No one loves animals more than me, but I can assure you, that's not a sentiment shared by all. There have been many times when touring homes with clients that the cute little Chihuahua, Pekinese, or other miniature dog has cost the seller a sale.
Tiny dogs can be aggressive, and love to bark; I once had a showing whereas the little dog that was chained to a table in the kitchen never stopped yapping, and then tried to bite the buyers little boy. He of course starting crying and that was the end of that tour. Not surprisingly, that home never did sell, and was eventually taken off the Market.
Then there was the pit bull in the garage day (sounded like he was going to rip through the door), and the giant iguana on the sofa day, the stinky squawking parrot day, and just yesterday, a gigantic old fat Doberman in the back yard (friendly but huge). Fortunately, I went outside and entertained the former beast while my clients looked around the property. I assure you, not all agents will do that, because many are more terrified of dogs than their clients.
As sellers, you must keep in mind that although you know and love your pet, and you know it "wouldn't hurt a flea", others have no way of knowing that. At the very least, the animals are distracting. The obviously friendly ones want attention, they've been locked in the house alone all day and here comes people walking in the door; to the pet, it's party time! Also, buyers don't want your dog's hair all over their nice clothes, and many are allergic.
Keep in mind, the items left in the kitchen for such pets can be troublesome as well, and in some case, downright disgusting. Last week my client accidentally kicked over a gigantic water bowl in the kitchen, so I got to spend the next ten minutes sopping up water with paper towels while my clients toured the home alone. That home is still for sale. I'll spare you the Poo stories, I'm sure you get the picture.
Many homes of course have cats, and for the most part they're little to no trouble. Of course, many people are allergic to cats, so you pretty much rule out a sale to those buyers.
So sellers, keep in mind, it's challenging enough selling your home for a good price these days. You don't help the situation if you leave Cujo in the yard (or garage), or Tinker Bell in the house to distract, annoy, or scare the potential buyers. You don't want to take your pets with you because they will drive you crazy, so don't leave them behind to drive your potential buyer crazy, and quite likely, away. Don't let you pet, be our pest.
I totally agree with your artice. I am very allergic to cats. If you are allergic, your allergies react as soon as you walk in the door. Anyone with a cat allergy automatically knows that they will have to replace all carpets if they purchase the home. Usually if they are allergic, they just turn around and leave. If you are not allergic, make sure the owners change the litter box often. There is nothing more offensive that a stinky litter box.
Furthermore, dogs do scare many clients. If they are not scared, the constant yelping is such a distraction while looking that many leave just to get away from the noise. Explaining this concept to your clients can be like walking on a tight rope. They do not understand why someone wouldn't love their pet like they do. I encourage all of my clients to take their pets out of the house when there is a showing. Hopefully, there home will sell quickly, and that won't have to happen much.
I absolutely agree. Pets have cost sales in my case, for sure. I had a showing where the agent told me the dogs were friendly and just put them outside. Yeah right! I couldn't even step two feet in the door. That dog's hackles were up and he was snapping at me! No way I was letting my buyers in there to be eaten alive!
Mike's post brings up a very good point and one that all Realtor's have to deal with. I agree with him regarding his point of " don't let your pet, be our pest". As a home owner when you place your property for sale you are opening it up to the public, so its your responsibility to make it safe and inviting. As Realtor's when we are going to take a listing on a property that has "issues" we make a point about letting our Sellers know our concerns.
In past years I've had to tell Sellers to clean their house better (even though they told me they already had), I've had to speak to them about removing clutter from their home, cleaning the litter box more than once a week etc.. So addressing the issue of what to do with their pet is just another housekeeping item.
If the dog is viscous, then the owners need to be home restraining the dog, taking it for a walk etc.. If the animal is quite and very very nice, then I recommend having it in the basement or on a leash outside and I always post in the listing where the animal will be during showings.
I know you cannot get rid of the Sellers pets, but they must make some accommodations to the Buyers.
Robin, as you said "If there is an aggressive pet in the house - forget it, I'm not going in". So sure, for you it's no problem, to the seller of the home, it's a problem. To all who ask "what do I expect them to do with Fido?" You know, when people go on vacation they sure find an answer, so there are options. It's really a matter of "how badly do you want to sell your home"? Last five years were great, people would buy a home if it was on fire, now they look for any little reason to not buy it, or low-ball the seller to death.
Real life does include pets, as Robin pointed out. Real life also includes dirty laundry, dirty dishes, cigarette smoke odor, unmade beds, cluttered showers, and on and on. I'm not in the real life business, I sell homes. Homes need to look their best, and yapping dogs and poop on the floor is a hindrance. You wouldn't enter a beauty pageant and expect to win by looking as you do every day in real life.
I haven't run into this in awhile. When properties were on the market for a short period of time, many people made arrangements for the pets for a week or so. But now that we are running into longer days on market, it will be harder for owners to keep their pets out of the way.
How about a campaign. "Be Kind to Your Pet! Price Well for a Quick Sale! Your pet will appreciate it :)"
In response to Michael's statement:
I am preparing to put my house on the market and our agent has told us to "do something" with our cats and dogs. I understand the issue, and totally agree that prospective buyers should not be distracted by the owners pets, whether it be the dogs barking, or the smell of the cat litter.
But... options are tremendously limited! (THANK YOU Sara and Robin). And to respond - my cats and dogs DON'T drive me crazy - the fact is, I can't think of any option that won't cost me thousands of dollars.
It's out of the question to take the four little dogs on a drive all day (not with the price of gas these days), or even to drive around the block, pull over, and wait it out (Texas heat prevents that, but if it didn't - what to do with the cats??), or even to put them in doggy daycare or board them, until the house sells.
There's no way we can afford doggy daycare, since we have put every penny into: making the house look fresh and new ($1K for the painters, $100's for house staging items like bedding, flowers/plants inside and out, power-washing rental, window cleaners, etc.), packing material like carboard boxes, tape, shrink wrap, bubble wrap, etc ($1k easily dropped there), hiring movers to carry the heavy items (we both have bad backs - that cost us $600), renting pods to store our stuff (another $600), hiring a staging person ($100's), hiring a yard guy to spread the mulch, mow the lawn, trim the bushes, ... I could go on but it's making me sick listing out everything we've had to do ALL to make the house look as if it were "entering a beauty pageant".
It sounds like you think our dogs and cats - which mean the world to us AND are part of our family - should be treated like the ugly worn and torn recliner... take it away or hide it!
We have looked into Doggy Day Care... even renting an RV for the month, or however long it takes to sell the house. We've looked into staying at a pet-friendly Extended Stay or Econo Lodge, ... but all those things would cost thousands of dollars. We don't have money to spend like that. And we can't "farm" our cats and dogs out to friends for months (even if they would take them) - you wouldn't do that to your children would you?
If you can come up with a financially doable solution, please let me know, because this one stumps me!
I'm still not sure what to do about the dogs because they DO bark. And the only thing I can think of, for the cats (and please don't ask how many cats there are!), is for me to hide with them in the spare bedroom, and post an 8x10 picture of the recently cleaned and polished room - to the front of the locked door along with the dimensions. Hopefully, if the people find our house attractive enough, they wouldn't mind making another appointment to see the room - minus me and the cats.
Thanks for listening, and seriously... suggestions (nice ones) are welcome!
JP
Ma'am, I wasn't trying to imply that all animals are pest, I have always had pets (dogs and cats) and have nothing but love for them. Cats are only an issue when the potential buyers are allergic, and some folks are terribly allergic. I have a cat and a couple of my friends won't step foot in my home because their eyes swell up and their wind pipe begins closing on them. For those buyers theres not much you can do but write them off, even with the cats gone, they would likely still have a reaction.
Dogs are different, because many people fear being bitten, some are practically phoebic about it. It's not uncommon for some dogs to actually try and bite the clients or agents; after all, to them a whole bunch of strangers just walked in like they own the place. Thats quite an afront to any dog with pride (after all, isn't it their job to protect the home?).
There's no easy answer, I would suggest you simply play it by ear and see how it goes. Your agent can contact the various agents that show the home and get feedback as to what effect the pets had (if any) on the buyer. Obviously if the feedback makes it clear that the pets (or one in particular) is running off buyers, then you will need to address it. It surely can be expensive to board a dog, but if he's scaring off clients in a market thats already difficult, then how much does that cost? Good luck to you.