Do property managers face a pet-friendly future?

If your tenants don’t own pets, they’re in the minority. That’s the finding of a new Apartments.com survey, in which a full 75% of renters said they owned one or more pets. That’s up a staggering 32% since last year. Most of these pets are cats and dogs, with fish trailing behind at 6%. (Sorry, Nemo.)

Curiously, only 63% of renters who own pets said they were required to put down a pet deposit. The most common deposit was $200+.

What’s possibly more interesting is that 58% of renters who don’t own a pet still sought out pet-friendly buildings. They want to live near pet owners. Of those renters surveyed in 2013, 78% said they lived in pet-friendly buildings, up from 59% in 2012.

The trends are clear: More renters are owning pets, and more renters without pets are warming to the idea of living near them. Add to this the fact that 65% of pet-owning renters said they had some problems finding pet-friendly rentals, and it seems clear that having pet-friendly units could put your property at a competitive advantage. Put another way, if you’re not allowing pets, you’re turning away a large subset of renters.

Are the risks of allowing renters’ pets greater than the rewards? Do you allow pets in your units? Why or why not? Share your experiences in the comments section below.