Selling a Home Where Pets Live
Friday July 28, 2006
It's next to impossible to pry home sellers away from their pets. Snakes, lizards, hamsters, cats, dogs and rabbits, they all distract from the sale of a house and possibly cost home sellers tens of thousands of dollars. Why? Because buyers often offer less for homes where pets reside. Some home buyers are allergic, others dislike pet odors and smells or are afraid of animals, yet sellers refuse to board their pets during home showings. If that's not bad enough, some pets bolt and never return when real estate agents open the front door. Find out how you can increase the safety of your pets during house showings; how to overcome objections to pets, eliminate pet odors and stains; and deal with dirty cat boxes and barking dogs to get the sale. Here is good advice on how to get top dollar for a home where pets live.
© 2004 E. Weintraub, Licensed to About.com
Comments
When I sold my condo, I evaded the pet issue (and the me not being a fabulous housekeeper issue) by moving out BEFORE it hit the market. Condos in my community were going for asking price or better over a weekend - my own went for $500.00 over asking inside 72 hours - but another condo, comparable to mine, failed to sell for far less. Why? The owner didn’t clean up after her cats well enough. (I did, and once my kitties & I moved out, nobody knew they’d ever been there.) And she smoked. Nobody wants to buy a smelly home!
This ROCKS!!!
I enjoyed your colum on Pets and Selling your home. It gave me some ideas.
The comment from Kaiti about smokers cannot be stressed enough. Even people who smoke themselves are often turned off by walking into a home with the lingering scent of stale tobacco.
I live in a duplex. Coincidentally, the other side was up for sale at the same time mine was. It took four months longer to sell though - even though it was priced three thousand dollars less than I paid for mine but was virtually identical. And I know why.
When I looked at it prior to buying mine I could smell tobacco smoke from the moment I walked in the front door. Though the place was very clean the ceiling was dark from months or years of cigarette smoke and the white fireplace…in fact ALL white surfaces…were discolored with telltale brown stains.
It was an easy decision which side of the duplex I wanted to buy - even for more money.
Good advice.
I didn’t realize that having pets in my home might be a negative for some buyers.
Will make sure I make appropriate arrangements for my pets when I put my place up for sale.
Thanks.