It always struck me that on average, a new resident contracts to spend over $10,000 with an apartment community when they sign their lease, so not only should we make sure their apartment is in perfect order, but we should take the time to really make their move-in special. I found this picture with the description, "I asked the Four Seasons if I could bring my cat. This is what was in the room when we arrived."
Granted, this helped Four Seasons to hopefully ward off the cat going to the bathroom around the room, or using the chair as a cat scratch, but what an impression this would make on the customer! I love the idea of taking this concept and apply it to a "gift basket" for a new move-in's pet.
Pet owners have an interesting connection with their pets, that I think a gift for their pet would make more of a difference than a move-in gift basket for themselves. What do you think?
We include leashes, treats, collars and a toy, but I never thought of a scratching post or litter box or bed. Those are good ideas! I would feel really happy to think my apartment community's team thought that highly of my "baby."
In my experience, a cat is worse than a dog in an apartment. I once had a tenant whose cat ruined the moldings on the doors by scratching on them. While some cats are clean by nature, their hair gets all over everything. Any cats on my property have to be kept inside at all times. We have a $150.00 non refundable pet deposit.
Cats can also cause bad odors within a unit. Of course the vet must sign off in writing on shots, nutering, etc, prior to entry of a cat or dog.
We have an elderly property, so yeah, I understand the "companion aspect" whereby the doctor writes a letter and bang, the pet deposit is waived. I may sound coarse on this, but IMHO pets and apartments don't mix. Birds and fish--maybe, but cats and dogs need to live in the country. I guess for me, a "gift basket" for pets would be out of the question. On our family properties, the reg says "Trained and Certified" Service Animals only. The managing agents don't enforce it. You go around the different properties and see everything and anything. In the elderly properties, you see a lot of those little white yapping non stop yapping dogs. I like to visualize them as a football.
Guess I will pass on the gift baskets!