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Thinking about putting our house on the market. Husband & I both work full-time. We have 1 dog, a Yorkie. She is small and getting older (she's 7). She is harmless, but she does bark & yap like most terriers and gets extremely excited whenever someone comes in the house. She doesn't shed, and our house doesn't smell like "dog". She's small and very clean and only goes outside to pee & poop....very much an inside dog.
I know we can ask for advance notice for showings, but having sold houses before, I know that there are times when you get drive-by's and people want to stop in unscheduled, and of course you never want to say No because that person *could* be the one. You never know. So, how do you handle a very excitable dog in those situations?
Personally, I do not mind pets in houses I've looked at as long as the house is clean and doesn't smell like dog or litter box. But I know it's a total turn-off for some people.
We don't have the option of shipping her off to a family member's house while we sell ours. So, what should we do?
I know we can ask for advance notice for showings, but having sold houses before, I know that there are times when you get drive-by's and people want to stop in unscheduled, and of course you never want to say No because that person *could* be the one. You never know. So, how do you handle a very excitable dog in those situations?
For unscheduled visits, I don't see anything wrong with putting the dog in the yard. People who want unscheduled visits might be the "one", but they also should expect that you haven't had time to prepare to the extent that you would for a scheduled visit.
I"m not concerned with showings that are scheduled. We can take her (the dog) with us. But if someone calls at 10:00 AM and wants to show the house at 11:00 AM, do I just say....OK, but the dog will be in the house?
Maybe it's just around here, but this comes up pretty often. Last time I sold a house I asked for 24 hour notice but rarely got it.
Do you have a neighbor that you can offer to pay a small amount to take the dog on a walk or put it outside when you get last minute requests for showings?
I often see in the agent remarks that notice is needed so owner can get dogs out. I have also seen "Small, friendly dog in the house." However if your dog barks a lot when people come in, don't leave it there because that is a major turnoff and people will be in a hurry to leave.
I never advocate leaving any dog loose in the house when it is being shown. Complete strangers are entering your home without you there. No matter how friendly your dog (any dog) is, you are putting them in a position of either feeling the need to defend their territory or to run and hide to get away from the intruders. This is where crate training comes in handy. I've also seen small dogs left in a bathroom with a baby gate up. A small hall bathroom that you can see all of it by poking your head in the door should be plenty big enough for your Yorki. The baby gate ensures that no one is jumped on and it gives your dog a sense of security that no one is entering their space.
I know an agent who was just bit during a showing. Any time there is a dog bite, it is supposed to be reported to the police and then there is an investigation. So for your dogs safety, please keep them confined someway. I've trained and competed with dogs for over 20 years and I can tell you, even the best natured dog could surprise you when you are not home and an intruder enters
This is a HUGE issue. We have had pets and sold homes, but only with pets out of house. Once we stored them in my parents luxurious garage, and twice we had them in rentals/
I cannot imagine selling homes with pets inside. Too much chance for a peep, poop, or vomit, and regardless of how minor, on the scale of life one of those boo boos is, MOST if not ALL lookers would drop the home for consideration.
Of course, our standards are high, and we have sold four homes since 1992 with all being sold in less than two weeks. But to get those result, Top Cat and Cujo are gonna have to vacate the premises.
In fact, we want to move one more time, but we have a herd of animals and that alone is holding us back. My kids, now adults, FAILED to move "their pets" out with them when they graduated from college. We are stuck, holding the bag.
Young92 is exactly correct. Too much risk of biting or losing the dog when somebody let's it out by accident. I feel the same when it comes to dogs OR cats.
We have done the following things, or a combination of these things, to accommodate our pets when we have been selling our (and their) home:
Asking a neighbor to take them during the day. We dropped off and picked up before and after we went to work.
Doggie day care when we were at work. Petsmart took the kitties, too, in their own little room.
Farming out the cats to a friend for a few weeks until the house was under contract.
Asked to telecommute a few days a week, decreasing the number of days we had a problem with the pets.
Buying a new house before we sold the current one, so that we could move the animals into the new house.
Accept that there's no easy or cheap way to do this. We consider it part of the cost of selling our home, and being a responsible pet parent.
When I sold my house, I put the dog crates in the garage and had the dogs in there all day while I was at work. If someone wanted to come for a showing with short notice, I could usually get at least 30 minutes lead time wherein I would try to leave work to come home, throw the dogs in the car, and drive around for a while until they were done. Then return the dogs, then go back to work (my boss is pretty flexible, luckily!). If I was not able to get home to remove the dogs, then they would have the showing with the dogs in the garage, where they hopefully would not be too distracting.
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