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Original poster

Pets

14 replies

prettygirlincrimsonrose · 15/03/2017 17:05

Hoping to sell our house this year. We have two cats, and having seen lots of advice to hide all signs of pets, assume we'll need to find somewhere else for them to stay, although a bit concerned about potential length of time. Has anyone else had to manage this? Has anyone sold a house with pets still in it?

OP posts:
Kiroro · 15/03/2017 17:08

Are they indoor cats or do they go outside?

For photos get rid of all trace.

For viewing if they are outdoor cats can't you just boot them outside, hoover, clear away any food plates, litter trays etc and get an air freshener on?

If they are indoor cats you can hardly be expected to get rid of your cats for the entire viewing process unless you just do an open day and get offers off that.

Original poster
prettygirlincrimsonrose · 15/03/2017 17:21

They're very indecisive cats!

They do go outside but will sometimes come back quite soon and miaow at the door. Open house sounds like a good option though, can ask friend very nicely to help.

OP posts:
CountMagnus · 15/03/2017 17:22

Yes, sold with two cats. We just made sure that litter trays / beds / bowls etc were all out of sight in the garage when anyone viewed.

Shoedisaster · 15/03/2017 17:24

As long as your house gives the impression of being very clean it wouldn't be a problem for most people.
Hide the litter trays and food though

CountMagnus · 15/03/2017 17:29

They're very indecisive cats!

Of course they are - especially when they have a human door opener at their disposal Grin

WatchingFromTheWings · 15/03/2017 17:30

Currently on the market with cat and dogs. Cat goes out and dogs get walked while estate agent shows round. Viewed one house where dog was very much present and followed us round and cats were placed in travel basket while we viewed.

Snowflake65 · 15/03/2017 17:31

Just accepted an offer and have cats. Turfed them out in the garden before the viewings along with their litter trays and bowls and locked the cat flap

It was all fine.

specialsubject · 15/03/2017 17:51

I don't see why you need to get rid of them. Remove smelly litter trays and cat food. Talk about flea treatment if asked. Clawed carpets and woodwork, if any, will have an effect on price.

But you still live there.

FunSpunge · 15/03/2017 18:19

We had an open day and Inlaws had our cats for the day. If it had been just a one off viewing I would have probably just turfed them out. Cats tend to ignore people anyway Smile

We went to view a house just after Xmas. Their two dogs were jumping up at us and jumping all over the furniture. The vendor then let the dogs out in the garden while we were looking round the garden and then let the dogs back in with us.... they ran straight from the muddy garden, straight across the carpets and straight back up on the sofa.
The sofa I didn't care about tbh but if I'm buying a house, with carpets, I don't want to see dogs with muddy feet running over, what could potentially be, my new carpets Hmm

There were also pee stains in every room.... alongside, unused, puppy pads Confused

Equimum · 15/03/2017 19:13

We've accepted an offer on our house, and the house rabbit was at home during viewings. He was, however, caged and I cleaned thoroughly.

Similarly, the house we are hoping to buy had a cat present when we viewed...but we only knew because it was laying on one of the beds.

This is probably obvious, but just make sure the house is as clean as you can make it and discovering the resting pet is a surprise. When we viewed our current house, we were followed round by 2 noisy cats and when we moved in, it looked like one of them was still in the cat flap, thanks to the amount of fur attached!

Harumff · 15/03/2017 20:03

We have two indoor cats and sold our house very quickly. Made sure there was no evidence of them at all for the photos and for viewings:

  • couldn't boot them out but they tend to hide upstairs when people come in so not sure where they were most of the time!
  • put bowls away in cupboard and litter tray temporarily in the garage
  • made sure there was absolutely no smell of them before viewings - lots of nice air freshners plugged in and mopped everywhere with zoflora before people arrived.

The cats have wrecked parts of our stair carpet which I decided just to point out and apologise for (the rest of the house is immaculate as only 3 years old), the buyers have a dog so totally understood and weren't bothered about replacing one carpet.
I think as long as your pets aren't 'in their face' (or their nose!) most people won't mind.

Original poster
prettygirlincrimsonrose · 16/03/2017 01:13

Harumff that's useful to know about pointing out small bit of damage. We have some damage to carpet around our bedroom door and a bit of scratched wall (painted lining paper) on the corner of landing. Was considering new carpet in our room but ideally don't want to spend too much more on this house (and have done a lot to improve it over the years) so might try that approach.

OP posts:
Original poster
prettygirlincrimsonrose · 16/03/2017 01:16

CountMagnus Indeed, pretty sure they think we exist to feed them, be sat on and open the door several times an evening.

OP posts:
TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 16/03/2017 16:19

I moved into a house that had cats and would be v wary again as it was flea ridden which we discovered when the cat was no longer about.....so I would highly recommend removing evidence of pets if at all possible.

It's courtesy to advise viewers if you have house cats in case of allergies though.

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