When Selling a Home, Consider These Factors If You Are a Pet Owner
As a pet owner, I certainly understand the joy that pets can bring to the family home. But, irrespective of how treasured a dog or cat may be, when a pet owner is attempting to market a house, the pet’s presence can produce unanticipated difficulties.
When buyers and their agents want to visit a house, the presence of a pet may introduce issues that make it seem less appealing than other competing properties. Here are a few examples of typical situations that may come up when pets are involved.
1. If sellers would like to be notified prior to a showing so that they may make arrangements for their animals, potential buyers may lower the home’s priority on their list of houses to view. It’s simply more convenient to view a home when there aren’t any scheduling issues.
2. Likewise, if sellers have special instructions for dealing with pets, such as “put the dog in the laundry room” or “do not let the cat escape”, buyers may decide that it is more convenient to view different properties first. In today’s extraordinarily competitive market, anything that makes a showing less appealing is a negative factor.
3. A noisy dog can, of course, be a potential detriment. Regardless of how friendly the dog actually is, buyers who are not at ease with dogs might have concerns concerning their personal safety. Even calm dogs who are overly friendly might be stressful to potential buyers and could reduce the amount of time they spend in the home. The more time that a buyer stays in a home, the more likely they are to be considering making an offer.
4. The presence of a pet on the property may negatively affect a showing. I once had a showing of a property where the sellers left the house but didn’t take their dog with them. Instead, the dog was left in the fenced-in backyard. The house was ideal for my buyer since his hobby was woodworking and the house included a separate shop building. Unfortunately, since his wife was afraid of dogs – and the woodshop was located in the backyard – they never even went out to take a look at it.
5. Pets can introduce odor problems no matter how clean the home might be. Pet owners get used to these odors and might not even notice them. However, buyers who are unaccustomed to living with pets may be turned off for concern that they might never completely get rid of the offending smell. Ask your friends or your agent to give you an candid assessment of any smells that they notice when entering your home – then take steps to eliminate them.
Naturally, not all animals are a potential obstacle to the sale of a home. An aquarium or caged birds can improve the decor and ambiance and may even be considered to be exotic. And, of course, if you are selling a farm or horse property, the presence of horses would undoubtedly be a positive factor.
While animal lovers might not notice the presence of pets to be a problem, it’s wise to do everything possible to make sure that buyers who aren’t “animal people” aren’t inadvertently excluded from the pool of potential buyers.
Jim Navary has been a freelance writer and researcher for over thirty years covering a broad variety of subjects. He is also a licensed real estate salesperson in the Commonwealth of Virginia featuring Tri Cities VA real estate and Petersburg VA homes for sale.
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