Selling Your House -
$100,000 Pets
by:
Raynor James
Is your pet worth $100,000? It may be if
you don’t make accommodations for it when
selling your home.
A Hundred Thousand Dollar Pet?
A house I’d seen with a potential buyer in
an attractive neighborhood built around two
lakes sold for $100,000 less than was typical
for the neighborhood. Do you know what caused
it to sell for that much less? A pet.
Actually, two pets.
I can hear you thinking, “How can that be?
Surely she doesn’t know what she’s talking
about this time. How could two pets reduce the
sales price of a home by $100,000? Is that
even possible?” I understand your skepticism,
but it’s true. Let me tell you how I know.
When I made the appointment for the
potential buyer to look at the house, I wasn’t
told about the presence of pets. We arrived at
the house, knocked on the door, and when no
one answered our knock, I got out my
electronic key to open the box containing a
key for brokers to use. While I was doing
this, we began to hear some loud barking from
large dog or dogs inside the house. The buyer
said she did not want to go into the house
with “dogs on the loose.” I have to admit I
wasn’t thrilled with the idea either, so we
went on to the next house she was considering.
She asked me if we could see that house the
next day sans pets. I called and made
arrangements.
The next day we looked at a two story, 5
bedroom, house with a fully finished, walkout
basement that supposedly didn’t have pets. It
was a nice house, but the whole house smelled
strongly of pet odors. The furniture in the
basement was shredded – truly not too strong a
word to use. I’ve never seen furniture in
worse shape. The front of the house was nicely
landscaped. The back of the house was a
disaster. The door frames and exterior doors
were scratched and gnawed. The lawn had beaten
paths and patches. There wasn’t a flower or a
shrub to be seen. The “buyer” couldn’t get
away fast enough.
I later found out the owner of the house
had a German Shepherd. The second “dog” was a
wolf and shepherd mix. The house stayed on the
market longer than typical, the price was
reduced several times and the final sales
price was $100,000 below what was typical for
the neighborhood. Now you tell me, what cost
that seller $100,000?
Don’t misunderstand, I know pets are
wonderful. Over time my husband and I have
enjoyed living with a German Shepherd, two
Siamese cats, assorted adopted stray cats,
fancy guppies, gold fish, koi, and various
sorts of wounded critters our two sons brought
home.
Pets enrich your life. They don’t enrich
the sales price of your home. Take the right
steps though, and they won’t rob you of any of
your equity.
