Expert Tips for Selling a Home with Pets

Pet ownership is wildly popular in America. In fact, over 78 million people own dogs and 85 million people own cats, with even more people owning other animals like hamsters, birds, snakes and other creatures. However, when selling a home it’s important to make your house appear like a blank slate—potential buyers may have allergies or may not want to see evidence of them around for any number of reasons (even if they’re animal lovers). Plus, a smelly yard or an unsightly litter box may tilt the scales at a showing. 

Follow these expert tips to give yourself the best chance to sell your house when owning a pet.

1. Hide the Evidence

When a buyer walks through your home they shouldn’t be able to tell a pet has ever been there. Thus, hiding all evidence like crates, food and water bowls, toys, pet food, beds, leashes and cat climbers can be instrumental in helping you sell your house. 

Buyers typically check the closet space, so it’s best to fully pack up your pet’s things and store them completely out of sight so they’re not discovered somewhere at the showing! Even family photos with pets should be removed, though family photos are typically encouraged to be taken down to create a neutral space anyway. 

Clearing the evidence is a good step to take before showings, but also for real estate photographers if there are photos of your house online. A potential buyer will spy a cage peeking out from the corner.

2. Repair the Damage

This is also an important step to take before real estate photographs are taken! You don’t want to advertise your house with scratched door frames, ripped window screens, damaged floors or a torn-up lawn. 

Cost-effective repairs can include putty and paint over scratched door frames and rubbing coconut oil on scratches to floors and furniture. If your hardwood flooring is severely damaged or stained, it’s a good investment to sand and refinish them. However, if your budget doesn’t allow for that, consult with your realtor about offering a flooring credit to the potential buyers. 

Outside, clean up all the messes made by your furry friends. Clean up any pet excrements or dug-up dirt to give your yard a pristine appearance and clear it from all signs of pet ownership.

3. Deep Clean

Deep cleaning is an essential step to take when selling a home with or without pets. However, animals can also leave behind peculiar smells, hair and other debris, so deep cleaning is especially important. We don’t want owners to get a bad whiff and have them running out the door! 

Professional cleaners can get in every nook and cranny and leave your house sparkling—including quilts, comforters, pillows and curtains. Professional carpet cleaners can also help remove tough stains.

4. Pet-Free Marketing

Though it may be tempting to market your home as pet-friendly, assume that pet-owning buyers will be able to judge how pet-friendly your home and neighborhood are by themselves. Unless you have a chicken coop or dog run that’s hard to dismantle or tear down, it should appear that no pets stepped through there before. 

When you list your home, you want to market to a wide variety of people and don’t want to risk turning off pet-free buyers.

5. Take Your Pet With You

Pet ownership can make showings a bit more tedious to deal with, especially if your animal gets anxious with change. Once you depersonalize your home and remove all evidence of yourself and a pet, it’s important you take your pet with you during a showing. 

Not only is it essential to help potential buyers picture themselves in your home, but it’s also safer—people may suffer from allergies and a lot of strangers around the house may trigger aggression in your otherwise friendly pet.

6. Neighbor’s Pets

Even if the yard looks pristine and the house is perfectly staged, a yappy, growling dog next door might stir trouble at your open house or showing. If you have a good relationship with your neighbor, ask them to keep the pets indoors or offer to pay for a dog walker during the showing. If not, you can always install a fountain or other white-noise to mask the sound. 

Although pets enrich our lives, it’s important to take steps to maximize how much richer you can become when selling a home too. To get the best cash offer on your house, sell to a local cash buyer with 800CashToday.