Owning a pet is an immense responsibility, and taking care of them while keeping your home in good shape adds an extra layer of complexity when selling your home. To help make your property’s time on the market quick and easy, take a look at these 6 tips for Chicago home sellers who have pets.
Consult the Pet Professional
The very first step before doing anything else is to discuss the circumstances of your home sale pet situation with their veterinarian.
The vet will carefully consider any health issues that your pet has exhibited in the past, and be able to better guide you through the coming weeks and months to assist you in doing what is best for your pet.
Your vet’s recommendations could range from doing absolutely nothing all the way to treating anxiety with prescription medication.
Clean and Organize
As a pet owner, along with deep cleaning and reorganizing to maximize living space comes the added step of doing your best to repair or restore areas of your home that have been met with tragedy due to your pet.
For example, some dogs enjoy chewing on the corners of cabinets and cats may decide to use wood paneling as scratching posts. Some upfront repairs compensating for your pet’s unique habits now will ultimately save you some grief once offers and contingencies start coming into play.
Remember the Exterior
Before you call your cleaning all settled and done, do a quick walk around your property to note any problem areas in your landscaping that could have been caused by your pet.
Fill in any holes, clean up after your pet, and lay fresh sod or mulch to make those spots look good as new.
It’s easy for any homeowner to lose sight of what’s going on outside of their house, but curb appeal makes that all-important first impression for anyone coming to see your home.
Give Them a Holiday
If you find yourself fortunate enough to be in a position where your pet can go live temporarily with friends or family without causing any issues for the pet, you can’t really beat that solution.
Getting your pet out of the house gives you a lot more flexibility for cleaning, repairs, and showings. It may seem less than ideal to separate yourself from your pet while selling your home, but there’s nothing stopping you from having regular visits with them while keeping your sales potential at its peak.
If nothing else, at least do your best to keep your pet away from the house during showings, open houses, and inspections.
Create Their Own Space
If you are one of those Chicago home sellers unable to send your pet elsewhere temporarily, your best bet is to try making a new area of your home that caters exclusively to your pet.
Try finding a more secluded section of your home that still allows your pet to maneuver around the house outside of showings, but can be used as a comfortable hideaway for your pet once potential buyers are inbound.
This won’t be the best choice for anxious pets that may become aggressive or noisy once strangers are nearby, so remembering your pet’s behaviors will help determine what you feel is the best course of action.
Do a Test Showing
The final hurdle entails getting a third party to come into your home and act like they were doing a normal walkthrough.
Let them dig through every nook and cranny in order to see how your average homebuyer might uncover any unsavory, unattended details. Go over any results with the third party, and do what you can to remedy any undesirable elements that may have slipped through the cracks previously.
Help for Chicago Home Sellers with Pets
If you’re one of the Chicago home sellers concerned about making the transition smooth for their pets, contact our professional team today at (630) 984-0000!