How to minimize the impact of pets on the home selling process.

You’ve decided to list your home for sale so you can move to your next dream home. And like many Santa Clarita residents, you have either dogs, cats or other assorted pets in your home.

What should you do to make your home show its best, other than de-cluttering, cleaning and staging? If you have pets, you should pay special attention to them as well, both for their safety and for the safety and comfort of your potential buyers.

While those of us who have pets consider them as part of the family, many buyers will find them to be a nuisance or a turn-off when looking at homes. Why? Because sometimes they are fearful, and other times it’s either the odor or mess that our pets leave in our homes.

It’s not only large dogs that incite fear in potential buyers. I’ve seen a buyer absolutely freak out when there was a cat in the house! She hated it when a cat arched its back and hissed, and assumed that all cats were likely to do this. Her fear was so great that she wouldn’t enter a home with cats, even if we put them in the bathroom for her.

As a seller, you obviously can’t address all of the fears that a potential buyer may have, but you can help to reduce their exposure to your pets and therefore reduce the fear level.

Here are some quick tips for showing a home with pets:

• Keep pets confined if possible, either outside in the yard, in the laundry room or in the garage. If your pets are crate-trained, consider leaving them in the crate in a safe area when your home is being shown.
• Clean all carpets and rugs to eliminate pet odor. Use special pet odor treatments when necessary. Have an honest neighbor or friend walk through your home and tell you if they smell any odors that should be taken care of.
• Don’t resort to extra-smelly deodorizing candles, sprays or other scent devices to mask odors - often these create a huge sneeze-factor that is very distracting.
• Pay attention to walls and baseboards that pets, especially dogs, may rub against. These areas are often quite dirty.
• Make sure all furniture is fur-free and vacuum floors daily to reduce pet hair in the home.
• Clean and deodorize litter boxes, or, better yet, remove them from the living areas. Make sure all dog messes are picked up in the yard as well.
• If you must leave out food and water dishes inside the house, make sure that they are clean and attractive and aren’t coated with weeks-old dried-up food. And make sure that Kitty isn’t jumping up on the kitchen counters if at all possible!
• Repair any damage caused by pets inside and outside the home, including chewed cabinets, door jambs and windowsills, shredded wallpaper and torn carpet.
• Place warning signs on areas where pets are present, such as "dog in yard, please don’t enter without owner present" to discourage visitors from interacting with your pets.

Even with the market slowing down a bit, there is plenty of opportunity for you to sell your home in a relatively short period of time to minimize the impact on your pets and your family. For best results, consult with a qualified real estate agent about properly preparing, staging and pricing your home for sale.

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