Selling your house can be stressful. Selling your house with a pet can be even more nerve-wracking. Do you know how to handle your pets when you sell without ending up in the doghouse? Everybody loves animals, but not everybody is comfortable with a stranger’s pet. Here are four tips that will help you sell your house when you have pets:
1. Eliminate pet odors. Bad odors deter buyers. There’s a strong connection between your sense of smell, emotion, and perception. If a buyer walks through the door and smells something bad, they may not even finish the showing. Have your carpets and even your upholstery professionally cleaned and consider putting an air purifier where your pet spends the most time. I use clumping litter and a doggy waste bag to make this easy. Your buyers and your pets will thank you.
Buyers are distracted by stressed animals and nervous barking.
2. Repair any pet-related damage. As much as we love them, our pets do create a lot of wear and tear on our homes and yard. If you have a canine ‘gardener,’ fill in holes they’ve excavated and be sure to repair the grass with lawn patch. If there are severe scratches on your flooring, consider having those professionally repaired.
3. Remove pets from all showings. If it’s not possible, make sure they’re at least crated. This is for the safety of both pets and people.
4. Reduce animal stress. Buyers are distracted by stressed animals and nervous barking. If your dog has to be there during showings, talk to your vet about plug-ins that release odor-free stress-reducing pheromones; they only work on animals, not your kids or your spouse (unfortunately).
Our animals are our family and handling them the right way puts less stress on them and helps you help sell faster and for more money.
If you have any questions for us about buying or selling a home or about anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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