Staging for Pet Owning Sellers
Part 3 – Birds, Reptiles and Other Small Animals
GET OUT THE VACUUM!
Vacuum every day! If you have birds, make sure the bird seed has been cleaned out of cracks and crevices on the floors and surfaces around the bird cages. Surprisingly birds can be very messy. Their downy feathers can stick in all kinds of visible nooks and crannies. If you have rodents, bedding material and food can often be found around the cages. Be sure this is cleaned up.
ELIMINATING AND AVOIDING PET ODORS AND WASTE!
Bird cages can be a source of odor. Make sure that the cage and the surrounding area are clean. Carpeting can harbor odors so if possible bird or rodent cages should not hang over carpet, they should be in a location that the floor around and under can be disinfected. Any bedding materials used should be replaced frequently. Fish and reptile tanks should be have clean water and free from waste.
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SMALL ANIMALS WHEN SHOWING YOUR HOUSE!
Use a cage cover for your small pets that are acceptable to cover. Don’t feed or leave “live” food in with your pet during a showing, prospective buyers may find this offensive. Last, when you leave for a showing, your pet should give the impression that you take good care of it. If buyers don’t think you take care of your pet why would they think you have taken care of your house?
MARKET YOUR HOME TO OTHER PET LOVERS!
If there is no good solution for the seller and their pet then perhaps the best piece of advice would be to sell your home to another pet owner. Instead of trying to hide all evidence of pets, promote the fact that your home is “pet-friendly.” Work with your real estate agent to market your home to other pet lovers. Advertise your home in Humane Society and local animal shelter newsletters, on animal lovers’ websites and discussion groups. If you volunteer at a local shelter do some old-fashioned, promoting of your home.
With a little bit of planning, you can sell your home, even if you have pets. There are plenty of options for keeping your pets safe during showings, and with a bit more elbow grease, potential buyers don’t have to be hit at the door with their presence. Get creative and your home still has a great chance of selling quickly.
Jenifer - I had two large parrots for years and boy were they messy. You're right about the pungency of an unkempt cage, you have to change the newspaper at the bottom of the cage everyday to keep the odor at bay. Other parrot owners do know this but that is a very, very small part of the buying market. Good advice.
Great post, Jenifer. One thing my house prep videos advises is the "brutal best friend smell test"! THose of us who live with pets don;t notice their true odor, or at least it doesn't seem as strong to us as it does to those who don't live in the house...so we recommend getting your best friend over for an HONEST assessment of smell. Because goodness knows, if a buyer gets hit in the face at the front door with pet odors, or any strong odor for that matter, they are as good as lost as a prospective buyer. Totally worth it to get your best friend to be brutally honest...it can make the difference between selling adn not selling!
Jenifer:
One of my listings years ago had two very large parrots in cages. Every time I showed the home, I had to take the vac out and clean vac the seeds.
Jennifer-That's some specialized knowledge you've dropped. I've not listed a home with birds or reptiles, but I'm sending this to Listing Tip File. Thanks.
Jenifer~I always get a chuckle when I appraise a house and the birds are out of their cages flying around, just waiting to make the great escape. I've had to chase dogs and cats that have sneaked out when I opened a dog to a house, not much fun.
Have an AWESOME day!