What's Brewing in Real Estate?

How To Sell Your Home With Pets

While you probably find your pets rather fetching, potential buyers of your home might disagree. Even if they like dogs and want one of their own, they might be offput by the potential damages and smells inflicted on a home by its furry, four-legged inhabitants. In some cases, owning a pet can significantly reduce the value of your home. In one case noted by TIME, a condo’s sale price sunk by up to $30,000 because of the owners’ cats. Your best course of action? Bury the evidence. To prevent the presence of pets from impacting the purchase, follow these tips.

1. Pet-Free Showings

Make sure your pets aren’t around during property tours and showings. Aside from potential issues with your dog getting territorial or your cat being sassy, the buyer might just have a personal pet peeve and be uncomfortable around them. Perhaps more importantly, they could have an allergy that would require them to leave. Whether it’s a preference or a necessity causing them to flee a pet-ridden area, the last thing you want is a buyer in a rush to leave. 

1. Clean the Carpets

Accidents happen, but potential buyers shouldn’t have to be privy to them. Regardless of how much you paid for your vacuum, or whether it says “Perfect for Pet Stains!” on the box, it’s better to be safe than sorry. For the sake of real estate agents and potential buyers, nothing beats a deep clean by a professional. Let the experts do their job.

1. Hide the Accoutrement

Even a clean litter box emits an unpleasant smell, so while you’re carrying out the cat, take the box along with. Similarly soggy rawhide bones, fraying tennis balls, and destroyed scratching posts probably don’t send the right message about the condition and cleanliness of your home either. It’s a good idea to designate a particular storage place — a box or closet — for these kinds of toys, and also keep an inventory, so you can be sure you’ve found and removed every last stuffed mouse and squeaky toy before the showing begins. 

1. And Cover the Tracks

Chances are, your beloved dog or cat is so well-behaved that it has never caused any damage at all. But on the off chance your doorframes are a bit scratched up, your dog’s territory has been firmly marked, and your cat’s favorite face-rubbing corner is showing its wear, you want to clean it up before a buyer visits. Touch up the paint, fill in the scrapes, and for goodness sakes, get to work in that yard. No one should have to check their shoes after walking across your lawn. 

You pet enriches your life, but it could also suck the money out of a home sale. But if you take the proper precautions to fix any damages and cover up any lingering smells, potential buyers won’t be any the wiser and will be more willing to purchase a clean, well-maintained home.

Sam Radbil is a contributing member of the marketing and communications team at ABODO, an online apartment marketplace. ABODO was founded in 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. And in just three years, the company has grown to more than 30 employees, raised over $8M in outside funding and helps more than half a million renters find a new home each month.