Real Estate

Great Real Estate Ideas

The benefits of allowing pets in your rental property

Pets or No Pets – A Landlords Guide

If you own a rental property, one of your key objectives is undoubtedly to find and retain good tenants. With a growing supply of houses and apartments across Australia’s capital cities, the rental landscape can be extremely competitive. No longer is it enough to attract good tenants, it is equally important that landlords and agents are doing everything they can to retain good tenants after the lease is signed. Keeping hold of renters who pay their rent on time, look after your property and require limited management from you or your agent are worth keeping hold of. But how do you do this?

Have you considered allowing pets in your rental property? Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world with about 63% of Australian households owning pets according to the RSPCA and many of these pet owners are renters. The majority of landlords are reluctant to allow pets, therefore if you are prepared to, you will likely gain a competitive advantage.

Pet friendly rentals are highly coveted and will attract many more tenants into your tenant pool. A larger tenant pool means faster letting and lower vacancies, plus due to the rarity of pet friendly properties, research indicates that tenants are willing to pay between 7-14% more if they can bring their pets. Pet friendly properties are hard to find and in many cases pet owners will sign longer leases which will ensure you have reliable long term rental income, stable tenants, reduced vacancy rates and reduced advertising costs for re-letting your property.

What type of pets should you allow?

Determine what type of pet is appropriate for every rental property you own. If you only have a small courtyard, then a cat might have to be the limit. If there is a large garden but no fence, a dog might be an issue. As a landlord you retain complete control over what animals are allowed to live at your property.

Consider the amount of carpet in the property – tiles and wooden floors are obviously better for animals as they don’t retain odour, but they may be scratched by claws. If the property comes furnished check whether pet loved furniture such as couches can be easily damaged.

It is important also to think of neighbours living in close quarters and whether the introduction of an animal may disturb their peace and quiet. We buy houses Chicago.

Ensure tenants sign a pet policy

It’s a good idea to document a pet agreement for both you and your tenant to sign.

This agreement may request that all pets are to be individually sighted and approved by the landlord / or property manager prior to entering the property and include details such as the type and number of pets allowed.

It is worth including specific guidelines you would like your tenants to follow. For example, you may request that the pet is not allowed inside the premises, that it cannot enter certain areas of the home, such as carpeted bedrooms and for the tenant to ensure the property is free from animal smells, pet waste and pet hairs.

If your property is part of a strata or community title it is essential you check the corporation’s by-laws in regards to whether pets are allowed before you agree to let them in. Many corporations prohibit pets or have very specific requirements about the type of pet which may be considered.

Thoroughly check references

Your Property Manager will always do a thorough check of potential tenants’ references during the screening process, but it is essential that they specifically ask previous landlords or property managers whether there were any issues with the applicant’s pets in the past and whether there was damage to the property as a result of the pets.

9 tips to style your apartment to sell

Create a great first impression

The first thing to do is to make sure that everything looks clean and well cared for. A freshly painted front door and surrounding structure will look fresh and inviting. Door handles should be clean and if they are scratched consider replacing them. If you have the space outside your front door, a potted plant outside the entrance can help make your home more welcoming. If your communal entrance way looks dirty, it’s worth getting a broom and a mop and giving it a once over too.

The kitchen – the room that sells

The kitchen is the one room that can make or break a sale. It’s usually the most expensive room in any house, so prospective buyers don’t want to see a kitchen that need a total upgrade.

Define your living space and create the feeling of space

Your aim here is to make your apartment seem as big as possible – to create as much visual floor space as you can and to ensure your layout flows as this can have a big impact on how big the apartment feels. By ensuring you have clearly defined living, dining, outdoor, office spaces, bedrooms etc will help create order and the perception of space. You don’t need to install a physical barrier that may disturb the space, you can achieve this by using rugs. Consider adding one under your dining table and one under your sofas and coffee table.

Use neutral colours on the sofa

To help your living room feel larger, a styling trick interior designers use is to use neutral colours on your sofa. If your sofa is a similar tone to the walls it will blend in and not dominate the space. Also by using shades of one colour in a room will create cohesion and makes a room feel more open. As there is little contrast in the room the buyer will be able to look through the room uninterrupted, creating the illusion of space. You can add interest with different textural elements such as cushions, throws and rugs.

Make the most of the outdoors

Aussies love being outdoors so if you have a balcony make the most of it. Is there room to add a full table setting and chairs? You only need 1-1.5m clear walkway around the table and chairs. By adding this not only will it make your balcony feel larger, it will create an extra living area which is very appealing to buyers. If you don’t have the amount of space to fit a full out door suite, consider adding a small table and a couple of chairs with a colourful pot plant happily placed on the table.

Use a mirror to create feeling of space and light

Adding a mirror can instantly make a room feel more spacious. They help reflect light which helps make the room look brighter and can give the illusion of another light source in the room. For small spaces mirrors can give the appearance of more space as it reflects the room making buyers feel that it is larger than it actually is.

Get bold with your artwork

This may be the opposite of what you think, but surprisingly a bold painting on the wall has the ability to make a room feel more expansive unlike several smaller pieces that can have the effect of cluttering up the space. Additionally, make sure you remove all your clutter from bench tops and cabinets as this will be help the buyers eye travel around the room at open of inspection without being interrupted and help create the feeling of space.

Create a bit of luxury in the bathroom

Clean your tiles and grouting and make sure your windows, mirrors and shower screens are spotless and free of streaks. Hairs in the drains are a real put off, so check these before you open your home to buyers. Who buys houses in Sacramento

Create space and sanctuary in your bedroom

After the number of bedrooms, buyers are most interested in size. Use neutral colors to make your bedroom/s seem larger. Reduce the amount of furniture to maximize the feeling of space. For instance, if you have a small room, use a double bed instead of a queen or bunk beds in the kid’s rooms.

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