How to sell your pet-friendly house to (potentially) non pet-friendly buyers.

There are 78.2 million pet dogs in the United States. One of the sweetest lives at my house. Unless, that is, you are a UPS driver. For whatever reason, Georgia detests our UPS guy. She hears him coming from a mile away and barks until he tosses my Amazon package on to the porch and runs away in fear for his life. 

Georgia, dreaming about a peanut-butter-covered UPS driver for lunch.

The actual odds of a dog attack are in fact 1 in 9,953,955 per year, but people are irrational. My son Ben is afraid of mountain lions and other big cats. He has nightmares that one is going to sneak in his window and eat him in the night. See? Irrational. As if a mountain lion had opposable thumbs and could unlatch a window.

So, here's a little tip for my UPS driver:

Yeah, that's right, the FedEx guy gets it. But anyway, on to my blog post about having your house on the market with pets in the home......

Out of sight. Out of mind.

Irrational or not, if at all possible, keep your pet out of the house when you have a showing. Nobody wants an over-eager dog jumping on them when they walk in the door of a home. If your pet must be home, put him away in a crate or closed off area and make sure the showing instructions are clear about his whereabouts. 

Cynophobia: The irrational fear of dogs.

Get Fresh.

People are really sensitive about pets and even the biggest pet lover doesn't want to walk into your home and see or smell your pet. Off-putting pet "aromas" are a darn good reason to turn around and walk right out. So clean the litter box, crate Kujo, clean up poop in the yard and remove all evidence of Fifi's existence. 

Consider hiding the litter box in an out of the way place.

Fur Be Gone.

You spent hours de-cluttering and staging your home, but did you forget abut the pet hair? If you have carpeting that traps pet hair and odors, invest in a good carpet cleaning and have them clean any upholstery too. Vacuuming isn't enough. 

Repair.

Make sure any gnawed woodwork, scratched hardwoods or hole-y weather stripping has been repaired or replaced. Even small areas of disrepair can leave a potential buyer wondering what else has been neglected?

My Swiffer refills are due to arrive today at 11 via UPS. Maybe Georgia and I will wait for him on the front porch.