How To Sell Your House When Pets Are Part Of Your Home

Home sellers who have pets at home can have a hard time imagining the negative attitudes that potential home buyers may have against a beloved furry family member. But if you want to get the best price for your home, you should consider these factors that may influence the sale of your home when you have a dog, a cat or other types of pets at home.

Unpredictable Reactions

Even if you consider your pet to be well behaved, it is a lot to ask of them to be calm and welcoming while people they don’t know arrive unexpectedly at your house.  You really can’t predict what your pet might do, and as such, their behaviour can turn home buyers away.

Fear or Nervousness

Pets can make some people very uncomfortable. As a result, it may cause them to shorten a showing or to not really look at all the features of the home with an open mind.

What To Do With Pets When Your House Is On The Market?

While this can be hard and frustrating for pet owners to hear, removing pets from the home, if possible, while the house is on the market is the best option. At the very least, pets should be out of the home during an open house. See if a friend or family member can give them a temporary home or look into local kennels or boarding options.

Regardless of whether you move your pet out of the home when you are trying to sell or not, other tips to make your home more welcoming to all buyers include:

• Removing cat litter boxes or dog pee pads. You will also need to clean and sanitize the area to remove lingering odours.
• Hire a professional carpet cleaner to remove pet stains from carpets.
• Put away toys as well as food and water bowls.
• Pack up crates, carriers, leashes and other items used for caring for your pets.
• Clean your yard and make sure you have picked up after your pet.

When you put your house up for sale, it’s no longer about you or your pets. Before you list your home, you need to create an environment that will give potential buyers the most favorable impression of your property. It should be easy for potential buyers to visualize themselves making your house their future home.

Getting Your House Ready To Sell

One of the many ways that Sue Heddle Homes makes it easy for clients to sell their home is by offering free home staging. Staging can help eliminate signs of pets in your home and will also help your home sell quickly, meaning that your pets can be back with the family as soon as possible. For more information on how we help our clients sell their homes, take a look at our Seller’s Guide. We invite you to contact us at any time to find out more about how we can help you sell your Oakville, Mississauga or Burlington home.