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What are your experiences with viewing or showing homes where the owners still live in the home and they have pets? I'm not only talking about people having dogs or cats, but the non-conventional pets like reptiles, hamsters, birds....etc...
Have you seen anyone just let their animal run loose?
We've always sold our homes when they are empty so I was just wondering what people do with their pets.
I'm NOT selling my home. This is just a thread to see what your experiences have been.
Anybody have any "what are those people thinking" stories?
I've been in houses with non-conventional pets. They are always caged. Often birds cages are covered.
Generally speaking people tend to lose their focus on the house when there are reptiles, especially snakes. Snakes give a lot of people an uneasy feeling. I would recommend covering the cages if possible.
Dogs and/or cats should be taken out of the house if possible. At the very minimum dogs should be crated and cats crated or confined to a single room.
All of the above suggestions are for the protection of the animal(s) as much as to make the home easier and more pleasant to view.
Can be tricky... Ideally, Sellers should make arrangements with friend/relative to take pets for at least one week after listing property (lots of traffic/showing, open house, etc..). I'm an animal lover, so if your pets are ok with me, I'll offer to accompany showings and temporarily remove them. Cats are hardest - I've had lots of buyers allergic. As for other types of pets, as long as they're caged, don't see an issue (except odor ��).
If you're asking what to do with your own pets, don't assume your cats and especially dogs will be no problem. Some are very carefree about showings. But even those used to having guests over can change. They can feel your tension about moving, the prospective buyers' tension, etc. They may be suddenly spooked by a person they are not used to...children, a cane, etc.
Be sure all the cages are kept constantly clean. Owners can get used to smells that new people can smell.
My title is confusing...so sorry about that. I'm NOT selling a house. I was just wondering if anybody has any experiences or funny anecdotes of any memorable encounters of homes for sale that have pets involved.
The first house we bought they had chinchillas, but they moved the cage to the basement when they put their house on the market. Their house was spotless.
When we sold we had one dog and four cats. My husband was a realtor and was home during the day to make sure that it was in a constant state of "perfectly clean" in case someone wanted to come look. We kept our covered kitty litter boxes in the basement and cleaned them out constantly in case we had to make a mad dash out of the house. We constantly patrolled the backyard to clean up after the dog so people could walk the yard without having to dodge anything.
We would then pile all the animals (and kids) into the van while we drove around during the showing. On the day we sold the house, we were actually home and opted to put the cats in the van and just kept the dog in the backyard with us while we hung out (it was a gorgeous day). The verbal offer was presented while the buyers stood in the front yard and we stood in the back. My husband went back and forth between yards until the price was settled and we shook hands.
In our current house the sellers did not have pets, so no issue there. And we fully intend to retire in our current house, so no worries about selling in the future.
We viewed a house once that was about 2200 square feet, had five cats and 3 bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms were kids with cartoon characters painted on the walls in neon colors including a lime green base. The five cats were everywhere.
We had cats at the time, but we just couldn't get past the cats and colors to actually LOOK at the house. That was in 2007 and I STILL remember it.
Every house I've ever owned and sold had pets - and they were removed for all showings. No trace if tgem in the house. No pet beds, crates, litter boxes, dishes, nothing. All three new owners were torally unaware we even had pets,
It was a huge pita and usually involved paying people for pet care,
Last edited by Jkgourmet; 01-19-2016 at 12:14 PM..
When we sold our house recently, as well as when we sold 8 years ago, we put our dogs in crates in the garage when we left for work. If we had advanced knowledge of a showing, we would come home from work and drive around with the dog during the showing. If we didn't have advanced knowledge, or couldn't leave work, then the dogs would be in the garage in crates. We were able to take them out almost every time.
My in-laws are selling their house now, and they just leave their dog running around in the house. I advised them to at least crate him, but they see no need to because "he's just a small dog". They also have a cat and leave it out as well. They don't understand why this could be a problem for a buyer.
We viewed a house with cats. We don't have any but I do like cats so it wasn't a deal breaker that they were running around. The pile of new cat poop on the floor as we walked in, however, was. The house wasn't what we were looking for anyway.
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