realtor.com Survey Finds Pets Play Large Role in Homebuying Decision-Making

A recent survey by realtor.com found that more than two-thirds of pet-owning home buyers would forgo their perfect home if it wasn’t right for their furry friend.

“At realtor.com, 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. The results of this survey reinforce that our pets are our family and an important part of what makes a house a home,” said Nate Johnson, CMO of realtor.com.

The results are based on an online survey conducted in March of more than 2,000 people who planned to purchase a home in the next 12 months and are fairly consistent with a similar survey (https://news.move.com/2018-08-08-One-of-the-Family-Three-quarters-of-Home-Buyers-Would-Pass-Up-Dream-Home-for-Pets-Needs) realtor.com conducted in August 2018.

Of those surveyed, 82 percent of the respondents identified themselves as pet owners. Dogs were the most common pet (61 percent), followed by cats (45 percent), fish (12 percent) and birds (9 percent).

Of those home buyers who own a pet, nearly 95 percent indicated that the needs of their faithful companions would be at least a somewhat important consideration during their home search. About 84 percent ranked their animals’ needs “extremely important” or “very important” in their home-search (55 and 29 percent, respectively). Less than 5 percent said their needs were unimportant.

The needs of their pets factored into the home purchase decisions of pet owners of all ages with 96 percent of 18- to 34-year olds, 97 percent of 35- to 54-year-olds and 87 percent of 55+ buyers indicating that their animal would be at least a “somewhat important” factor during their home search.

Although one might think that dogs and cats might influence a home buyer’s decision more than non-traditional pets, that’s not the case. While 87 percent of dog and cat owners said their pets’ needs were extremely important or very important during their home search, 89 percent of bird owners, 85 percent of fish owners, 80 percent of reptile owners, 79 percent of rodent owners and 74 percent of horse owners, indicated their pet would factor into their decision.

Pets’ needs play such an important role in buying a home, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of home buyers said they would “forgo an otherwise perfect home” if it did not meet their pets’ needs. Those aged 35 to 54 were most likely to pass on a home if it wasn’t right for the pet (72 percent), compared with 66 percent of buyers between the ages of 18 to 34 years old and 51 percent of those 55+.

Although people with children (71 percent) felt more strongly that the home needed to accommodate their pet than people without children (59 percent), pet owners across the board – including fish, rodent and reptile owners – said they would pass up an otherwise perfect home if it didn’t meet their pets’ needs.

Home buyers were asked to rank the three home features they considered to be the most important for the needs of their pets. The top five features were: A large yard (38 percent), any outdoor space (29 percent), a garage (24 percent), a dog run (22 percent), close proximity to outdoor spaces (21 percent) and large square footage (20 percent).