Selling you Home - Showings and Pets!

When a potential buyer pulls up outside your home for the first time there's usually a sense of excitement. They may have looked at dozens of listing brochures and they've chosen yours as one of the properties they would like to see. As the Seller you want to do everything you can to make this showing successful and planning how you will include your pets in this process is extremely important.

Small Pets - Rodents, Fish, Reptiles etc..

There are two problems with showing a house with smaller pets. The first is smells and cleanliness and the second is the "yuk" factor. Make sure rodent cages are fresh and that fish tanks, especially large aquariums, are clean.
If you keep a tarantula or lizard or rat in your home you may want to think about relocating it while your house is on the market. Some buyers cannot move past the fact that they have seen a hand sized hairy spider in what they had hoped would be their baby's nursery. Some agent too are 'creeped out' by these kinds of pets.

Cats

The main problems which I encounter with cats are allergies, smelly & inappropriately located litter boxes and extensive, complicated instructions.
There is little you can do to help a potential buyer with allergies unless you want to relocate the cat. You can, however overcome the litter box issue. You may not think that your litter box location is odd or inappropriate but most people don't like to see litter boxes anywhere near the kitchen, childrens' rooms nor in confined areas like closets. Buyers who do not themselves have cats will frequently note that there is a litter box odor - even if it is very slight and you probably don't notice it. Invest in the best odor killing kitty litter that you can afford during the period your home is for sale and make sure you keep the box clean. Remove the box during showings if you can.
The final issue with cats relates to complex instructions for not letting the cat out or not letting the cat into certain parts of the house. Unfortunately I have had experiences with both overly friendly and overly aggressive cats which make this difficult to achieve. Try to limit the number of instructions and find ways to manage the cat which don't lead to your prospective buyer being so anxious and distracted that they forget to look at the house!

Dogs

It's hard to really get a good look at a house when there is a dog in a crate barking incessantly or whining for attention. Wherever possible remove your dog for a viewing and never let a dog be loose in the house while there is a showing. Find a neighbor who can help or book them into a doggy daycare if they aren't crate trained.
Make sure that dog items - chew toys, beds and dirty food bowls are kept to a minimum and that you keep up with cleaning pet hair from carpets & soft furnishings. If you have pet stains on carpets or furnishings then the time to take care of that is before you list the house for sale. Don't let an old stain which you've become accustomed to be a turn-off to a buyer.

When working with buyers you can never anticipate what may be the deciding factors in which home they choose. Although your pets won't remain in the house after you leave don't let their presence be a 'turn off'. I recently had a buyer who was disappointed to find a cat eating off the kitchen counter. It may not have been the only reason they didn't chose the house - but it was definitely a part of the decision.