Pets May Attract Buyers to Homes

Signs of pets in homes for sale don’t spook potential buyers, and may even be appealing to some home shoppers, says a new study from Quicken Loans.

Seventy-nine percent of buyers making an offer on a home say seeing signs of a pet in a property won’t deter them, as long as damage from the pet isn’t present, according to the study.

Nearly two in 10 respondents said that seeing signs of pets would even increase their desire to make an offer if there was no damage to the property, the survey finds.

That’s good news to homeowners with pets, and it counters a long-held idea in real estate that any signs of a pet could jeopardize a sale. Pet ownership has been increasing; about 70% of American households own pets as of this year. That percentage is up from 56% in 1988.

While fondness for pets is growing, there can still be a wild card in a real estate sale: the neighbor’s pet. The survey found that there’s about a 50-50 chance the neighbor’s barking dog would cause buyers to regret making an offer on a home. Cat owners are more likely than those with dogs to regret making an offer on a home where a neighbor’s dog barks.

But even if the neighbor’s dog may lead to some regret, potential home buyers said that wouldn’t stop them from making an offer on a home. Only about one in 10 survey respondents said that a neighbor’s barking dog would make them wish they submitted an offer on a different home altogether.

Americans have also been willing to move to better accommodate their pet and are on the hunt for more pet-friendly home features, according to a survey conducted in 2020 by the National Association of REALTORS® on pets’ involvement in the buying and selling process. When it comes to the house your pet-conscious clients are looking for, the most frequent requests are hardwood floors and a fenced backyard.