Real Estate Blog - The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door

Home : Blogs : Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Maryland & Virginia : Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com in Maryland and Virginia

The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door

Maryland and Virginia is "FLEA FRIENDLY". I don't want buyers to move in a home with a growing family of feas. Make sure that ALL of the former residents are gone and the home is truly VACANT.

GOOD ADVICE! GOOD ADVICE! GOOD ADVICE!

Good post. This is something I haven't tought about for some time since I am usually selling new homes.

However, I learned years ago that, when a seller has a cat(s) or dog(s), include a condition that they have the house fumigated for fleas prior to closing the sale.

If they refuse, I have it done myself. Too often when the moves out, a few fleas will remain and they do, as you say multiply quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Via Kathryn Gorham Emerald Isle NC Crystal Coast (Green Key Properties):

The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door as fast as they can go and never look back. This is a word that Real Estate educator, Bill Gallagher, spoke about last week in our Mandatory Update class and had everyone laughing. Yesterday when it happened to me I was NOT laughing. That 4 letter word is FLEA. The size of a spec of dust these little creatures have the power to turn me into a gyrating, gasping, goofy lady slapping at her clothes and grasping for seemingly non-existent somethings as they jump out of my way.

The flea was a funny matter last week as Bill Gallagher talked about an agent in her white pantyhose - fleas love the color white - entering a home infested with fleas only to turn and escort her buyers outside and returning to remove her pantyhose and leave them on the floor. He went on making the room laugh again and again as he made his points hit home. Oh his words came to mind again for me yesterday, but I wasn't laughing. I was trying to pinch the little critters between my thumb and forefinger -- mostly unsuccessfully -- before they could jump away.

Facts about fleas:

They can jump as high as 4 feet

They feed on blood

They can live up to 100 days without food in the coccoon stage unfed

Once fed they live 3 to 4 months

Once feed a female can lay up to 2000 eggs during her life

Female lays eggs within 36-48 hours of a meal

Gestation period is 14 days

Only 5% of fleas found in a dwelling will be on the pet

Very tiny up to 1/8 inch in size

They can bite up to 400 times a day

When you treat for fleas you must take into account all 4 stages of a flea from adult, young (hide in a cocoon until food is near), larvae and the egg stage. Most sprays will not penetrate the cocoon. The cocoon is a shell used by the young where they hide inside until a warm meal passes by then they "unzip" and hop on for a bite. Once fed they reproduce and the cycle starts over again. In addition to treating you should vacuum every day and a half to two days for at least two weeks (gestation period) to pull up all the cocoons and eggs. You must either toss the bag after each vacuuming or add moth balls to the bag. Moth balls? Well it has been used for years to kill the larvae of moths in your closet so why not the larvae of fleas in your vacuum cleaner bag. Now your house won't smell like a spring breeze, but if it does the trick you'll be sighing with relief as you inhale that pungent scent.

Now to complete my story of yesterday. I had to measure the inside of a new listing. It is a fixer upper to say the least. The owner resides outside the area and recently had a non-paying tenants that had to be evicted. Bonnie, my dog, was in the car because I don't take her into property, but when I got to the door to unlock it -- it was slightly ajar. With no power on and the bad tenant history I went back to the car and got Bonnie dog out and took her in with me.

Well believe it or not I did NOT notice the fleas until we had measured and returned to the office. Then they were jumping on and off me as I sat at my computer. I had to go into the bathroom take off my top and pick off the fleas. The were on my "white" socks under my jeans. I even picked a couple off Bonnie's face. Figuring I didn't want them infesting the office I went to Ace Hardware and got a couple of bombs and let them off and headed home to brush Bonnie figuring it couldn't be that bad right. Keeping her outside I began brushing, but after finding a half dozen fleas crawling on her we headed for the tub and a flea bath. A shampoo, 30 dead fleas and a final coating of flea dip later she was briskly running around to thank me. Next we washed her bed from the office and just for good measure the one from home too. I have a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of bites myself and would love to douse my body in some flea dip if it would help the itching!

Beware of this four letter word as you enter vacant dwellings! FLEA

See my article on: Bill Gallagher teaches at the Crystal Coast for some Halloween Fun

Kathryn Gorham | Green Key Properties | Emerald Isle North Carolina
2010 President Women's Council of REALTORS® Crystal Coast Chapter
252.646.4656 cell · 252.354.7007 office
Southern Outer Banks NC | Crystal Coast NC | Coastal Carolina
ActiveRain an Online Referral Network
Women's Council of REALTORS® a National Referral Network

The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door - FLEA - was fist published on Emerald Isle Carolina
Copyright © 2009 by Kathryn Gorham, All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to re-blog or re-print with the stipulations that you do not alter the original content and that you provide a link back to this article in the re-blog or re-print. *The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door - FLEA*

Posted by Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Maryland & Virginia on 10/28/2009 04:47 AM

Comments (32)

Exterminating Pests in the Sales Strategies / Tactics Channel

Originally posted at: MD, VA Foreclosures, First Time Buyers Grants, CDA Loans MD, Rehab Loans MD & VA: The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door

Post is included in group: The Ninety-ninth Percentile
Post is included in group: Maryland and Northern Virginia Waterfront Homes
Post is included in group: Club Chaos
Post is included in group: AR Twitter Users

32 Comments on The 4 letter word that will send buyers out the door

OCT

Thanks for sharing. Good advice for home buyers. Have a most productive day!

I have to say too that in Florida, we don't have the harsh winters to freeze them out a little either. Definitely good advice!

Dick and Dixie. Want to hear from an irate buyer?? They move in and are attacked by fleas eating at their ankles.

I learned my lesson years ago.

Roy. Thanks for stopping by.

Lenn--this evokes memories from years ago. Office manager was away and I was subbing for him. Guy calls sounding hoppin' mad. His voice rose and fell from high pitch to squeaky high pitch. I felt he would jump thru the phone if he could. Had just moved in--previous owners had had pets and had moved out a week or so before. He said his family was being eaten alive--what was our agency going to do about it?

I don't know where this falls on the spectrum of moving in and the basement flooding, moving in and the furnace going, etc.--but it's right in there and especially personally nasty for sure. Would you include that fumigation contingency on every home, no matter how pristinely kept it appears, if the owner had pets?

Ouch! I feel an itch just reading this. Aren't there some other homade remedies out there?

Nancy. Absolutely. The pet on which the fleas live don't know that the home is prestine. One listing agent was irate that I included the "fumigation" contingency. They have their dog "flea shampood" every 3 months, he yelled.

"WHY DOES HE HAVE TO??" I asked politely because, being the southern lady that I am, I am always polite.

He thought about it and said he'd see that the house was treated as soon as the furniture was out.

Nancy. I'm sure they are and when the don't work, then what?????

There is only one cure when pets are removed from a property and leave breeding flees behind. Fumigation.

Good advice Lenn. I sometimes forget as well as many of the houses I show are pristine. I've had a dog for 15 years and have never had a flea problem because I make sure he has his pills, etc., but not everyone is going to take care of their house (and dog) the way I do.

We have tons of fleas in this area. I have had issues with many houses this year. They are nasty.

Lenn....I can remember having many homes fumigated and then professionally cleaned to avoid phone calls after the closing.....it was well worth spending the money......I only deal with builders now, and they sometimes have their own set of issues.!!

Lenn - I had fleas in my car for a few days after showing a vacant home. I had to spray the interior of my car to get rid of them.

Lenn - Fleas have never been on my radar. Termites (in certain areas of the city), carpenter ants and other critters are but not fleas.

BTW, the radon course I went to was very informative. I asked for a radon map as you suggested but Canada is really behind the times. I understand that we don't have much in the way of detailed maps such as those issued by the US EPA and certainly nothing at a more local level. Ontario apparently only has 3 licenced radon mitigation specialists right now.

Lenn,

I haven't had to deal with fleas in real estate, but I did have my shoe fill up with ants at a listing appointment. Yuck. Great post, I remember my dog having fleas when I was a kid. I hated them...

Instead of the "white glove test" it's the "white sock test" in some homes today. Great point to bring up, especially for those of us living in the south. I have not had buyers complain about fleas after move-in, but I have been attacked by fleas as I previewed a vacant home while wearing socks and running shoes. Literally, I could look across the hardwood floors and see thousands of fleas jumping. Another vacant home seemed to be flea-free inside, but a potential buyer's children wearing white socks were covered up while stepping into the backyard. Adding flea fumigation to the contract may well be added to my overflowing bag of real estate services.

It has never been a problem for me but I must admit I never even thought about it. I'll have to be more careful in the future.

Lenn,

Very comprehensive, but isn't the dog the problem or even the owner of the dog?

I know that "decluttering" is the main advice for getting your house ready for sale, but "de-fleaing" should take it to the next level.

Brian

Brian. Good advice. Next time, I'll ask the dog to "take the fleas with them".

Barb. That's all it takes. We don't like to be surprised.

Teresa. You wrote: but I have been attacked by fleas as I previewed a vacant home while wearing socks and running shoes.

Same here.

Kim. Thanks. Just passing it on.

Marc. Interesting. I'd be interested to know just what the average Radon level in your area reads.

Robert. There you go. It happens.

Barbara. I don't have the problem often these days since I try to sell new construction.

Cindy. Thanks. Anywhere south of ?????? could be a problem.

Dan. Indeed. In fact, few will. Folks don't realize that when they remove the dog, not all of the fleas go with.

I had a similar situation, when I was previewing a "vacant" property... as I walked through the carpeted house, I raised up a lot of dust. The house had been vacant long enough, that the dust I kicked up was about calf-high... or so I thought.

When the dust I'd collected continued to "jump off of me" after exiting the house... I figured it out... good thing I didn't have clients with me. I called the listing agent to let them know... and guess what ... They already knew about the flea infestation, but allowed me to view the property "unwarned" anyway!!!

Mumble, grumble, [expletives deleted] fumble, grumble...

(I just noticed the post below you on the featured dashboard... and that THIS post is a reblog of that one. Since when do we "feature" a reblog???)

This one reason I don't like REO's. I've been jumped before and it takes a couple of weeks until you convince yourself you got them all, Worse yet is to take them with you and deposit a few in each stop you make !!!

Alan. I'm no following. It appears that the original post by Kathryn Gorham was featured. However, I don't think that this reblog is.

Michael. Agreed. The listing agent needs to take care of these matters.

Wow, serious stuff. I have never run across this before, but this can be very serious. Also, bed bugs are on the rise and most chemicals used to treat them have been banned by the EPA, so this, according to the pest control industry, is the next emergent crisis that is slowly building.

Chris.

GEEZ! Now we can't stay in hotels without examining the bedding first.

Lenn - One of the occupational hazards. I have been exposed to fleas so many times while showing property. It's really disgusting.

Lenn - your reblog IS featured.. in fact it's featured above Kathryn's. Odd, no?

Hi Lenn, This is an issue that is not always taken seriously enough. A number of years ago I went to preview a property for a Buyer. I went through the house and I could see from my first bite that the house needed to have an irradication done. Little did I know what was in store for me. I went into the Kitchen and thought I best see the whole thing so I opened the Kitchen door to the side yard, observed what remained of an animal and within seconds, I was covered with fleas. What seemed like millions of them within seconds. They were beginning to bite me and I could see them peppering my trousers, socks shoes, you name it, I was covered. I ran out of the house to my car on the street. I looked over myself and realized something that was would be remebered for the rest of my life. I had to strip right on the street as I was infested from top to bottom. I couldn't get into my car and carry them with me so it was down to my whities which also had them jumping on. I stood out on the street trying with all the nerve I could muster to shake these things from my clothing and not to contaminate my car. My best efforts failed and I ended up having to have my car fumagated before I could go home. I will never forget the expereince and thankfully it has never happened again.

William. Thanks for the first hand experience. This can be a very serious problem. Folks shouldn't make light of it.

Alan. I don't question the system. I just go along for the ride.

Carol. Agreed and I believe that listing agents should take some responsibility for these types of things.

Hello Lenn, yes we hate fleas! I don't think we get them year round like some of the folks here seem to -- thank goodness! John

Lenn, thanks I did not ever think about this. Great advice. I will add this to the list.

Have not had to deal with fleas.

Have had to deal with chiggers in grassland.

Neither one of these little critters is welcome!

It's easier to prepare for chiggers than it would be for fleas!

OCT

Vancouver. They live year round here. On the dog.

Pat. HA! And the list grows.

Judi. Wear socks. Tall socks.

OCT

Thank you for fputting a focus on this--will be steering a new contractual contingency course from now on when a home has pets.

OCT

Nancy. Smart move. Once the buyers move in, it's too late. Then they have to do it. It needs to be done after the sellers remove their belongings and the buyers move theirs in.

This blog does not allow anonymous comments