You love your pets, but not everyone takes so kindly to them, especially not potential home buyers when you are selling your home.
In fact, they can create quite a negative first impression to those who come to view your home!
In an ideal world, your pets would be able to inherit your home, but unfortunately, this is not an episode of The Aristocats where everyone lives in harmony.
As soon as you start opening your home as a show house to the public, you might want to avoid these 5 ways that pets can sabotage the sale of your home:
No.1 – Stains galore
If your cat loves coughing up grass on the floor or leaving his mark underneath the table, a potential buyer will definitely notice the mark if they don’t notice the stain.
Carpet and floor stains need to be fixed before any showings. If you absolutely cannot fix it, consider replacing the rug or roll the old one up and stash it somewhere safe.
It would be a good idea to hire a professional floor cleaner to get rid of the tougher stains by either re-staining them or cleaning them with a commercial floor cleanser.
No.2 – Pet aromas
It is a smell that you have gotten used to over the past few years, but it might not be the pleasant smell you think it is to people who enter your house for the first time.
The remedy is simple: baking soda.
It is safe and effective, and you can easily sprinkle it in your cat’s litter box so that the scent is absorbed!
You can also use it as a deodorizer in your home by mixing it with water and putting it in a spray bottle. There are also many candles and air fresheners that can help eliminate bad smells.
No.3 – Furballs
How cute is it when your dog or cat snuggle up against you on the couch or the bed on a cold winter’s night?
Not very cute when they leave tufts of fur all over the place and you struggle to vacuum it all up.
A lightly dampened sponge works perfectly for removing stubborn pet hair, and you can also try lint rollers or squeegees. There are also pet-hair gloves available that have been designed specifically to clean fur.
Remember to give your pets a regular brush to remove loose hair from their coats.
No.4 – Beds & pets
Cats might get away with napping on a bed, but dogs sleeping on a couch might scare some people away.
When you get ready for a showing, make sure that your dogs are out of the bedrooms and housed in his crate or his section of the yard.
If you feel like this is too much effort (or impossible for those with stubborn dogs), consider sending him off to a friend or family member for the day. Then make sure that there are no pet hairs left behind.
No.5 – Chewing & scratching
Puppies are cute, but they will chew on anything including leg chairs, baseboards and other wooden features in your home.
- If you start seeing serious furniture damage, get the pieces out of your home and store them during your next open house.
- Smaller marks can easily be hidden with simple DIY tricks.
- Felt-tip markers can easily disguise surface scratches. Just make sure that it matches the color.
- To remove a deeper scratch, you can use wood putty to fill the grooves follow up with a wood stain to match the color.
Pets bring lots of joy into a home but don’t let their bad habits cost you a potential buyer.
