If you have priced puppies lately, you know one thing, they have gotten expensive. Yes, you can run down to the pound and adopt a pet for a few hundred dollars, but what if you want a pure breed. In these cases, you are going to pay big because the cost of pets from breeders has exploded over the last few months.
The reason for this cost explosion is simple, supply and demand. With the pandemic came an explosion in work at home employees. All these employees stopped going to the office and realized that they now had the time to own a dog. They all rushed to the breeders and snapped up the available animals. The demand spiked, but the supply has barely budged, and that has resulted in a huge increase in the price of puppies.
Financing As a Solution
Not to be left out, those who could not afford to buy a pet turned to financing as an option. Financing a pet seems crazy at first, until you look at the price of pets. An English Bulldog now fetches $4000 or more. Even non pedigree dogs, often referred to as designer pets go for thousands and thousands of dollars. Given the huge prices, financing is now a real option when looking to become a pet owner.
Luckily for consumers, financing has become incredibly easy to find. Years ago, pet financing was unheard of, but now, there are dozens of websites like this one that allow you to get an offer in a matter of minutes. Just because it is easy does not mean that it is something that you should do however. Not every company offering financing will do the right thing by you.
Before you commit to financing your new puppy, make sure that the loan is a good one for your situation.
Choosing A Puppy Loan
There are several factors that you need to look at when taking on a puppy loan. Here are some things to consider before you e-sign your documents.
Can You Afford the Payment?
Not every lender will do a great job trying to determine if you can really afford a pet loan. Most do not care if you will be financially strapped while paying back the loan, they just want you to sign on the line. This is particularly true with brokers who get a flat fee for every loan they process.
Before you commit to a loan, fit the payment into your monthly budget. Make sure that you have enough money to make the payment, meet all your financial obligations and continue to have money to save. The last thing that you want to do is harm your financial future over something you can do without, like a dog.
Is The Cost Too High?
Next, consider the total cost of the loan. This is the total amount of money that you will pay, once you carry the loan to term. If you are borrowing $3000 to pay for a dog and the finance charges add up to $2000, your total cost of pet ownership would be $5000. Is that too much?
Whether a cost is too high or not is a personal decision. Only you know how much you want a puppy and how much you are willing to give up financially to make your dream come true.
Are There Any Strange Clauses?
There are some interesting clauses wrapped up in many finance deals, so be sure to read your finance contract thoroughly before you commit. You should be looking for things like hefty late charges, pre-payment penalties and other strange loan fees.
Also, make sure that your finance agreement is not actually a lease. This is strangely common in the pet finance industries and comes with some big problems. With a lease, you never really own your pet until the end and to finalize the contract, you may be required to pay a bumper payment. Be careful.
Final Word on Puppy Financing
While people might find puppy financing a strange concept, it is no different than financing anything else that we want. Is financing a dog that costs thousands of dollars really any different than putting a big screen television on a payment plan? Not really.
Still, you need to be careful when looking for financing. As appropriate as a loan might be in your situation, there seem to be more companies looking to take advantage of pet loan customers. This simply means that you need to do your due diligence on your loan.
Do not let your eagerness to get a new pet affect your good judgement. Get your loan offer or offers and then fully investigate the terms of the loan. The extra time spent reading the fine print will be boring, but it will be a very valuable use of your time.
