Rent help?

I used Craigslist and a sign in the yard. Did not negotiate on rent and ran credit checks on prospective tennants with a $25 non refundable fee.

The credit check seemed to scare off the deadbeats. I checked because I did not want to see an eviction for non payment of rent. Also realize that they are renting for a reason and credit will probably not be great.

Pets: non-refundible pet fee, make it like $1,000

Deposit: 1 month rent.

Might also be smart to require the tennant to get renters insurance in the lease.

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Also realize that they are renting for a reason and credit will probably not be great.

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Really? My credit is great, my rent is higher than the average american makes in a month, that's pretty ignorant school of thought. There's people in my building with $15K/month rentals, you live in a bubble if you think people rent bc they can't buy. I'm renting for $500 more than my landlord pays in taxes and maintenance. When you factor in insurance, the fact $300 of cable and internet are included, the fact I pay $120/month of electricity on a 2200 sq ft condo, and the fact I'd need at least $200K down to buy this place, I have a steal at what I pay.....It would easily cost me $5k more a month than Im paying now in the form of a mortgage to buy it. Buying isn't always the best option, if you can afford it you can get more bang for your buck as a renter, sure you lose on equity, but I'm not worried in the long run bc I have businesses and investments that offset the loss of built equity.

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Pets: non-refundible pet fee, make it like $1,000

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LOL, way to run off perfectly good tenants. My last land lord wanted to meet my dog, 90 lb rott. After meeting him, and us, he offered for us to have him with no deposit, but we would pay for any actual damages. Moved out a few months ago and got our full security deposit back. We gave him 2 years of easy on time rent and did updates to the yard and some appliances we left. We never would have considered him if he had a ridiculous pet deposit like that, and he'd have missed out on free upgrades and good tenants.

ETA: I wouldn't consider anywhere with a non refundable deposit for anything. Too many places without them for me to just piss that money away. You'll run off good people with big non refundable deposits.

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My last land lord wanted to meet my dog, 90 lb rott. After meeting him, and us, he offered for us to have him with no deposit, but we would pay for any actual damages

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You increased the owners liability. Just because nothing happened in those 2 years doesn't make it a good idea.

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You increased the owners liability. Just because nothing happened in those 2 years doesn't make it a good idea.

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I'm not saying let any random animal in your rental, but a $1000 pocket lining, er non refundable fee, will turn people off to even inquiring about a rental.

ETA: And I'm sure that's why he wanted to meet the dog. I have no doubt he wouldn't allow us to rent if the dog was aggressive and what not, which I would have completely understood.

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ETA: And I'm sure that's why he wanted to meet the dog. I have no doubt he wouldn't allow us to rent if the dog was aggressive and what not, which I would have completely understood

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That is gambling.
No way in the world I would allow the sweetest 90lb Rot to live in my rental. If something happened and the owner was underinsured, he could have lost his house. I agree with a non refundable fee even for a small animal.

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. I agree with a non refundable fee even for a small animal.

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Well I'd never rent from someone that wasn't the least bit fair about their fees, so I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm sure you wouldn't want my Olive Garden take out in your place anyway

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Not a big fan of that word. Not sure what is unfair about fees for added cost to the owner.

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My only issue is it's non refundable. If my pet didn't do any damage at all, there isn't any added cost to you.

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You have to raise your liability insurance to cover the added risk of an animal attack. I believe a dog like a Rot requires a specific coverage rider.

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May have me on that one.

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This doesn't even consider the added costs of removing the odor associated with animals.

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Some people do actually clean after their animals, and groom them etc. There were no signs when I left my old rental that a dog was ever living there. Required a lot of effort on my part, like I said, I was a good tenant.

ETA: Should probably also add that my dog is half Australian Shepherd, so you can guess what he gets reported as for insurance purposes. I'd imagine my landlord took advantage of that as well.