room was qypuickky ruined, and I found a new home for the second cat. And I paid fir that carpet with my security and pet deposits without complaint.

Can Female Cats Spray? - Pets

5 Easy Ways to Control Territorial Cat Spraying

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Not all cats spray, that's the work if not neutered male cats. That is a horrible smell! That could be avoided by asking that cats be fixed before allowing to rent.

It's the cost of doing business for a landlord whether you are replacing a pet ruined carpet, filling holes where junior tried out dad's new hammer , or trying to remove the stench of a smoker.

I can understand why certain landlords would prefer to specialize in 55+ communities. There are definitely people out there who would prefer to live in non-smoking, no-children, no-pet environments wherever possible. Why live in a zoo when you don't have to?

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Not all cats spray, that's the work if not neutered male cats. That is a horrible smell! That could be avoided by asking that cats be fixed before allowing to rent.

It's the cost of doing business for a landlord whether you are replacing a pet ruined carpet, filling holes where junior tried out dad's new hammer , or trying to remove the stench of a smoker.

Where do you actually think the money for repairs on a rental comes from? Renting houses is a low-margin business if you're providing decent homes & maintaining them properly - and allowing tenants that smoke, pets, or people with bad credit are all high-risk activities with very little reward for the landlord - even if you're collecting "pet rent" @ $50/mo, or $600 a year is a silly gamble without much upside. Again, I don't think you've ever had to write a check to have damage repaired, or you wouldn't talk about a "cost of doing business" - just *one* sliding-door screen (custom-made, because the door was out of production) cost me $350. A carpet remnant for one average-sized bedroom, installed with pad & tack-strips by the cheap guy on Craigslist costs upwards of $300. A single, cheap, hollow-core interior door will set you back $300 with moldings, labor & painting.

Someone in the "business" of renting houses needs to use licensed, professional repair dudes who come promptly when called & write real receipts for tax purposes - that isn't your average craigslist "handyman" & it costs a ton more than doing repairs on a home you live in. Every single day that a rental is out-of-service & not rentable = real, measurable lost income - so a professional landlord needs to pay real money for repairs & that money only comes from one source - tenants. A really *great* rental unit only provides a couple thousand bucks a year in "profit" after expenses in the best case, and huge losses in the worst case.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Incorrect. Though most common in unneutered males, ALL cats can and do spray - male, female, whether fixed or not. Admittedly, the female isn't as noxious smelling, but it's still bad.

I had a female fixed cat who started spraying when I got a second cat. The carpet in one room was qypuickky ruined, and I found a new home for the second cat. And I paid fir that carpet with my security and pet deposits without complaint.

Can Female Cats Spray? - Pets

5 Easy Ways to Control Territorial Cat Spraying

Technically true, but it is the spray of not neutered male cats that is the real stinky stuff. Trust me, I know all about cats. I grew up in a house where we had more than 20 cats at one time, and since then I have not had less than 2. I have witnessed neutered males and even females "spraying" but it isn't the same thing.

Bottom line is, that's what deposits are for. That's the risk you take letting other people live in your property. If that is too much for (general) you, maybe being a landlord isn't for you!

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

Where do you actually think the money for repairs on a rental comes from? Renting houses is a low-margin business if you're providing decent homes & maintaining them properly - and allowing tenants that smoke, pets, or people with bad credit are all high-risk activities with very little reward for the landlord - even if you're collecting "pet rent" @ $50/mo, or $600 a year is a silly gamble without much upside. Again, I don't think you've ever had to write a check to have damage repaired, or you wouldn't talk about a "cost of doing business" - just *one* sliding-door screen (custom-made, because the door was out of production) cost me $350. A carpet remnant for one average-sized bedroom, installed with pad & tack-strips by the cheap guy on Craigslist costs upwards of $300. A single, cheap, hollow-core interior door will set you back $300 with moldings, labor & painting.

Someone in the "business" of renting houses needs to use licensed, professional repair dudes who come promptly when called & write real receipts for tax purposes - that isn't your average craigslist "handyman" & it costs a ton more than doing repairs on a home you live in. Every single day that a rental is out-of-service & not rentable = real, measurable lost income - so a professional landlord needs to pay real money for repairs & that money only comes from one source - tenants. A really *great* rental unit only provides a couple thousand bucks a year in "profit" after expenses in the best case, and huge losses in the worst case.

The collect "pet rent", "kid rent", "smoker rent", "bad credit" rent and every other kind of extra fee you can milk out of people if you are not able to balance the repairs vs. profit. Or get out of the landlord business and do something more lucrative.

To the OP, the bottom line is this...not all places charge pet rent. Keep looking! Good luck!