Pet Friendly Rentals Blog

Pet Friendly Apartments available now – Kawana Island, Sunshine Coast QLD

June 3, 2009 – 3:37 pm

Carribean Apartents - Front It’s not everyday I get an email about pet friendly apartments being available so as well as promoting the apartments, I thought I’d interview the Caribbean Apartments complex manager Chris Lewis to find out what it’s like managing a pet friendly apartment complex.

If you just want to go straight to the apartment listings on Real Estate.com.au, click here.

Note – PFR: stands for Pet Friendly Rentals.

PFR: Hi Chris, I was quite excited to hear from you about your pet friendly apartment complex. Can you tell me a bit about the complex and the decision to make it pet friendly?

The complex is a residential complex (no holiday letting) and is in a quiet location with a number of apartments having water views.

PFR: So was the complex designed to accommodate pets right from the start?

The complex was designated pet friendly by the developers from the start something they had not done with previous buildings, not so much designed for pets, but the by laws allow for owners to have one pet and the pet must weigh no more than 20kg.

PFR: What types of pets do you allow in the apartments? Is there any restriction on size or number of pets?

Primarily small dogs and cats. A couple of tenants have birds. Only one pet per apartment.

PFR: Many body corporates have made the decision to now allow pets due to various concerns about barking and damage to the property. What has been your experience with pet owners in your complex? If issues have arisen (e.G. Barking), how do handle this?

Over our first 18 months of operation we have not had any problems in this regard.

PFR: Have you found renting to pet owners to provide increased income for your landlords?

Certainly we are aware that a lot of other buildings do not allow pets so it is an asset when we have vacancies.

PFR: Do you use a pet rental agreement for tenants?

No but considering incorporating the pro forma you sent to us.

PFR: What are the key things you’re looking for when going through someone’s rental application?

As to pets only the size and that we still have to get the permission of the apartment owner. We also do the usual checks on potential tenants particularly on past rentals employment history and references.

PFR: What would you say to other apartment complexes that would be suitable for allowing pets but for whatever reason have decided it’s not a good idea.

In our experience we have had no problems so would suggest others consider it ,particularly as a lot of the older population are downsizing from big homes and a pet is part of the family, a comfort to them. So to be able to lease an attractive apartment and still keep their pet is a definite bonus.

PFR: Do you think allowing pets in apartment and townhouse complexes represents significant opportunities for investors right now?

There is a large proportion of the population that have pets so it is of significant advantage to investors to have a pet friendly apartment.

We have a fairly new , quality 63 apartment complex with 1,2 & 3 bedroom unfurnished large apartments in a quiet area of the sunshine coast, all available apartments are listed on http://www.realestate.com.au under postcode 4575/Kawana island. They are priced according to size (ie 1 bed/1bath-2 bed /2 bath -3 bed/3bath and position in the complex.

Complex Facilities

Heated 20 meter lap pool
Full size flood lit tennis court
Underground security car spaces
Caged storage area for each apartment

The complex is close to the water, opposite a park and is surrounded by 10 kilometers of walking/bike tracks. It’s also close to beach and a major shopping complex and would welcome any enquiries for letting.