This list of home selling tips for pet owners is a game changer. I mean… pets are like family but they can create some sticky situations during the home selling process.
Staging your home for sale is one thing, but staging it when you have pets is another beast entirely. But it can be done! It’s important to recognize why pet staging in particular is vital to you as a seller.
The perceived value of a home will hinge on the overall condition of the house.
If you’ve got scratched flooring, stinky rooms, or a minefield of doo-doo to navigate, this will certainly bring a lesser offer.
Letting your pets be an excuse to deny or delay showings is a big no-no. Buyers will not stop their search for a new home when you deny their showing request.
Making a plan of action for your pet prior to selling will ensure you don’t miss the perfect buyer for your home.
Use this list of home selling tips to prepare your home for sale while providing a loving and comfortable home for your pets.
Home Selling Tip #1: Deep clean
Your first step should be to complete a deep cleaning of your entire home. A simple dust, sweep, and vacuum won’t do the trick in this case, since dust, dirt, and pet hair tend of find their way into hard to reach areas.
Keep in mind that covering up odors isn’t going to do the trick. If a deep clean doesn’t take care of pet odors, consider getting the ductwork professionally cleaned.
Still having trouble eliminating the smell of your fur-babies? It might be time to replace carpet and padding if they’ve been repeatedly soiled over the years.
This can be a DIY job, but hiring a professional company is a great way to allocate your time and efforts on other things to prepare your home for resale.
Home Selling Tip #2: Remove the evidence
Now that your home is clear of dirt, odor, slobber, and hair, it’s time to remove all other evidence of pets. Our pets are a part of the family and likely have more items scattered around the home than you think.
Gather beds, toys, blankets, collars, food, and other items and store them away. It will be nearly impossible to keep all of your pets items in storage, so at the very least keep them in a decorative bin and make it easily accessible to use when you’re home and put away when you’re gone.
Home Selling Tip #3: Exterior clean-up
You’ve spent some serious time and effort cleaning up the inside of the home to make the resale process easier, but you mustn’t forget to give your exterior some attention as well.
Buyers will most definitely walk through your yard during showings. If there’s doo-doo to dodge, it’s going to leave a bad impression. Make sure fences and dog runs are clean and you’ve filled any holes in the yard if you’ve got diggers.
Home Selling Tip #4: Repair damage
As perfect as our pets may be, sometimes they cause some damage to the interior of our homes.
Before you list your home for sale it’s important to correct said damage before any buyers see it. If carpet or hardwoods have been damaged or extremely worn, consider replacing or refinishing.
Other common damaged areas include trim work, ripped screens, and furniture. Leaving items in disrepair would be a huge mistake and would certainly decrease the perceived value of your home in the eyes of the buyers.
Home Selling Tip #5: Don’t deny showings
You know you have pets. You know you are selling your home.
My top home selling tip for pet owners is this.. the time to make a plan for showings is before listing.
In a perfect world, your pets would vacate the home for showings.
You may need to arrange for a boarding facility or family member to watch them during the day once you list your home.
Denying showing due to pets could cost you the perfect buyer so do yourself a huge, and very profitable, favor and arrange for your pets to be elsewhere so you can freely approve all showing requests that come in.
If you must leave your pets home during showings, it’s best to crate them to keep everyone safe.
It’s common for sellers to trust their pets, especially cats, to steer clear of visitors during showings but trust me, it’s a complete distraction and unnecessary risk to take. Simply locking them in a room isn’t going to cut it.
Buyers want to see all of the home and having an entire room inaccessible isn’t acceptable.
Putting these home selling tips to use, you’ll have a beautifully staged home that’s attractive to potential buyers while keeping your pets happy, healthy, and safe during the selling process.
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