Helpful Tips for Selling a Home with Pets
Whether you’re a cat-lover or a dog enthusiast, we adore our furry friends!
According to the 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey, 67% of households, or about 85 million families own a pet. While these honorary family members have stolen our hearts, when it comes to selling a home, there are extra steps that may need to be taken to make your home appealing to potential buyers.
Today, we’ve put together some helpful tips to help you keep your home show-ready, even if you have pets. Keep reading to learn more…
Have Your Home Professionally Cleaned
While it’s a good idea to have your home professionally cleaned even without pets, it becomes a necessity when you do have pets.
Why? Well, we become accustomed to the odors in our homes, so we may not notice a pet odor in the same way that a potential buyer will as they enter the house.
Consider hiring a professional carpet cleaner to freshen up the carpet throughout the home. A carpet cleaner can remove stubborn stains and odors that are trapped in the carpet. In addition to treating the carpet, thoroughly remove excess pet hair from furniture, cushions, and corners of the home.
Whatever you do, avoid masking the odors with various scents or air fresheners! These might just make the situation worse, as pet odors can seep through them. If a potential buyer who doesn’t own any pets walks into a cloud of Febreze followed by the scent of cat urine, they are going to quickly turn and run.
When it’s time to sell, it’s crucial to eliminate pet odors and bacteria rather than trying to mask them. Still not sure if the odors are gone after taking these steps? Try inviting a friend over for an honest sniff test!
Remove All Signs of Pets
It’s time to tuck away the litter boxes, pet toys, and crates.
When viewing a property, buyers want to envision themselves, not you, living in the home. As you declutter and prepare your home for showings, keep all of your pets’ belongings out of sight.
In addition to neutralizing the home, removing pet items will remove the suspicion that pets are living in the home. If there is evidence of pets in the real estate photos or at the showing, a potential buyer may be searching for pet stains, odors, or hair.
Repair Any Pet Damages
Once you’ve removed any signs (and smells!) of your pet’s existence in the home, examine every inch of your house for any damage your pets may have made.
Potential buyers inspect homes with a critical eye and even minor flaws can lead a buyer to believe you haven’t taken good care of the property. Since you may have overlooked certain damages, this is the stage where you go through and examine every nook and cranny of the home for pet damage. Here are some common damages to look out for…
- Scratches on the bottom of doors and flooring
- Claw or chew marks on trim or cabinets
- Ripped window screens
- Tattered carpet
- Urine coated corners
Taking the time to repair these damages will leave the viewers unsuspecting that a pet was ever in the home in the first place!
Take Your Pet Out During Services
When it comes to getting ready to sell with pets, the worst mistake you can make is letting them roam around the property during showings or services.
While you adore your furry friends, others may not share your fondness for animals. In fact, around 7-9% of people have a fear of dogs! Even if the real estate photographers or potential buyers aren’t scared of the pets, it can be distracting if they’re barking, chasing their toys, or seeking attention.
If you have a real estate photo shoot set up or you know a showing is scheduled for that day, ask a friend or neighbor if you may leave your pets with them for a short while. Or, plan to take them out of the house yourself as the agent deals with the real estate photographer or buyers.
Taking this extra step not only ensures the services/showings go off without a hitch, but it’s considerate to those coming to the house.
Which of These Helpful Tips Are You Going to Use When Selling?
Given the large number of families who own pets, it’s difficult to understand anyone disliking yours.
Nonetheless, we don’t want our furry family members to affect our home’s appeal to buyers or its value. The time you put into preparing your home today will pay off in the long run with a successful sale!
Need real estate photos, videos, a property description, or drone shots? Reach out to us today to learn about our marketing services! Looking for a cleaning service? Check out Lime Green Clean today!