"Staging and Showing Homes with Cats"
My Cat Owners Guide to Home Staging ~ realistic solutions for selling your home. You will never see a HGTV "Home Staging with Cats" episode because of all the outraged cat lovers. First off, I like cats so don't shoot the messenger.
Your number 1 goal is to sell your home in the least amount of time for the most amount of money, so take this home staging article seriously. If you like being called "the cat lady" by your neighbors then this article will make little sense to you.
Change Your Thinking from Home Owner to Home Seller
Depersonalize the home and your cat is personal. Prospective home buyers are consciously and subconsciously trying to picture your home as their home. Professional Home Stagers mantra is "depersonalize the house". The more a home buyer can picture themself living there, the sooner you home will sell. Your cats are a part of your family - not theirs.
Cat Vacation? Is your goal to be "under contract in 30 days"? If yes, can you give your cat a 1 month vacation away from the home? Didn't Aunt Trudy take your cat that one time you went on vacation?
Minimize the fact that cats live in this "home for sale"
Controlling Allergies. Allergy to cats is extremely common, occurring in up to 25 percent of people with allergies. If a buyer tours your home and has an allergic or asthma reaction they will not buy your home. Get the carpets cleaned. Vacuum often with HEPA vacuum filters. Change your A/C filters monthly using allergen grade filters. Old Carpet? Replace common area carpets with hard surfaces - laminate, wood, tile. Make a Table Tent: "All Carpets Will Be Professionally Steam Cleaned At Closing".
Carpet & Pad Cat Urine Odor. In my opinion, a buyer's sense of smell is one of the strongest subconsious buying signals. The cat urine smell in your carpet pad needs to be removed. Petsmart sells Nature's Miracle Just For Cats which has enzymes that remove the odor and stain. It's important to use a Natural Enzyme product designed to kill the bacteria in the cat urine.
Cat Box Location, Location, Location. We don't have basements so the best place to have a cat box is in the Utility Room. No buyer wants to see or smell a cat box in the living areas of the home. Scoop it often. Use a lid. Have the opening facing away from view. Before showings turn on the exhaust fan. If your cat can be trusted, before showings, put the litter box in the garage. Do not have the litter box in the master bedroom or master bedroom closet.
Before showings put cat toys and food out of sight.
Remove Visable Cat Hair. That Pledge fabric sweeper hand tool is a wise investment for furniture. Swifter the hard flooring surfaces.
I hope this home sellers "home staging & cats" guide has helped you learn how to downplay the presence of your cat and think like a home buyer.
Comments, tips, tricks, and success stories are always welcomed.
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