Do you have pets as part of your family? When you put your home up for sale you need to be prepared that not everyone feels the same about having pets. Your home is staged so that the potential buyers can “see” themselves living in your home and often that doesn’t include pets. Scheduling a deep cleaning for your home to remove any pet odor is a necessity prior to listing. Here are some things to do when you have pets and it’s time to get your home ready to sell.
Repairs
Having any damage to your home is not a selling point. This includes pet damage. No matter how well trained and behaved your pets are they will, at some point, damage something. It could be the grass in your backyard, the hardwood floors in your kitchen, or the carpet in your family room. These things will need to be repaired prior to listing your home. Although making the repairs can sometimes be expensive you will get the payoff in the form of an increased bottom line at closing.
Remove Odors
A top reason that a buyer will pass on a home is a strong odor and pet odors can be among the most offensive. Even if you are a huge animal lover, you don’t want your home to smell. Most of the time, having your carpets and flooring professionally cleaned will remove the offensive odors. If that doesn’t work, you might need to have the flooring replaced. You simply do not want your house remembered as the one that smelled bad.
Yard Clean-Up
The outdoor space that your house has can be a big selling point for many potential buyers, so you need to pay attention to the condition of the yard just as much as the interior of the house. Are there any messes that need to be picked up? Does your lawn have any bare patches that need to be reseeded or does it need to be replaced? Keeping a tidy yard with no signs of pets can add to the curb appeal for many buyers.
Remove Signs You Have a Pet
As you stage your home for showing to potential buyers you will want to put away all signs that you have a pet. Bowls, beds, toys, food, and even pictures should be removed from view. Some buyers simply do not like pets and you want to avoid any signs that there is a pet that lives here. This is not to say that you must lie to anyone. If you are asked you may answer appropriately, but not broadcasting that you are a pet owner can often make for a smoother showing.
Remove Your Pet
This may seem to be common sense, but if you have a showing scheduled you really need to plan for your pets to be elsewhere. Buyers, Agents, and any other interested parties are strangers to your pets and there is a liability associated with having them in the house when it is shown. Pets behavior can be unpredictable and this can lead to them escaping the house or possibly attacking someone. If you take one tip away from this article, let it be that there are far too many risks associated with not removing your pets from your home before a showing starts.
Until Next Time…
-The FMT-