Many people choose Orlando for investing in rental property – the Bahia team sees plenty of these and we have many properties throughout Tampa Bay that are suitable as rental properties. And we can take care of some of the headaches for you – finding you a good agency that will handle maintenance, rent collection and screening prospective clients – even if you live outside Florida or even outside of the USA.
But even if you want us to find you an agent to take care of the day-to-day running of the rental property, some things only you can decide on. Like whether the tenants are allowed pets or not, and, if so, what sort of pets.
Dogs are the pets that are most commonly mentioned in tenancy agreements. There are several reasons for this. Dogs can dig holes and wreck gardens, make a mess in the house if they’re not housebroken, track mud across carpets and menace people coming onto the property (like landlords, builders, plumbers and gardeners). However, as you know if you’re a dog owner, there is a world of difference between a small and perfectly trained Chihuahua, and a large and unruly Rottweiler. You can, of course, allow some leeway here. A pre-tenancy form can request potential tenants to give the breed of their dog, and you can take it from there, using your discretion.
Cats are less controversial, as they are cleaner and less prone to menacing people. And kitty litter trays mean that you can even keep cats in apartments. However, if you are letting your property as fully furnished, you may want to not allow cats, as they do scratch the furniture and upholstery.
“No pets” means just that in a tenancy agreement. Although I haven’t seen this done yet, you could always write a clause in that permits goldfish only…
Raul Aleman