Pets’ Amenities: Reasons Why Your Home Should be Pet Friendly
Standard Pacific Homes, a luxury real estate developer known for houses throughout the U.S., will now be the first to incorporate a pet suite as an added home feature in their real estate creations.
One of the developer’s masterpieces is a 170-square-foot property specially made for pets, complete with a wash station and drying area, as well as bunk-style beds for sleeping and a flat-screen television for entertainment.
Based in Irvine, Standard Pacific started offering pet suites after concluding the results of the livability studies they conducted from a group of homeowners.
According to Standard Pacific vice president and national director of architecture Jeffrey Lake, pets were a consistent theme, a family among homeowners. “Devotion to pets is second-to-none.”
The American Pet Product Association said 68 percent of Americans own pets and contribute to the $55 billion industry annually.
Although pre-built homes with features made especially for pets are quite new, remodels for pet owners are also available.
Construction companies have been installing pet-friendly features to houses for quite some time. Adam Cowherd Construction in Ozark, Missouri, for example, has recently finished an open shelf with pet bowl holders, located on the end of a kitchen island.
Owners search for functional, contemporary fixtures that catch attention, according to Cowherd.
As for building a whole room for a pet, Cowherd said this particular request came only once in the last 10 years.
Melanie Dean, owner of a Standard Pacific home with a pet feature said a pet package for their dog Lola makes their lives easier. They do not have to use the kitchen sink to wash off dirt from their dog.
Pet owners can bring their dogs during a house tour at different real estate developments. According to a real estate consulting firm principal, about 70 percent of home buyers have pets.
Special home features for pets can be highlighted through another interesting trend called virtual tours. Through virtual tours, real estate firms and agents save more time and money touring potential clients to the properties they sell.It also allows buyers to see the property online before deciding if they want to see it.
Virtual tours pioneer RealBiz Media Group (OTC: RBIZ) offers innovative imaging and video solutions for brokers and agents. RealBiz’s programs and platforms allow agents to easily create videos and websites that showcase homes for listing.
The company reports that subscribers of their services have risen because of their automatic video and virtual tour creation programs.
Showing off pet amenities of a property through video or a virtual tour can earn extra points towards a sale.
RealBiz has numerous connections to the nation’s largest real estate companies. Its MVA and Nestbuilder Agent already has 15,350 subscribers, producing and uploading 24,000 videos on the Nestbuilder site. Its virtual tour program, on the other hand, has 24,637 active agents using it.
Written by Jana Viktoria Garcia for for www.RealtyTimes.com Copyright © 2014 Realty Times All Rights Reserved.
