Do you have a Pet-Friendly Home for Sale? Promote It!

According to the 2011-2012 APPA National Pet Owners Survey, 62% of U.S. households own a pet.  In 2012, $53.33 billion was spent on pets and that’s estimated to increase by over $2 billion in 2013.

As you can tell from those statistics, there are a lot of pet owners out there who are willing to spend big bucks so their pets are safe and comfortable. Take advantage of this by promoting your home for sale as pet friendly.

Promote your home to pet owners by highlighting its pet-friendly aspects. Mention any of these features that your home for sale has:

• A fenced yard: This can be a physical fence or an electric, invisible fence.
• No climbable window treatments or drapes: This will make cat owners happy, as cats like to climb things, such as drapes.
• Tile or wood flooring: It’s much easier to remove pet hair and debris from tile and wood flooring than from carpeting.
• A dog house
• A doggie door
• Dog parks nearby

Like all other potential buyers, pet owners want to be able to envision themselves living in the home. You can help them do this by:

• Putting a pet magazine on the coffee table
• Hanging a leash on a coat rack
• Placing a jar of dog biscuits on the kitchen counter
• Positioning a dog bed in the family room
• Displaying photos of your pets.

Pet owners do not want:

• Pet odors. Eliminate pet odors by cleaning your home, getting rid of kitty litter and spraying your cloth furniture and dog beds with Febreze or a similar product.
• A mess: Clean up around food and water bowls. Get rid of pet hair. Pick up dog poop or hire a pooper-scooper service.

APPA National Pet Owners Survey

http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp

Electric, invisible fence

http://www.invisiblefence.com/

Eliminate pet odors

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,192843,00.html