Unrealistic to think a house will come up that don't have pets?

[CactusFlr]

I'm not a pet owner and I'm adamant I don't want to buy a house that has pets but am I being unrealistic? Most of my family have or have had dogs. An EA mentioned it's about 70%. Is that really true, it's seems high to me?

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OCD is a bastard OP. I think many people don’t realise how debilitating it can be and then come out with insensitive comments which usually comes from their lack of understanding.

Are you getting any help with your OCD at the moment? I think it might be worth you getting some therapy to help you through the house move.

It’s lovely that your parents seem to be considerate of your OCD. New carpets and a professional clean seems like a good way to go, but do look to get therapy if you’re not already.

Usually people take their pets with them when they move, you aren’t buying the house plus pets.
Get a professional cleaning company in, new floors, paint it. If you think that’s too expensive I’m not sure home ownership is a good choice for you. Most people see new paint and carpets/floors as the bare minimum. Most rip out bathrooms and kitchens! get a new boiler, radiators etc. It’s never ending when you own your own home.

You must have very understanding parents, I would think it best they do the house searching and you stay clear until move day and deal with the cleaning aspect then. No home will be pristine unless it’s a new build.

Even if there are currently no pets in the house, previous owners might have had them. I bought a house with carpets in and got rid of them anyway, mucky things.

Wow, this conversation has moved on a bit. I managed to miss some of the horrible comments and I'm grateful for the positive ones. I definitely think stepping back and letting them decide might be the way forward. The few that we have viewed I'm too critical of the owners cleaning standards not being up to mine which is completely unrealistic. I don't seem to be able to focus on what we'll be gaining. I thought I'd walk into a house and instantly have a feeling of this is the one or getting excited about going to a viewing but none of those things have happened. I like the idea of having a better, more modern updated house than what we currently have but I think my stumbling block is the fear of actually moving and living in someone else's house. Being able to become homeowners is massive for them and something they never dreamt of. I think of ridiculous things like I'll miss the view from my window. I hate typing stuff on here like this because I'm certain someone is going to come along and type something nasty again but it's the only way I get to see other perspectives.

Op - then tell them today to remove you from the process. It’s not fair of anyone in this situation (including you!) to try to get you to find a suitable house, one doesn’t exist so you are going to have to make do with what they’re think is perfect for them.

I’m not a pet person OP - and I’m allergic to cats and dogs. The person who previously lived in our house had a dog. It did smell but a lot of it seemed to be coming from the fitted mat by the door so we got rid of that straight away. Upstairs we ripped up all the carpets and did a deep clean.

I don’t remember feeling allergic in the first few weeks of living here after that. Although I do still feel irritated when I look at one of my French doors which has been scratched to pieces by their dog obviously begging to come in - should have replaced it really but it never got to the top of the list and now we are looking to move again so probably won’t.

Pets ruin houses you are right but the market is slow at the moment so you probably can’t be that picky.

Do you go to public places, OP? School, shops, work, charity or govt offices or leisure centres? None of these places have your cleaning standards either.

I want to suggest ex-student or other ex-rental properties to avoid recent pet occupation, btw. Most renters don't have pets, can't have pets.

Sorry I posted before I had read all your updates. I actually understand other people’s cleaning standards putting you off - a lot of people don’t take proper care of their house. But you have to remember that when you are living in it, it will have your stuff and be cleaned to your standard. Bring a load of bleach along on moving day

I don’t think you can rely on it being that cheap. I re carpeted my 3 bed terrace 9 years ago and it cost £3k (addmitedly with fitting but at the lower end of carpet cost ) £100 a room seems quite cheap.

It’s not ‘weird’, OP has OCD which is a well recognised condition.

Well I live in a street of 20 houses and 8 of them do not have pets.

I’m assuming as it’s actually your parents who are buying the house you don’t get to be adamant that they don’t buy one that has pets?

Even if you find one that currently has no pets, the people before them could’ve had pets. What about houses with smokers? Or people that cook a lot of greasy food? Or toddlers that aren’t potty trained? Unless they’re buying a new build the potential grubbiness issues are endless.

I can easily believe it's 70 per cent who have pets. I wouldn't be surprised if it's higher even.

Actually data shows half of all rentals have pets. We had 2 cats in rental, all my friends in rentals have cats too, its not uncommon. Legislation states that landlords can be challenged and much present 'good reason' to refuse a tenant from having a pet.

I lived in shared housing with pets (one house had a dog which became the 'house' dog when the person buggered off and left it but she was lovely the just sweetest dog. The other had a cat that wandered around and snake that just lived in its owners bedroom) too but those where all friends sharing the same house, I guess it might be different if its more like random students/strangers/lodgers though.

When the OP is the one buying the Hoise, then she gets to cater to her own restrictive preferences. As she isn’t, her best option is to let her parents buy the house that works for them, and to work on treating her OCD.

Wow that’s chewp

my living room was £900 with carpet and underlay

dd 8 bedroom just a normal double was £350

that includes fitting but living room was £70 and bedroom £35

to do 5 rooms for almost half the price of my living from which isn’t huge seems very cheap

Depends where you buy from, if you walk in somewhere like Tapi carpets etc... they will see you coming. We popped in and the cheapest carpet was £24.99psm and another £5psm for the cheapest underlay.

We bought online from online carpets for £4.99psm carpet and £2.99psm underlay. All the samples where completely free and the quality is better than the cheap carpets in the big stores. There was also a lot more choice of colour (we got green, purple, red and blue) than the roll end shops we went to who only had 50 shades of grey.

We went with Ventus (really soft and good quality, harder to cut/fit by yourself as a DIYer but hold the shape really well though) in 3 rooms and Liberty (much easier to cut as a feltback but not as thick/nice and harder to stretch flat but comes in more colour options) in the other 2.

Some houses /dog owners smell. Some don’t

my step daughters house never smells of dog and they have a big dog but they wash blankets dog bed etc

friends house has small dog. She opened front door and house has an awful dog smell. Go into the living room and it’s horrendous.
in carpets sofa etc

it’s awful !! 🙀🙀😢😢

The house will be easier to deep clean with no furniture in it but I'd probably change the carpets.

Our dog of 15 years died last year and we still find the odd single hair attached to our socks and clothes somehow.

We have always had pet vacuum cleaners, steam clean yearly and used to vacuum daily but pet hairs work their way into the carpet.

I don't understand this...surely you are planning to do a deep clean of any house that you end up purchasing anyway?

I think the fear and anxiety over moving is spilling into the ocd aspects and the pet thing is your way of actually delaying moving. Or in your mind if you find a clean house with no pets that will make the move ok for you. Rather than deal with the anxiety of the move you’ve focussed on finding a house with no pets.
I assume you have outside help with your issues and maybe medication, have you discussed your fears and how to overcome them? Because it is something you will have to deal with one way or another because you all need to move.

Also, I have a child of 25 who has many health issues mainly medical but some mental health too and she will be housed by us for however long is needed for as long as I’m alive. Her age means nothing if she needs help.
I would say the exact same as the op’s parents that we will change the carpets and do a deep clean if I recognised that she needed to feel secure and less fearful while at the same time encouraging her to work on the up coming change.

Don't let the comments get you down, OP.

I live in a cul de sac with 11 bungalows and, strangely for a village with loads of walks and a huge green, only about 4 people here seem to own pets.

Perhaps it's an elderly thing?

Idk. If your parents are ageing, perhaps a bungalow would suit them.

There are also air b and b's being sold these days which will have had strict 'no pets' rules.

Surely just buy a new build?

Lobby your MP to introduce a dog tax.

I know plenty of people with pets and their houses are fabulous. Likewise I know people with no pets and wouldn't want to buy their house.

You are overly restricted your choice if property for an invalid reason