PU: Cat urine odor had buyers gasping: How to approach the seller

Bart,

You need to be delicately honest with the home Owner's.  They know that there is an oder in the basement.  Suggest moving the litter box to the main level of the house where it will not be out of sight out of mind.  Then suggest that they have the basement professionally cleaned and deodorized.  GOOD LUCK!

Unfortunately as their agent it is your job to tell the bitter truth.  Just tell them the biggest turn off to prospective buyers of the property is the odor in the basement.  Hopefully they will take the hint and fix the problem.

Bart,

Good points. Our office pitched in a bought an ozone machine. Park it in an empty home for a few days, and most of the odor is gone. Cat urine is the worst, so you may have to remove some concrete. I'm not kidding. Had to jackhammer out concrete in a listing years back. Good luck!

Bring on the full discloser baby! I am the agent that would walk into the basement and say something along the lines "Whoa nelly, we are going to have to see about THAT odor!" Okay, maybe not that blunt - but the truth is going to come out. Do we really assume here that the sellers don't know the smell is there?

It is likely that their noses are conditioned to the smell and they no longer smell it.  Bring in a urine detecting black light and show them the scope of the issue and they will be so disgusted from "seeing" the problem, they will do something about it. Worked for me!  Good carpet cleaning companies usually have this equipment.