Young Tenants have a cute little puppy dog! AND want to pay more rent?

[Happi]

Hi PT Groupies

I have an average unit in Auckland that I am advertising for rent. Couple of strong applicants at the advertised price... AND a young couple (24 and 19 years old) who have a cute little puppy dog (Fox terrier). They have offered to pay an additional 15% on the advertised rate to secure the unit... (very tempting!)

What would you do? I am tempted to take the extra money (IF they sign a 12 month Fixed contract) Since I will probably have the money, and plan to renovate the property anyway in the next 9 to 12 months (so the doggy mess/ smell will not be an issue)

My fears are that they may be unstable (might break up? etc) and then in a few weeks/months I am left with a smelly doggy poo poo unit with little or no comebacks!... and at that time I will not be in a position to renovate.

Your thoughts and observations are most welcome :-)

[ScottSI]

What do their previous landlord's say about them? If private check the person you have is also the owner of the place they say they were renting etc.

No guarantees in life with tenant relationships but sounds fine on thinking re renovation etc.

[Keys]

Babies (including cute puppies) like something to chew on. In your case that could be doors, sides of benches etc. Take that on board.

[donna]

Umm can you take a 'dog bond' (an extra week) + the extra in rent?

cheers,

Donna

[Maccachic]

RTA makes it illegal to ask for more than 4 weeks bond regardless of what it is called. Think someone on here suggested a guarantor can provide security tho.

[Leftette]

Puppies also have a habit of weeing and pooing (often not hard, easily moveable ones either) wherever and whenever the urge takes them. If your carpet wasn't going to be chucked during the renovation, it might just need to be.

[Leftette]

Short question was - is it toilet trained. If YES, I'd not have a problem. If not, I would. How do you know if they're telling you the truth when you ask this question, though. They'll err on the side of YES if they'd had some minor successes to date in their training of said pooch.

[Gladdynook]

I wouldn't be concerned about the dog, it's more the tenants themselves. Why did they offer the extra 15%? Desperate, or bad record? Just because they offer more, doesn't mean they can actually afford it in practice.

As you say, can they afford to stay there if they split, or one loses their job?

I'd go for the other couple.

[drelly]

Say "no way in hell". It's not worth the hassle.

[skid]

Youd be surprised how much $$ worth of stuff a dog can chew through--It doesnt take long to go through $2-$3000--Think doors -skirts-and other so called permanent fixtures.

[mrsaneperson]

Check out their references first & foremost ,if they are decent people they will look after the dog & take responsible for any damage that occurs so it should not be an issue.

[Happi]

Thanks everyone for your feedback! AND Thank You KEYS!

Thanks everyone for your feedback! AND Thank You KEYS! Your guarantor letter was the key that gave us confidence and allowed us to give these tenants a chance. We gave them a time limited, conditional offer of tenancy. One of the terms was that their parents would offer a guarantee, for their one year fixed term tenancy (at a higher than advertised rate) to compensate for the dog in the house etc.

At the meeting, one set of parents did not show up! And the other started to have a go at me for asking for a higher rent just because they had a cute little puppy dog... needless to say... I said thanks for wasting my time (i went to meet them- Note to self: Always get the tenant and guarantor to come to you).

I still sincerely wish the young couple (and their dog) all the very best. They look like a nice enough, responsible couple that need a little bit of good luck to get into their first rental property.

Thats all folks! Thanks again for contributing your thoughts and opinion :-)

[Keys]

You're welcome.

Thanks for reporting back.

[teamchase]

you could put clauses in the tenancy agreement to counter issues a puppy will undoubtedly cause:
they will chew on things so: require them to have things the dog can teethe on,
It will pee and poo inside from time to time, so require them to have dog pads (scented mats that are like a dog nappy they do work).
A bored dog locked inside can do some serious damage, so require that if the dog is left at home it is left outside. etc.

the other thing to seriously consider is: are they both full time workers? if so theres alot more trouble a-brewin, if you have a full fenced property, then this will reduce the stress, but holes will be dug! as you mentioned, your going to do a re-vamp, so the concern is reducing the damage it could do, which the points above address.