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Its true.. you get used to the smell of your pets. Its best to have an outsider unknowingly come in your home and see if the detect pet smells. Thankfully I use top quality litter and it works the best ( Arm and Hammer). I have had agents walk in here without seeing the cats (during interviews) and were astonished that there is no smell at all. My dad who is highly allergic to cats has come over many occasions and he doesn't get effected by them. They are short haired so maybe that plays a part.
But overall we have never ever gotten a complaint about our animals and smell regardless if we are up for sale or not. Plus my cats are indoor only and "fixed" so that might also make a difference.
That being said.. if you own a pet.. get a sniff test from a friend.
When we were shopping for our current home - 2 years ago - I had no problem with pets in the home - because I had 2 cats and love pets. I felt it seemed more warm and homey when I saw a sign of a pet (food bowl/leash/pix of pets). It is inconvenient because our realtor let a cat out by mistake when we were looking and I felt so bad I scoured the backyard til I found him (under the shed) and lured him out and got him back in the house! It does seem better to see a house which is completely unoccupied - but, for me, it gives a homey feel to see traces of kids/pets in the house.
Hi, just wanted to put in my two cents. I too have pets (cats). In NY we also use CSS for showings Moderator cut: removed Of course for my open house the cats took a day trip to a family member's house, but all of my showings have been with the cats. People do remark "You cannot tell that you have cats" so that makes me feel good as the house is spotless (so is the litter box) and I have never owned a cat that had a litterbox issue. Do I think people should board their dogs? NO! Have I shown a house with a "friendly dog" that wasn't so friendly? Yes. I suggest they keep the dog in a place the dog will be comfortable (in the yard-weather permitting, in a basement--leave a note on the door). I am wondering if CSS and your realtor would be willing to put a remark under the showing instructions "up to 24 hours notice please". It can't hurt and if they REALLY want to see your house they will wait until later in the day or the next day. Good luck!
Last edited by autumngal; 03-04-2008 at 05:07 AM..
What is the standard practice here for having a house on the market when you have a dog?
The last two houses we've sold (NJ -- 1994, , OR--2006), the buying agents called us (rather than our realtor) to make an appointment to show -- and we took the dogs "for a ride" during the showing. Going home to get the dogs also gave us a chance for a quick last minute tidy-up, as well as turning on lights, etc.
When househunting here, it seems our agent called a central number and got an appointment, sometimes just a few minutes ahead. The owners were out of the loop.
I'm sure showing homes with pets can be tricky. We did not encounter any problems with the pets in the homes we viewed while house hunting this year.
BUT the underlying problem is it the out dated system of "central booking" that realtors use here. I'm sure I'm going to get slammed for this. But I was shocked to find out homes did not have lock boxes that realtors punch their codes into. These lock boxes track which realtors have seen the home so the sellers agent can follow up. Plus no need for centralized booking. And what is this craziness about checking out a key? Put it in a lock box on the door!!
When we sold our Oregon house in April the buyers agents called us directly to make appointments. This worked great! And when the sellers agent gets word that an offer is coming, he/she can find out which realtors have been in your house from the codes on the lock box and make the call down list. Central booking is only going to be able to tell you who had appointments, not who had been in the house.
I asked my realtor here about "central booking" and the lack of lock boxes and she claimed it would be too costly to switch to the the lock box system. But it seems to me that paying folks to answer the calls and check out keys at central booking is pretty expensive.
If the buyers agent is making the appointment w/ the the actual seller, it's a lot easier for the seller to make sure the place is pet free for the buyer.
I'm sure showing homes with pets can be tricky. We did not encounter any problems with the pets in the homes we viewed while house hunting this year.
BUT the underlying problem is it the out dated system of "central booking" that realtors use here. I'm sure I'm going to get slammed for this. But I was shocked to find out homes did not have lock boxes that realtors punch their codes into. These lock boxes track which realtors have seen the home so the sellers agent can follow up. Plus no need for centralized booking. And what is this craziness about checking out a key? Put it in a lock box on the door!!
When we sold our Oregon house in April the buyers agents called us directly to make appointments. This worked great! And when the sellers agent gets word that an offer is coming, he/she can find out which realtors have been in your house from the codes on the lock box and make the call down list. Central booking is only going to be able to tell you who had appointments, not who had been in the house.
I asked my realtor here about "central booking" and the lack of lock boxes and she claimed it would be too costly to switch to the the lock box system. But it seems to me that paying folks to answer the calls and check out keys at central booking is pretty expensive.
If the buyers agent is making the appointment w/ the the actual seller, it's a lot easier for the seller to make sure the place is pet free for the buyer.
Interesting. All of the homes I looked at last summer had lock boxes. My RE agent would call Central booking who in turn would call the seller or the sellers agent to set up the appointment. It actally worked very well for us. Never had to Check out a key. I agree, that would lame.
I'm sure showing homes with pets can be tricky. We did not encounter any problems with the pets in the homes we viewed while house hunting this year.
BUT the underlying problem is it the out dated system of "central booking" that realtors use here. I'm sure I'm going to get slammed for this. But I was shocked to find out homes did not have lock boxes that realtors punch their codes into. These lock boxes track which realtors have seen the home so the sellers agent can follow up. Plus no need for centralized booking. And what is this craziness about checking out a key? Put it in a lock box on the door!!
When we sold our Oregon house in April the buyers agents called us directly to make appointments. This worked great! And when the sellers agent gets word that an offer is coming, he/she can find out which realtors have been in your house from the codes on the lock box and make the call down list. Central booking is only going to be able to tell you who had appointments, not who had been in the house.
I asked my realtor here about "central booking" and the lack of lock boxes and she claimed it would be too costly to switch to the the lock box system. But it seems to me that paying folks to answer the calls and check out keys at central booking is pretty expensive.
If the buyers agent is making the appointment w/ the the actual seller, it's a lot easier for the seller to make sure the place is pet free for the buyer.
Where did you look at homes? 4 years ago all the homes, well 98% of the homes had lock boxes with codes. The only ones I didn't see them one was one where we there was a SAHM....we called Central Booking, asked is we could look, she asked for 15 mintues and we saw her drive off as we drove in.
NEVER had to go ask for keys or any such nonsense. There were a few times (with empty homes) we would look at one home in a neighborhood, spot another, and a phone call later we were seeing it.
Here is my story. I owned two dogs the last time I sold a home. I kept my house extra clean. Both dogs also received baths on a weekly basis. The dogs were crated during the day - everyday - in case of a last minute showing appointment. I put some dog biscuits out with a note that said "Feel free to feed the dogs." The feedback was positive. Only one guy was "put off" by the dogs, and I question whether he was a viable buyer due to other issues.
I think it really depends on the animals. My dogs were not barkers. That helped a lot.
The gentleman that purchased my home made a couple comments about how great the dogs behaved. He was not a pet person. So, that meant a lot.
We're one of those couples that are very negatively affected by seeing pets in the home. Both because my husband has pet allergies, but also because once we see them we start thinking about all the places the pet might have had an accident/done damage, and if it's a dog we are constantly thinking about the poor crated dog (or hearing the poor crated dog). I also have a very keen nose for pet smells and that is a huge turn off, whether the pet is present or not. We've turned around and left just on smelling pets upon entering.
Also, as much as I love cats it's really annoying to not be able to enter any given room in the house and generally the cats are loose in a room. I remember one time my husband refused to sign the papers on a rental until we had been inside the mysteriously locked master closet door. He was convinced there was something terrible in there Just a buyer's perspective. I can certainly sympathize with the inconvenience of having to hide pets.
PS. To those implying it's cruel for some to crate or board their pets, some people might not be able to leave work to run home and take a pet for a walk... A lot of out of town house hunters are going to be looking during the week.
Where did you look at homes? 4 years ago all the homes, well 98% of the homes had lock boxes with codes. The only ones I didn't see them one was one where we there was a SAHM....we called Central Booking, asked is we could look, she asked for 15 mintues and we saw her drive off as we drove in.
NEVER had to go ask for keys or any such nonsense. There were a few times (with empty homes) we would look at one home in a neighborhood, spot another, and a phone call later we were seeing it.
Interesting. All of the homes I looked at last summer had lock boxes. My RE agent would call Central booking who in turn would call the seller or the sellers agent to set up the appointment. It actally worked very well for us. Never had to Check out a key. I agree, that would lame.
Just to clarify, around this area, when agents list your home they set your appointments up with centralized showing service (css) and you can designate how you want the showings to be scheduled, with appointment only (hours notice, etc) which means an appointment can not be confirmed and the code for the lock box will not be given unless css can get in touch with the seller or the seller's agent or courtesy call - which means css will call and leave a message for the seller regarding the appointment, and then there is a GO, which generally means (but not all of the time) that the house is vacant and the agent can show whenever.
So, css will give the agent the "code" for the lock box. Just a couple of years ago triangle mls discontinued lock box keys, which was a hassle to get all of the keys returned, and to get all of the lock boxes changed out from keys to codes.
Many parts of the country have cards that can be scanned in that open the lock box, which would be nice as well.
Leigh
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The answer is lock boxes!!
Just a buyer's perspective. I can certainly sympathize with the inconvenience of having to hide pets.
