Will Fido Be Happy Here? How Much Pets Matter When Buying a Home

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There are so many things to consider when looking for the right home: Is it located in a good neighborhood with an easy commute to work? Does the price tag fit within the budget? And perhaps most importantly, does it have everything that Fido and Tigger need to live long, happy lives there?

Almost 95% of pet owners said they considered the needs of their furry friends to be important when selecting the right home to buy, according to a recent realtor.com® survey.

More than 2,000 buyers participated in the survey conducted in March in which roughly 82% of respondents were pet owners. About 61% of participants were dog owners, 45% were cat owners, 12% were fish owners, and 9% had birds. Some folks had multiple pets.

“We believe that a home is so much more than a roof and four walls. It is where family and friends come together and memories are made,” realtor.com Chief Marketing Officer Nate Johnson said in a statement. “The results of this survey reinforce that our pets are our family and an important part of what makes a house a home.”

The top home features for pet parents were big yards, at 38%, and outdoor spaces, at 29%. Those four-legged companions need ample space to run around and sun themselves so they don’t wreck the house! Pet owners also prioritized garages, at 24%; dog runs, at 22%; and lots of indoor square footage, at 20%.

That could help to explain why 68% of pet owners would pass on their dream house if it didn’t accommodate the needs of their animals. Clearly, it wasn’t perfect if it there were too many stairs for Couscous or it was a little too close to the highway for Mr. Giggles.

It may not be surprising that, among the survey respondents, 87% of dog and cat owners rated their pets’ needs as extremely or very important when selecting a home. But 89% of bird owners, 85% of fish owners (really?), 79% of rodent owners (eww!), and 74% of horse owners also said they would also consider their animals before purchasing a property.

The post Will Fido Be Happy Here? How Much Pets Matter When Buying a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/buying-a-home-with-pets/