Home sellers are likely to be emotionally attached to their home and equally emotionally attached to their pets. When you put your house up for sale, it’s no longer about you or your pets. You need to create an environment that gives potential buyers a promising impression of your property; one they can anticipate seeing themselves livng in for years to come.
According to a study conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and published in February, 67 percent of REALTORS® said pet ownership has a “moderate to major” impact when selling a home.
Potential buyers don’t want to see or smell evidence of your pet. So, before you put your home on the market clean and then clean some more. It’s exactly what you don’t want to hear, but it has to be done constantly when you’re showing your home to buyers, and especially when pets are in the home. Ask a friend to come over and look for evidence of pets- such as smells, stubborn stains or sctaches on doors. What you have overlooked for years or have become nose blind too may stand out to buyers. Cat and dog odors hang in the air and seep into your rugs and furniture. Look for pet hair on your baseboards, and vents. Vacuum often.
Spray a good air freshener and open windows to air out your property before showings. look for something that kills the orders. Fresh Wave Odor Neutralizing Super Gel does wonders, just pop open the lid and the oils will will neutralize the odors.
Change the litter boxes and if possible keep it outside for showings.
If you can get your pets out during showings, thats all the better to your advantage. Its difficult to properly look at a home if your dog is barking the entire time – which they will do if strangers are in your home and you have them locked up. Having strangers coming in and out of your house can be stressful for pets and it may cause them to act in ways that they normally wouldn’t. The last thing you need is for your dog or cat to become aggressive when you’re trying to show your home to a buyer.Consider using a kennel or send them over to a friend or family’s house. Or you can take them to local dog park and hang out while the showing is going on. Also, don’t restrict a cat or dog to an off-limits bedroom. Buyers need to walk around the entire property safely.
Pets can also make prospective homebuyers nervous, especially for homebuyers who come to view your home with children or who may have a pet phobia or allergies.
Thinking about how a buyer might view your home is crucial to your efforts – particularly if they don’t like animals.
