Help for Landlords

Statistics Prove Dogs More Desirable Than Cats

Dogs Considered ‘Family Members’, Cats Losing Out in Recession?

by Matt DiChiara

It has long been debated amongst pet owners which species best accompanies man in his domestic dwelling. It has been an intense and unrelenting debate most likely due to the fact that– as in academic politics–the contention is so vicious precisely because the stakes are so low.

We would now like to submit the results of a recent survey; during the recent recession, searches for cat friendly apartments dropped much more than did searches for dog friendly apartments, therefore indicating that when the going gets tough, the cats get going.

We recently conducted a study of our internal search data, which we run each quarter. The report shows for which amenities and property features renters are searching. Click here for the MyNewPlace search results page with amenity search filters highlighted below by the red circle as well as the major category filters of number of beds, number of bathrooms, property type (rental home, condo, apartment) and the filter to which this post is dedicated, pet friendly apartments.

So, if a renter searching for Atlanta apartments (pictured above) above wanted to filter their results to search for a pet friendly apartment with high speed internet, a dishwasher and a playground, the search results page and map would show only apartments that fit that criteria. Our amenity report can determine the number of these types of instances each quarter and then track how search trends are changing over time.

One especially interesting period that we wanted to track changes over was the time since the beginning of the recession, which technically began in December 2007. While we did see many changes in search trends from that time until our latest recorded data (Q2 2009), one of the most interesting changes was how the number of pet searches changed.

Taking both a national median value as well as examining trends in 35 of the nation’s top metros, it appears incontrovertible that while searches for cat friendly apartments dropped across the board, searches for dog friendly apartments remained relatively stable.

The conclusions that can be drawn from this are pretty obvious. When faced with financial hardship and economic uncertainty, cats don’t quite make it inside the wagon circle. Apparently dogs are considered more “family members” than are cats. A harsh reality, perhaps, but these numbers are difficult to dispute.

In somewhat related news, I am moving to a 3 bedroom apartment to save on rent, anyone want to adopt this cat?

Matt DiChiara is with MyNewPlace.com is a dynamic online marketplace for apartment rentals, featuring a free-to-use apartment finder to search its database of over six million listings.

See Matt DiChiara’s feature, Bad Economy Turns Renters Into Roommates.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.

New Law Will Stick it to Landlords

So much for property rights.

A councilman in Prince George’s County, Maryland has come up with a way to stick it to landlords, by making them responsible for law enforcement against their tenants.

The proposed law is part of the county’s new crime reduction program. Under the rules, landlords, not police, are responsible for dispensing justice on unruly tenants.

Forced Evictions

The new proposal requires that landlords evict tenants who have been ticketed for noise violations. This includes any sort of noise that can be heard a short distance outside the rental property. The evictions are at the landlords’ expense, in a county where the backlog can take several months to complete.

Landlords who fail to comply will lose their rights to rent in the county.

Blacklist

Once a tenant has been evicted under this new law, they are to be blacklisted from any rentals in the county, possibly for as long as a year. It is not clear whether the tenant actually has to be convicted of the noise ordinance violations before they are blacklisted.

Landlords who rent to these black sheep may face penalties, increasing the already difficult burden of screening tenants, and creating possible liability for discrimination.

Opponents to the measure point out that law enforcement is not a landlord’s job, nor their responsibility. But it appears many local residents feel that it is unruly tenants who are ruining their otherwise tranquil neighborhoods.

This law is not unlike other measures proposed in small college towns around the country, where council members are experimenting with zoning restrictions that prohibit unrelated roommates, restrict the number of residents per property, limit parking rights, impose curfews, or beef up police patrols around rental properties. In a neighborhood adjacent to the University of Colorado, a school that rates high on the party meter, the city attempted to discourage the barrage of raucous keggers and outdoor couch fires by prohibiting all residents of the neighborhood from setting any upholstered furniture on their porches, decks or lawns.

If the Maryland law does take effect, there is some controversy over whether it is constitutional to single out rental property owners.

After all, the homeowner with the chronically barking dog is not being threatened with seizure of their property.

See AAOA”s feature, Landlord Too Lax on Noise Enforcement.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords.

Help for Landlords

Statistics Prove Dogs More Desirable Than Cats

New Law Will Stick it to Landlords

Search It!

Recent Entries

Links