If you’re a pet parent selling a home in Ellicott City, you can make the whole process easier – on yourself and on your pet – by planning ahead.
Here’s what you need to know about selling a home with pets.
5 Steps to Selling a Home With Pets
First things first: Not everyone loves pets, and you have to remember that while you’re selling your home. Some people will be thrilled to discover that you have pets living in your home, but others will be put off and might even decide that it’s not the right house for them.
If you’re selling a home with pets, these are the steps you need to take:
- Get the yard ready
- Eliminate pet odors
- Clean up every piece of pet hair you can
- Remove pet toys and other evidence
- Take your pets with you when you leave for showings
#1. Get the yard ready.
When people come to see your home, they’ll want to see all of it – including the backyard. That means heading out back and picking up anything your pets have left behind. The very last thing you want is to surprise your prospective buyers by letting them step in anything you wouldn’t want to step in.
Other tips:
- If your dog is a digger, fill any holes he or she has created.
- Try to aerate and seed bare spots.
- Replace yellow-and-brown spots with sod if necessary.
#2. Eliminate pet odors.
Even if your pets never have accidents in the house, there’s a good chance that people who stop by know that you have them – pets leave behind odor in many cases. However, if your pet has had accidents in the house, invest in a bacteria-eating, biological pet odor remover.
You might also want to consider having your carpets professionally cleaned before you list your house for sale.
If you have small animals in cages or tanks, make sure you’re cleaning them frequently enough that buyers won’t smell them before they see them.
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#3. Clean up every piece of pet hair you can.
Pet hair can really sneak up on you – before you know it, it’s everywhere. But for people with allergies who come see your home, it can be incredibly serious.
Dust, vacuum and sweep before every showing to remove any dander your pets leave behind. You can even invest in a vacuum robot, which can stay on the clock while you’re busy doing other things.
Bathing and grooming your pet (or at least brushing him or her outdoors) can help minimize the amount of hair that accumulates in your home.
#4. Remove pet toys and other evidence.
Ideally, the people who come see your home will never know that you even have a pet. You can help keep your four-legged family member under the radar by picking up and putting away leashes, water and food bowls, toys and litter boxes – and that’s necessary, because prospective buyers will just see it as clutter. Even if they have pets of their own, they want to see that you have room for everything, because it means they likely will, too.
#5. Take your pets with you when you leave for showings.
Some people don’t like pets – they’re just not that into animals. Others are deathly afraid of them.
You need to go out of your way to make sure prospective buyers feel completely comfortable in your home, and that means taking your pets with you when you leave. We’re not saying you need to drain half the water out of the fish tank and traumatize your tropical fish – just that if you have a cat or dog (or a pet that has the potential to make people uncomfortable, like a snake or tarantula), you should take them with you when you leave for a showing.
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