Over half the U.S. households own one or more pets. We love them. They're a true, faithful and loyal member of the family. We pick up after them just as we do the human children

.... and they can make our homes hard to sell.

They scratch or chew woodwork, doors and sometimes walls. They sometimes have "accidents" (you should have come home on time!) They decide that the center of the living room rug is the best place to expel that troublesome food or furball. They may decide that they need to let the world know that this is THEIR house and THEIR family by depositing their own special scent. And of course, we must deal with their "recycled food" or "land mines" ... people have various names for this normal body function.

Before you put your home on the market, you're going to have to undo what your beloved friend has done to your home. Potential buyers won't be as tolerant as you are - even if they have their own little Kujo.

You're apt to have to replace the carpet AND pad. Scratched doors will need to be refinished or replaced. You may want to have your duct work professionally sucked out to make your home salable to people with allergies. And if your cat has sprayed - well, plan on calling in the professionals, replacing drywall and on having a real tough time getting your home sold.

Realtors® generally consider cats to be more of a problem because more people are allergic to them, their litter box is actually IN the home, the basement door often has a pet door cut into it, and everyone knows that if the cat has sprayed that the awful odor will be apparent for years to come.

I once had a listing with a seller who had lived in the home for five years and did not ever have any pets. When I first met with them to counsel them for preparing the home, I noticed an ‘odd' odor in the laundry which was on the lowest level of a 4-level split. Thinking it was due to the musty odor from a damp laundry, the seller thoroughly cleaned with heavy-duty cleaners and deodorizers.

We had a fairly high number of showings with "cat odor in the laundry" coming back in the feedback comments. I would call the showing agent to advise them that the seller had never had a cat. The seller and I were puzzled and she would continue to clean, trying alternate products each time.

Eventually, we got the home in-contract ... after reducing the price a few times. During the buyer's home inspection, the inspector opened the trap door to a crawl space under a room addition. Lo and behold, this crawl was apparently a built-in litter box for the previous owner's cat. So five years later, this cat odor was still impacting the sale price of this home.

While cats and dogs are the most common pets, you're not immune if you keep reptiles. I had one agent tell me that if she sees a tank with a snake in it, that she recommends her buyers not consider that home. She had read that snakes can and do escape and take up residence in the duct work or walls. Snakes in the duct work is NOT one of the topics on the Property Disclosure Form. Imagine sitting in your family room and seeing a snake crawl out of the furnace register. YIKES!!!!

So, if you're planning on selling your home in the near future, be aware that you WILL have some work to do ... thanks to that furry body with those wonderful loving eyes.

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