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Sell-Lord Lesson: Peeing Dogs Do Not Sell Homes

Great Dane Yesterday I had one of my top 10 most memorable showings. This is a list that you don’t want to be on as most of those showings tend to be memorable for bad reasons, like finding people asleep in beds when you think the house is empty. That is always good for a fright.

My Metro Detroit market is currently swarming with sellers who, because they can't sell, are considering leasing and becoming landlords. Since there are so many of them out there, I think they deserve a name and I am dubbing them Sell-Lords. Most would rather be sellers but they would like a bit of relief from the monthly payments so they are listed for lease as well. Or they are waiting out this buyers market by leasing until things pick back up. They've also contributed to a softening in the rental market by bringing up the supply there, but that is another story.

Back to yesterday. . .

I opened the unlocked (don’t tenants lock doors?) door of a $500,000+ Birmingham MI home and saw a huge great dane staring at me from the living room. Apparently I excited him because he peed right where he stood.

To read the rest of the story, please visit miOaklandCounty.com

photo of Gus by SFSteve

For more up to the second news about the Metro Detroit/Southeast Michigan real estate market, visit miOaklandCounty.com or Call Maureen at 248.961.0801

Posted by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit on 04/07/2007 10:33 AM

Comments (51)

featured post, michigan real estate, seller, birmingham mi real estate

Originally posted at: Dmitry & Maureen: Moving Metro Detroit: Sell-Lord Lesson: Peeing Dogs Do Not Sell Homes

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51 Comments on Sell-Lord Lesson: Peeing Dogs Do Not Sell Homes

APR

2007

RUT RO!! And I imagine that a Great Dane has a large bladder.

My research would indicated that large great danes leave very large puddles.

Ladies, your research/suspicions are correct. Big dog = big puddle power! Perhaps the listing agent could mention a water feature?

I currently have a 370k home listed with people renting it. They have 3 large dogs that are kept in the basement. When I go in the basement of this home it smells like a zoo.

I am guessing the at zoo smell is not appealing to most buyers even if they are dog lovers.

OMG...Thank god it wasn't poop! LOL and that the dog was friendly! Yuck!

Mo-

This hit my RSS aggregator and I started laughing....hard! That's My Boy(TM) wanted to know what was so funny and had began to laugh when he saw the photo of the Great Dane.

With regards to leasing and non-homesteaded homes, as mentioned before, this will come as a mighty shock to a lot of sellers. Certainly can't fault them for trying to cover that monthly nut, but sheesh is their going to be some weeping and gnashing of teeth at the real estate professionals that didn't give them a heads up.

Anyone game for a seller turned landlord disclosure statement?

I've had bad dog experiences as well.

On the main topic of your post, with getting tenants to be cleaner, I had a listing where the tenants had so much crap and the house showed horribly. I had the seller offer the tenant $1000 if we were to secure an offer before their lease was up which meant they had to keep the house clean and in orderly condition. We didn't get an offer during that time, but it sure motivated them to clean the place up and it showed great. Try to get your sellers to offer an incentive for putting their laundry and dishes (and pets) away.

Yup, poop trumps pee as a showing no-no!

BTT glad to give you and That's My Boy a chuckle

Donna, bribes are very, very good. And your clients did not even have to payout on it.

Sounds like they need a doggie diaper! Oh boy selling this house will surely be a challenge.

Teri,

The listing agents are friends of mine and I wanted to call them from the driveway but we were off to the next house and I knew there were not more showings that day. I did leave a lengthy message later. I feel badly for them, of course.

Allison, Sure will!

Maureen--Good for you! :) Some agents and sellers have no idea what is going on at the rentals.

I have shown two vacant homes in the past week that were broken into. I call the agents immediately when something is not right but I wonder about the other 25-30 cards sitting on the counter.

Instead of self-managing, a GOOD property management company, with pet standards, etc. would help.

You think this is bad. Back in the early 90's I had an agent list a house that she sold to the sellers brand new. She received a call to list it which was great. When she returned to the office she sat down at her desk and started crying. I asked what was wrong and she said go see this house.

I went and what I saw and smelled was atrocious to say the least. I was in the house for approximatley 2 minutes. Why? I could hardly breathe and I needed to exit the house very quickly.

You see, the owners were breading dogs and cats in the house and the house smelt so bad I nearly puked, literally.

I had to leave the house and take my sportcoat off and have it cleaned just because the stench was so bad along with the rest of my clothes. My eyes were watering and I had to be extra careful where I stepped in the house as there were land mines everywhere. This house should have been condemned.

The worst part was we actually sold it. The day the new owners moved in they were bleaching the whole interior of the house. Today the house looks very nice from the outside. I often want to knock on the door and ask to view the inside. Then again, I don't.

Eewwwe. Ick. Yuck. Another one for the "how could they" files. I am glad you sold it though.

Can't wait for the feed back call.

Just showed a listing for $350K that had tenants with 4 dogs. Oh my gosh the smell was terrible, but I couldn't imagine that my buyers could not smell it. I did not say a word and it was one of their top two. Couldn't believe it. Maybe they just plain could not smell!!

Maureen,

Dog smells are definitely bad. However in my opinion, cat urine is far worst. That smell permeates everything and is horrible to try to get rid of!

Lucky :)

In this case, the seller is fortunate. The home does not stink yet. But it will and the floors will be ruined if this goes on. I imagine that the urine could eventually result in floors that have to be replaced, not just refinished.

How about the house that has a big dog smell. I went to show a house recently where the smell was so overpowering, but not from pee and poop, that my clients would not even enter it. I don't know if the Sellers were even aware of it.

I have a deal with a local doggie day care for my clients who have pets. YOur seller loves it and so does the doggie daycare owner.

I just pulled a listing off the market because of deal-killing tenants. It is a duplex, so you would think that the long term tenants would have behaved better in front of prospective landlords. I warned my client about this and she felt sorry for them. Now it's cost her big time.

Cute post Maureen! Doggie looks kind of scary.

How timely. I just came back from showing a rental property. Called first with one and half hours notice. Knocked on the door. Called out. Saw the place was a mess but we proceed forward. When we got upstairs we saw the foot peeking out from underneath the covers. Okay turn around and walk out the door. No one moved. Oh and by the way the agents directions to the property were wrong. Called him to tell him about sleeping tenant and wrong directions. Didn't seem all that phased. Why not wait 30 days till tenant vacates and clean the place up before putting it up for rent. The place will have a stigma and will sit for much longer afterwards than it will if you just wait for a month. Oh well.

Very cute dog, not cute actions. Pet smells are the one thing I just can not sell around.

MF - I have to tell you, I've missed your face! It's wonderful to read something from you again. It's seems like it's been such a long dry spell without your perspective and insights. Thanks for posting this very timely and practical advice.

I once sold a home on a street very quickly, while another one, same footprint actually, languished. The problem? The owner had about 4 pet rabbits in cages in one of the bedrooms. He apparently did not have a great sense of smell nor a good habit of cleaning the cages often, for they smelled to high heaven.

The home never did sell, even though it was well priced.

You never know.. A few years ago, I had my house listed. Sunday morning breakfast has always been a big deal in my family. "Name it and Claim it" Sundays. Anything you want, I'll make. On this particular Sunday, the kids had friends sleeping over and I made Bacon, pancakes, cheese eggs and biscuits for 7 kids and two adults. We were running late for Church (for obvious reasons) so I took the chance that we could clean up the incredible mess when we got home. When I walked in the front door, I saw the realtor's card on the counter.. The kitchen looked like a bomb went off in it, dishes still on the tables, the beds were all a mess, toys everywhere, towels on the bathroom floors.. It looked like Sunday morning after a slumber party for 8 year olds... I called the Realtor to gripe about him showing the house without an appointment and he told me that he was with a couple who were relocating and on the way to the airport to go back home and not only was it OK that the house was trashed, they wrote a contract and offered full price!

I asked them at the closing how they saw through the mess and they responded "It looked like our house on Sunday morning"...

You just never know...

People who consider putting their primary residence in rental service should consider that option wisely....now that property becomes an investment property.The value of the property when placed in rental service today may be $300.000....when they sell $400,000.Remember this is now an investment and you may be opening your self up to capital gains tax.The best advise is to talk to a tax adviser or accountant to investigate the financial ramifications.

Having just replaced 50 square feet of tongue in groove hardwood damaged by pet stains (a nicer word for dog pee) I have no sympathy for those that don't control pets in a home.

I agree with Jessica, Godzilla the Great Dane needs to find a new home while this house is for sale.

Ah-h-h, nothing like a "nervous pee-er" especially for a big dog. Danes are such big babies, so you probably scared the "pee" right out of her. As one who used to have Dobies - prior to The Murph - those big dogs DO have big bladders. This was funny!

Just as bad as tenants are those sellers who let their single brother house-sit! Testosterone doesn't smell any better than dog-pee. And the dirty underwear in the corner of the bath looks just "lovely"!

MF - I feel like I'm so ahead of the game, reading this before it was posted on AR from your blog - that is too cool. As I told you before, if I opened the door to a listing and saw a great dane staring at me....it would have been me doing the peeing.

I am just wondering what scared that horse of a dog?

The worst so far happened to another agent in our office. She went in a condo that was supposed to be vacant. She knocked just in case, opened the door and it looked as though someone was still living there. She called out hello, no answer. As she, her clients (a single mom and her two young daughters) walked into the bedroom the owner stepped out of the shower to surprise everyone.

I showed a house with a siamese cat that tackled a bird in the back yard and began eating it. That didn't go over so well, either.

Dos and tenants... 2 of my favorites! Well I can say I had a showing for a house with a "pit bull named satan but he should be locked up" and I looked through the window and he was roaming so no showing. Had another one where the office told me there were two pit bulls in the house but they "should be locked in their crate." Fortunately I sent my buyer's in... back then we had plenty of buyers! JUST KIDDING!!!

Actually I do dread showing any property that is tenant occupied because it has rarely been a good experience. However not all tenants are created equally so I show what my clients want to see!

I gotta tell ya I'll take one large puddle... I have a listing.... small (key word small) attached home. This lovely home ::eye roll:: belongs to a nice family. This family includes the husband and wife, three teenage children, five large Labradors....... 2 of which are pregnant and due this month. And low and behold, for easter they purchased another puppy..... Can you smell the house? Do you think its offensive if I advertise it as "kennel like"???? Have a great holiday

Maureen, you've hit another one out of the ball park! Great blog post. People often don't really understand the implications of renting. I tell clients that it is better to choose one or the other as the desperation that drives many to try to rent while they are trying to sell often creates more problems than it solves because in their haste to get relief, they sometimes ignore some important issues which should be cautions.

It doesn't matter if that was a renter or sellers big dawg, he should have been out of the house! I showed a house once where we saw a family run out the back door as I rang the door bell, sit in the car behind the house and return once we left. Funny, but at least we had the house to ourselves. Maureen, I bet we could add some showing stories to the Codger's search for stories!

Yuck, Maureen. But it could have been worse....and at least he was friendly and didn't decide to try out his teeth. Had a humping dog once - not fun. Good lesson for sellers who are not thinking of the consequences of Fido's love and affection. Perhaps the listing should read -- dog may need to go for a walk when you arrive. :)

Jeff

Good story. I bet the dog doesn't like it any more than the buyers. I sgree with you about renters. Unless you get a greatone it can be especially hard to get in. Renters who don't want the house to sell are good at pointing out every little problem too.

MF,

I would not to be in that shoes :) at that time, LOL

Good blog, happy easter to you and your family

Maureen,

Good advice for all Sell-Lords, don't rent to tenants with Great Danes. They make Great Pees and Great Poos! Happy Easter from snowy Northern Michigan!

Maureen.... wow.... in any case, some great points made. Even if they think they are picking a good tenant, what about making sure the landlord or realtor stop by before the showing? I know I would..... And as you said, even though the house was a very nice house in a nice neighborhood, something like this could kill the deal. Even if the house is messy. It can take away from the actual house in itself.

jeff belonger

APR

2007

Maureen-

Great post! I like Jeff's suggestion of having the landlord or realtor come by first. I "visited" a house in a very nice neighborhood( 500000+) to find tenants had motorcycle wtih accompanying oil being repaired in the living room, pet surprises all over the home and general disgust in most rooms. I NEVER would have guessed from the outside of the home: )

Maureen, That house needs to be marketed to buyers with a bigger smellier dog. It should say in the description Dogs love this house!

Mitchell, you just made me laugh. Happy easter.

Happy Easter Maureen,

This is a difficult situation when sellers decide to lease. We recently had a client who decided to rent while waiting for a sale. They performed some work to the home that if done before the lease might have helped it sell. Now we need to deal with the renters.

APR

2007

Great Danes are GREAT dogs. But, having owned 2 in the past I understand the kind of mess you had on your hands.

It is difficult and very embarassing to say to your client, "Boy your house really stinks!". You could take a proactive approach by providing informative hand-outs to your clients addressing MANY Pet Friendly Real Estate issues, INCLUDING pet odors and some suggestions as to how to remove them.

It could be a tactful way to approach the issue and hopefully they will get the hint.

We have had several meetings on renting in Ann Arbor. WOW, I agree. We should plan a activerain get together in MI. Are you up for it ?

APR

2007

If all sellers were brilliant agents would be out of work. Thank your lucky stars that there are people that understand so little about real estate that you look like the smartest person in the world.

Daniel

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