Selling with Cats, Cats, Cats…

Pricing of a home can be affected by animals. We love our animals and they are part of the family, but they can be hard on homes. This house I was asked to sell was also the home for seven cats. Yep, you’ve got that right seven cats! Unfortunately, the odor could be smelled from the porch before the door was opened. The owners were used to living with the cats and their olfactory senses were desensitized. I had to be the bearer of the bad news.

It is one of my least favorite topics to discuss with a seller. How would you like to tell someone, “Hey, your house stinks.” or, how would you like to be on the receiving end of that comment. Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at breaking the news in a more diplomatic way, but there really isn’t an easy way to say it.

In meeting with the seller we walked around the house and I told them which carpets that they needed to pull up. We talked about using Kilz paint on the floors and that they needed to do the same thing with the baseboards and walls. Then we got in touch with my flooring specialist to order new carpet.

Did we get it all? Nope!

We were still getting comments from buyers that they could smell a “funny”, “bad”, “unusual” odor. They couldn’t place what they were smelling, but it wasn’t good. The seller thought that the front room, wood laminate flooring was going to be okay because it was “waterproof”. We had left that in the house with a good deep cleaning. Well, guess what? It wasn’t “cat-proof”. They had to rip the laminate out and do the same procedure with the Kilz paint and have our flooring specialist come back in and carpet the front room.

After the front room flooring was complete we put the home back out on the market and got an offer right away!

Here is a word to the wise: When you are going to sell your home, you’ll need to take into account your furry, reptile and fishy friends.

Here are four things that need to be considered with regard to your animals.

1. There are a lot of buyers who have allergic reactions to animals. Be sensitive to their needs.

2. Can the property be shown easily to a buyer or do they need to work their tight schedules around your pet’s schedule?

3. Is there an odor in the house? Is it a pet odor? Can you fix the issue before the home goes on the market or are you going to be willing to price your home for less because of the odor?

4. What destruction has your pet made to the house? Do you need a new lawn in the backyard because your dog has dug or burned your grass? Did the cat use your stairs as a scratching post? Are your screens intact?

If you have any questions about the condition of your home, please give me a call. I am happy to walk through it with you. You’ll get an honest answer from me!

P.S. I love our dog, Jessie. He, however, has also done a number on our home over the years! You are not alone!