Preparing Your Home For Sale With Pets
Many sellers ask a real estate agent, “How do you sell a house with pets?”
This is a question that gets asked a lot in real estate sales. In my thirty-seven years as a real estate agent, I’ve been asked this question numerous times.
Selling a house with pets at home is more challenging but can be accomplished with some effort.
If you have a dog or cat, chances are you love your pet. While some homeowners have strict outside pet rules, most allow their animals inside their homes as part of the family.
But, while pets are great for your emotional health, it does not help you sell your home. When you decide to put the house on the market, you must do some serious housecleaning and repair work before you can command a competitive price.
You want buyers to be able to picture themselves in your home. This means giving them the space to envision living there, a space free from too many of your things – including pets and all they bring with them.
So how do you go about selling your property when you have pets?
Here are some of the best tips to prepare for selling your home with pets. These tips are general and may or may not apply to your particular situation.
1. Talk to Your Pet’s Veterinarian First.
One important thing to remember is that your animal has its own needs, which are best discussed with your veterinarian.
Talk to them about your plan and how it will work with your pet or pets. This is especially important when your pet is older and may not adjust well to change.
Selling a home can be just as stressful for the pet as it is for the homeowner.
2. Temporarily Relocate Your Pets.
This may or may not be something you are willing to do, but it is easier to show and sell your home (and keep it clean) if your pets are not present when buyers arrive.
If you have a friend or family member, you are comfortable leaving your animal with; it will allow you to eliminate all signs of having a pet in the house (which can significantly reduce a home’s value) and avoid the pet causing further issues.
While I am a pet lover, many home buyers are not. Some folks consider it a huge turn-off when looking at potential homes they may want to own.
Remove Signs of Your Dogs and Cats
Remember to remove all of these items for house showings:
- Food and water bowls
- Crates or kennels
- Pet beds
- Pet food
- Toys
- Cat scratching posts of climbers
- Leashes
Don’t forget to keep the evidence of your animals out of the marketing material as well. Buyers are very astute and will notice pet evidence in the photos on the multiple listing service and any brochures your listing agent has prepared.
3. Remove Pets During Showings.
When selling a home with pets, at the very least, you should remove them from your home when showing the property for sale.
Real Estate showings should be as pleasant an experience as possible for a buyer.
All the cute things your dog does will not help you sell your home and will only remind the potential buyer that the house has contained pets previously.
Ideally, it would help if you had your real estate agent show the home, preferably while you are away.
Having a pet in the house or yard can create complications for your agent while trying to show the house, putting your pet at risk of accidentally getting out.
There are also liability issues to deal with as well. While your dog or cat may be ultra-friendly, it is certainly possible they can have a bad day, just like you and me.
You Bring Additional Liability With Pets During Showings
When you leave your pet home during showings, you are asking for trouble, especially if a buyer brings a young child and they are curious. The last thing you want is Fido taking a chunk from a buyer’s child’s arm.
Remember, we live in a lawsuit-happy society! You are taking a significant risk when your pet can roam freely during showings.
Sometimes, removing a pet from a home may not be possible. Maybe due to your job, you just can’t come back and remove them or find anyone to help care for them.
If this is the case, your next best option is to put them in a contained space and let a buyer and their buyer’s agent know about it or buy a pet-friendly cage to keep them in.
While your pet may not be accustomed to this, and you love treating your animals like one of the family, sometimes this is necessary when you prioritize selling your home.
4. Repair Any Damage From Your Pets.
As much as we love our pets, they are still animals, and pet damage is never attractive when selling your home. Dogs and cats will inevitably destroy something, including carpets, furniture, hardwood flooring, walls, doors, turf in your yard, and your fence.
All of this damage should be repaired before showing the home. This may require some investment, especially if the animal has damaged expensive items like your hardwood flooring or walls in your house.
Regardless of the repair cost, the value you will get for your house will be well worth paying.
Interior Repairs From Pets
- Replace stained or worn carpets
- Remove any furniture with scratches or ripped fabric
- Refinish hardwood or pine floors that have been scratched.
- Have a professional painter remove any scratches or chewed areas on doors and woodwork.
Exterior Repairs From Pets
- Remove any pet waste in the yard
- Fill in any holes from dogs digging
- Fix any fencing that has been damaged
- Replace torn window screens
- Replace any bushes or grass killed from urination
5. Remove Pet Odors and Stains.
Pets have accidents, and while it is possible to get used to the pet smell over time, new visitors to your home will be sure to notice the smells.
This is not something you want to happen. In fact, above all else, this may be the most vital tip for selling a home when you have pets.
Our sense of smell has a powerful effect on our emotions, memory, and perception. An initial urine odor upon entering a house will stick in the buyer’s mind, and they will likely deduct the cost of carpet replacement immediately from an offer as a result.
A strong odor is one of the top reasons a buyer will pass on a home. You can add it to a long list of many home-selling mistakes.
Avoid this by cleaning your carpet and flooring professionally, focusing on removing pet odors. If the staining or odors are too bad, you may need to replace the carpet in the problem areas.
6. Clean Your Yard of Pet Evidence.
Pick up any messes in the backyard, and have any sod replaced and other damage repaired. You may pick up after your pet regularly, or you may have a cat that causes minimal impact on your yard.
However, many dog owners give their pets free rein in the backyard. This is a great life for dogs and cats, but it can be hard on the look of your lawn.
One of the best tips when selling a house with pets is to ensure you don’t neglect the yard, as this is just as crucial to some buyers as the inside.
7. Erase Signs of Your Pet for Potential Buyers.
You want buyers to be as unaware of your pet ownership as possible. If they ask the question, you will have to answer honestly.
However, you can often avoid this by taking necessary steps like those above. In addition, put away all pet toys, bedding, litter boxes, and food – preferably at another location besides your home.
Some Realtors recommend removing all photos where your pet is present and to look and making sure the animal does not appear in any marketing materials you create for your home.
Like other forms of home staging, removing extra pet clutter is an important consideration when selling your property.
Staging a home for sale becomes crucial when your home presently has tons of evidence of pets being present.
8. Prepare Properly When Selling a House With Pets.
Selling a house with pets takes work, but it’s worth it in the long run! You may do all these things and still have buyers ask whether you have pets.
Sometimes it is impossible to hide all evidence, and sometimes they ask anyway. Even if this happens, you have still done everything necessary to return your house to its prior pet-free status.
Buyers will have little to complain about because your house now looks as good as it did before you had your pet.
Have a Professional Deep Cleaning Done
The last step in the preparation process should be a professional deep cleaning. Start by having all the carpets in your home steam cleaned.
You’ll want to speak to the company upfront about treating any odors. Whoever does the general cleaning should focus on removing any pet hair.
9. Remember Pet Liability.
Did you know you can be liable for your pet biting someone on your property? According to Kenneth M Phillips, who specializes in the law surrounding dog bites, more than 4.7 million dog bite cases are reported in the US annually.
Further, the average lawsuit resulting from an injury is settled for more than $29,000 and climbs much higher when extensive plastic surgery is needed.
If you own a pet and leave them in your home during showings, this should be a real wake-up call! I know you probably think Fido would never hurt a flea. Is it worth taking a chance?
One of the things you should do if you own a dog is check your home insurance policy and ensure that it does not exclude dog bite coverage.
You will want to check the exclusion in the coverage section to ensure it does not mention dogs or animals. Some insurance policies exclude certain breeds, such as Pit bulls, German shepherds, Rottweilers, and Great Danes.
In approximately two-thirds of the states in the US, pet owners can be held liable for injuries resulting from a dog bite, even if the animal has shown no previous aggression.
So while it was previously mentioned that you shouldn’t leave your dog around for showings, it can’t be emphasized enough. If you want to know how to sell a house with pets, this tip should be the one you don’t forget!
Final Thoughts on Selling a House With Pets
When selling a house with your beloved animals, putting in the additional time and effort makes sense. The investment will pay you back when looking at your property’s sale price.
Additional Valuable Resources For Pet Owners
- Do you need help moving your pet cross-country after you sell? Ipata is a pet shipping expert. Read about what they can do for you.
- Moving Successfully with Pets, The American Humane Association provides helpful guidance on making a move with your animals.
- Safely Cleaning Up After Your Pet (Natural Solutions) by Caesar Milan offers excellent guidance on how to clean messes created by your pets.
About the author: Bill Gassett, a nationally recognized leader in his field, provided the above Real Estate information on tips to sell a house when you have pets. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-625-0191. Bill has helped people move in and out of Metrowest towns for the last 37+ Years.
Are you thinking of selling your home? I am passionate about Real Estate and love sharing my marketing expertise!
I service Real Estate Sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southboro, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton, and Uxbridge MA.
