What to do with your Furry Friends when Selling your Home? (and their messes)
- lainakcollins
- Mar 31, 2016
- 2 min read
I am going to start out by telling you I saw the most outrageous suggestion online by some agent giving advice to re-home pets when selling your home.... CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT NON-SENSE!?! As you know I am obsessed with my 2 furry little friends, but our pets are family people! YOU DO NOT NEED TO RE-HOME YOU PET JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE SELLING YOUR HOME! Seriously, who could get rid of these knuckle heads?!
Now that we have that out of the way, lets go over some legitimate suggestions. We all know our pets come with their own interesting quirks...and smells... and messes. These little "quirks" are not going to be overlooked by buyers. With this being said, you need to be proactive in ridding your home of the little "presents" your pets leave behind.
Pets have a natural odor that, lets face it, doesn't smell like roses. I have Glade Plug-ins all over our house to mask their lovely scent. Do a deep clean of your home prior to putting it on the market in order cleanse it of their fur and little disasters. Continue to vacuum, sweep, and mop! You want it to look like you have no pets! And that goes for Fido's poops outside too! Keep the yard clean so no one has to worry about tip-toeing around the yard. You don't want any distractors; the buyer should be focused on your home.
Which brings me to kitty's litter box. We all know this can be a smelly little place. !. Clean it as often as you can! Did you know they even make covers for such occasions!? 2. Out of site, out of mind. In other words, try to place it in the laundry room, the basement, or if you can in the garage. You can even splurge and get one of those fancy hide-away boxes that looks like a bench or a tree. The key is keep it clean and keep it covered!
So, now the house is clean what about showings and our pets? Not all of us have the luxury of being able to take off of work when we have a showing to shoo the dog out the door. Get a dog walker! Use a site such are Care.com and find someone who is flexible near by who can come and give Fido a walk while your home is being shown. Never leave your dog walking around the house while a buyer is viewing your home. If your dog does fine in a crate, then by all means keep him in there. For your furry kitty friend, if he is an escape artist like mine thinks he is, leave showing instructions to NOT LET THE CAT OUT AND MAKE SURE ALL OUTSIDE DOORS ARE CLOSED, CAT WILL TRY TO ESCAPE. The agent does not want to be running around trying to catch the cat all day! The point being there are ways to sell your home and still keep your pets safe. And while it may take a little extra work each day to keep your home in selling condition, it will pay off in the end!
Stay tuned for my next post and keep Scouting it out with Me!