Dealing with Fido and Miss Kitty
About half of the potential buyers who tour your house will be pet lovers; the other half won’t. Even though you may consider your pets part of the family, there’s a good chance that the person who buys your house doesn’t want anything to do with a cat or dog. Your safest bet, then, is to make sure that there are no visible signs of a pet. That includes but isn’t limited to stowing photographs, art, food and water dishes, food in the pantry, kitty litter (Stow it in the trunk of your car.) — and of course you need to get Fido and Miss Kitty off premises, too.
Outside signs that there’s a pet in residence are outdoor dog houses, enclosures, pet waste, leashes, or chains.
If you do have an outdoor enclosure, make sure it’s clean and in good repair. The subtle message to buyers is that if you don’t care enough about your pets to keep them clean, the rest of the house is going to be in bad shape, too.
Don’t risk losing a sale because you don’t attend to pet details. One house I saw recently had a yard that was the big selling feature, but you couldn’t walk anywhere for fear of stepping in doggy doo. The home seller said, “Oh, we’ll clean it up before we move.” If she couldn’t be bothered before the seller made an offer, what confidence would you have that she would do it after she knew she was moving?
If you have pets, make sure that before every showing you
- Remove all evidence of pets (leashes, bowls, food) and take your pet with you during showings.
- Ask family, friends, or a neighbour to take care of your pets until the house is sold.
- Check out your local doggy day care or pet spa for rates and hours of availability. Most of these places are wonderful, caring facilities where dogs love to go for socializing, play, and love. Take your pet to work with you.
- Look for creative solutions for your pets. We recently marketed a house where the family had two lizards and some fish (fish are ok) in residence. She suggested the lizards take a vacation at the kid’s school while the house was on the market.
