Your pets can cost you more than you know when it comes to real estate. There is a clear impact of pets when it comes to your home you wish to sell or the home you wish to buy. Unfortunately, most homeowners don’t realize this and so either they will lose money or the buyer will get hit with an unseen cost.
Pets are expensive these days. As we all know, the cost of pets has increased in recent times. This is due to the rise in veterinary costs, food costs (you can’t give your dog Purina any more), kenneling costs when you go out of town, as well as a change in pet owner behavior and a willingness to spend much more money on your pet than ever before.
But, there is an additional cost in the real estate world. And this cost isn’t thought about very much. The unfortunate part is that this cost is something that shouldn’t be an expense for pet owners at all.
How Do Pets Impact Real Estate?
There are two main areas where pets can present a potential problem when considering a home.
- First and most importantly is in the flooring. I have been in countless homes where pets were allowed to roam free and did their business on the flooring. The problem is not that this happened once or twice. The problem arises when pets are able to do this repeatedly over a span of time and the stains are not remediated properly. Some carpets show stains very clearly while a few mask stains nearly perfectly. However, the odor can’t be masked easily. I have been in homes where the odor entering the home was so strong it felt like hitting a wall. I have seen carpets with stains so pervasive that they outlined where the furniture once sat. Cat urine can often be more pungent than dog urine but the overall effect is the same. The impact is that the carpet and pad are essentially ruined in the areas where this has been allowed to happen (new carpet can cost as much as $3,000 to $8,000 depending on the size of your home).
In real estate, there is a rule of thumb regarding major issues with a property. It goes like this. If there is an issue with a property, for every dollar spent to resolve that issue at least two dollars are recovered. For every dollar not spent, at least two dollars are lost. Though this is hard to measure, the overall point here is that if there is an issue with a property that goes unresolved, the cost is amplified.
As a Realtor, I take my fiduciary responsibility very seriously. So when I walk through homes and pick up on either stains or an odor, I absolutely call this out to my buyer’s attention.
- Second, pets can cost additional money if they are loud as in the case of neighbors’ dogs barking all the time or if you are trying to sell a home and your barking dog disturbs prospective buyers who have come to see your home. The former is more important as there are some home buyers that will scratch a property from consideration if they hear a loud or yippy dog barking nearby. In effect, your neighbors can cost you money. However, this doesn’t matter to all buyers and so its potential impact is not as significant a problem as compared to the issues with flooring.
Can You Remediate All Stains?
Many carpets can simply be cleaned if the stains are limited in number and if they were initially treated with an enzyme. A carpet shouldn’t just be trashed because of a few stains that were treated. But a carpet that has a lot of stains, whether they were treated fully or not, should be replaced. The stains aren’t completely ever gone. They sit in the back of the carpet and in the pad. In some cases, the foundation concrete might actually be stained.
Most people don’t realize that a severely stained carpet can present a potential health problem to babies and young kids, and adults with any type of respiratory ailment such as asthma. Carpets can become tantamount to crawling on the lawn in the backyard.
An excellent carpet cleaner can do wonders here but again, that treatment is only topical in nature and cannot reach below the carpet.
Suggestions If Pets Are a Concern to You As a Buyer
These are suggestions for buyers if pets in a home are a concern. Ask the homeowner about the number of pets they have and types. Ask whether the pets are indoor only, outdoor only, or both. Ask as to how the homeowners clean the floor when there is an accident. Ask whether there been any complaints about the animals from neighbors or the HOA.
Now, this may uncomfortable to do so your Realtor can ask these for you on your behalf. It is important to note that the homeowner may tell you what you want to hear or get defensive here.
Another suggestion to be done in the evening is to blacklight the carpet. Blacklights are common in the Phoenix area for homeowners that deal with scorpions. Blacklights can also be used to pick up on stains in the carpet. Now, the blacklight may pick up a host of spills and stains so it is important to know that not every spot may be a pet stain. However, pet stains will be the most vivid (the fresher, the more so) and you will quickly get an idea as to what you are dealing with.
Suggestions for a Home Seller with a Carpet Problem
First, the carpet may not be a total loss. If there are only a few stains, bring in a great carpet cleaner. If the stains go beyond this, then use a blacklight to identify the severity of the stains. Are there stains in just a few rooms or throughout the home? If the stains are isolated to one or two rooms and severe, then try to install new carpet that is the same color and number so long as it is only minutely different from the older carpet.
If it isn’t possible to isolate the problem, then replace the entire carpet and pad throughout the home. If stains are severe, then the homeowner should check the foundation for stains before installing the new carpet. Use a mop and bleachy/soapy water to clean the concrete. Kilz can also be used to coat the concrete to keep any stains from seeping up from the concrete into new carpeting. Once the new carpet is in, be sure to keep pets away as it may take some time to sell and you want it to stay immaculate.
There is a silver lining to the cost of carpet. If you pick a good carpet to put in the home, this will likely help to boost the appeal of the home to a prospective buyer. And remember the rule of thumb above!
Industry Recommendation
Today, the Seller Property Disclosure Statement does not ask the right questions in order to address this issue. This problem is more extensive than it has been given credit for. Given the prevalence of the problem, it needs to be included. The Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS) should ask:
- Does the homeowner have pets and if so, how many, and the variety.
- Have there been any complaints about the animals from neighbors or the HOA?
These simple questions will allow the buyer to give careful consideration as to the potential impact from pets on the home.
The Solution is Easy
Overall, homeowners and prospective buyers should be giving more thought to the potential impact of pets in their homes and their responsibilities as pet owners. As we all know, pets are wonderful animals and bring much joy and love to our homes. With a thoughtful pet owner, the problems mentioned above are easily rectified by proper attention and training of those dear animals.
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