Selling a House with Pets

If you have a pet and are currently selling your Calgary house, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. While you may love your pets with all your heart, not everyone likes animals and a lot of people are allergic to them.  This can become a barrier to selling your house fast. Here are a few different things you can do about it.

Talk to your real estate agent

The first thing you need to do is get in communication with your agent. Find out what the common handling is for people that are selling a house with pets. If you have small caged animals like bunnies or hamsters this is usually not a problem. If you have a cat or dog, however, this can raise a few concerns when you are selling your house. Some people have an allergy to these pets while others are simply scared of them. Your real estate agent will let you know how he personally handles these situations.

Should you try to conceal your pets?

It depends on what your real estate agent advises. If he does tell you that it may make a difference in getting a quick sale, you may not want to promote the fact that you have pets. This does not mean that you should lie about owning a pet because lying just leads to more cover up and that is never a good thing.

There are certain things that you can do that won't promote the fact that you have a pet. At open houses or viewings, for example, you may want to take larger animals out of the house and hide their toys, food dishes and other accessories. You would also have to give your home a thorough vacuuming and dusting.

Anyone that is really concerned about buying a house that has animals in it will ask you about any pets. This is especially true if there is somebody with allergies that is going to occupy the new home.

It is difficult to try to cover up the fact that you have a pet completely. It's pretty much impossible to do, really, considering how hard it is to get rid of fur and odours. Plus, most people that don't own pets can pick up the scent of an animal - no matter how hard you try to cover it up.

If you are selling a home that has pets, talk to your real estate agent first and find out whether it is going to be an issue or not. In many family neighbourhoods there won't be a problem and it will be business as usual when selling your house.