For real estate agents, it is always great to be flexible. When it comes to pets, you can be treading a fine line when it comes to pets: Being pet-friendly is a great selling point, but you don’t want any of the drawbacks of pet ownership to topple a potential sale.
Agents often find themselves having to search for properties that meet the requirements of their animal-loving clients. You also can work with sellers to make their home’s pet appeal a positive selling point. A savvy real estate agent can even use a trip to the dog park as a way to connect with potential clients who need the expertise of an agent who can find a home for them and their four-legged children.
According to Realtor.com, Pet Realty Network also can be a great tool for pet-friendly agents to find each other and potential clients.
You can demonstrate your pet-friendly business style in your networking, marketing and questions. It can even be a part of the staging, however there also are some cautions.
When the shoe is on the other foot and a pet-lover is selling a property, the attitudes of potential buyers can vary greatly.
Not everyone has pets. For some, they can infuse fear or nervousness as a result of inexperience. As a result, many agents recommend relocating pets while a home is on the market.
Moreover, our pets are our babies and we often overlook some of their shortcomings. If the house smells like wet dogs or a litter box, it’s not going to help your clients house sell.
And just like sellers should be absent during a showing, so should their pets. As an agent, you have no idea what buyers like or if they have any pet allergies, so do your best to make sure that pets vanish during showings.
If this is impossible, a pet should be safely kept in a kennel or crate. This can ensure the pet doesn’t get loose or lost without the owner present.
Rightly or wrongly, some people tend to associate animals with dirt and may dislike the idea of buying a home that had a pet living in it.
If you are working for clients seeking a rental condo or apartment in a big city, the task of finding a property that will accept pets may seem daunting. However, experts point out that the landscape has vastly improved when it comes to pet-friendly policies.
“Over the past six to 12 months, you’re seeing in some instances, landlords changing pet policies or for some that have always had such policies, they’re marketing it front-and-center now,” said Caren Maio, founder of Nestio, a real estate tech firm that essentially provides a database for rentals.
