I've looked at a few houses with dogs. One was a small dog that kept getting under our feet; we almost stepped on him. The others were larger, the owners were home to put them outside when we were in and in if we walked the yard. There was another poster here in the spring that had cats, he said it was very hard to show the house and ended up selling after they relocated.

Keep in mind that some people may be turned off by the animals. My hubby commented he would never buy a house that had pets, although I'm not sure, it would depend on the house / pets. When my parents sold their house, there was damage (floor rot) in the dining room due to the cat food dishes. In a house I bought 14 years ago there was a bad flea problem, my daughter (3 months old) had to live with relatives until I took care of the major infestation. It then took me no less then 2 months to get rid of the rest.

Keep in mind that pets in a house are similar to someone smoking in a house. While some people don't care, others do. We had feedback from one couple that said "too bad the house was smoked in" yet every non smoker that comes in says my house doesn't smell like cigarettes; we don't smoke in the whole house, usually in one room with an exhaust fan that gets washed down regularly. I'm pretty sure I lit a cigarette (without thinking) as I was closing the door on my way out.

I am seriously considering having buyers come by appointment only so that I can round up all the critters and get them out of the way (maybe lock them all in the car and go for a ride) so that they do not escape the house when visitors come. They all usually greet people at the door and I would be very upset if any one of them ended up slipping outside an open door.

The market is tough where I am. Depending on where you are, this could hurt you. I've driven by houses that had signs. My agent called the listing agent to see if we could get in a house. Some said yes, others no. At one house we had an appointment but the owner didn't make it back. Since there was no lock box we couldn't go in. Unfortunate for the owner I'd driven close to an hour to see her house and at the time couldn't fit it in my schedule to go back and if I did, what if she wasn't home again?

In this area it is standard practice to show homes by appt. only, and with so many furbabies I think it would be best to do just that. Taking them all out on a ride is a great idea (both for those buyers who have allergies/aversions to animals indoors, and for your own animal's safety).

When our last home was on the market we left the cats home (they run & hide under the beds when strangers come in) but took the lab either for a ride or to grandma's house for a visit :).

As far as cleaning goes the only bit of advice I can give is to invest in a Dyson Animal. We did just that and our buyer (who has cat allergies) didn't even realize we have cats until their second visit.

Best of luck when you get it out on the market!

Nat

Having just sold earlier this year, this problem is still all too fresh in my mind :)

As far as dealing with hair, I second investing in the Dyson animal vacuum... I thought my house was clean until I used it!! Amazing.

The second hair related suggestion is a grooming product called the Furminator. You would not believe the amount of hair this thing removes... Normally my dogs HATE being groomed, but neither minded the furminator. Removing as much hair as the source really helped in keeping the house much nicer (and still does in our new one!)

The way we handled showings was that we had a lock box but as is customary around here, the buyer's agent contacted our agent to schedule a showing... then our agent informed us of the showing... then a whirlwind of cleaning and last minute tidying and removal of all evidence of our dogs (water bowls, beds, toys etc). About 15 minutes before the buyers were due, I loaded everyone into the car and we'd park down the street and around a corner... sort of out of sight, but still able to see cars in our driveway.

This way, I knew when they were done the showing and didn't have to stay away longer than necessary, but we had no worries about losing pets out the door or anyone being bothered by them in any way.

Just before closing, our buyers came for a final viewing and I happened to be there (the dogs had already been relocated to the new house) and I showed them a few things about the new (the water shut offs, etc) and I mentioned something about my dogs and they were absolutely shocked (but not upset) to hear that we had dogs at all.

That was the best compliment I received... them not knowing that we had pets at all! Again, the Dyson and Furminator are your friends ;)

Good luck!
GP

Here is a link that might be useful: Furminator Grooming Tool

It is usual in our area, as well, to only show houses by appointment. Unless it is an empty house, I don't see how people can expect otherwise.

We have four cats, one and a half dogs (dog-share with his ex *lol*) and two children in the house, and it's always a production to get the home ready. I take the dogs for a walk, put the two escape cats in carriers, and put away most of the pet supplies.

There is a park across the way, so, when someone looks at the house we sit over there until they are gone. Works great when people show up on schedule! (that has only happened once though... ::

Walmart sells some charcoal deorderizors. They hang anywhere (fridge, by a litter box, ect.) They will absorb odors amazingly well. If you can find those, they should give you a little more peace of mind as far as litter boxes, ect.

Good luck to you!

~Christina

I had a neighbor with 4 dogs. They didn't sell until after they moved out. There was somewhat of a doggy odor while they lived there. The new owners said they never knew about the dogs, but the wife suspected because she had allergy problems when she went into the (carpeted) basement. But these were BIG dogs.

We limited the area we allowed the animals in while we were trying to sell, it made getting things cleaned up and out of sight easier.
The animals all went out of the house with us in their carriers or on their leashes when there was a showing.
The lawn we kept spotless by using a scoop and a small trashcan that was emptied regularly.

The biggest thing for me with animals is I REALLY dislike walking in a yard to look at a home and having to watch where I step cause of the dog pooh. I can over look dog hair, even a bit of cat hair but not a yard that apparently was just too much trouble for the owners to clean up for showings. It's a huge turn off and makes me wonder if they bother to keep up with other things in the house.
Also if I can't get a good look at the outside of a house when I'm house hunting I'm not going to even bother putting in an offer even if I loved the inside.

Definitely do by-appointment-only-- really though, if you're still living there, how else COULD you do it? If you can remove all animals while potential buyers are there, that would be the optimum choice, but if not, I would at the very least crate them all in an out-of-the way (quiet) place. I've heard horror stories of people's pets getting out-- and subsequently lost-- thanks to careless RE agents and visitors. Even if you leave notes saying "please keep door closed," there's no guaranteeing people will heed them, and some pets can be regular houdinis for slipping out between legs while people are coming/going.

Of course, if your pets are crated/in cages, there's no guarantee some (STUPID) person won't open the cage to play/pet kitty or puppy, but that would be pretty brazen on their part... So if you can take them all with you when you vacate for a tour, that's probably still the best choice.

And as other posters have implied, definitely remember to poop-scoop the lawn before anyone comes over, too!!

We throw our dog in the car when we have a showing rather than leaving him at home. We could put him in the fenced in garden area, but my wife is afraid someone will let him out.

He loves to go riding in the car anyway, no matter where we go.

Thanks for the link to the furminator and all your tips. I will also look for that charcoal for the litter boxes.

I understand why someone may miss the house bc of no lock box, but I can't take the chance that someone would come over without calling me. I do work mornings and would be very upset if one of my critters got out of the house while I was not here. We already lost a cat that way when we remodeled this house.

I will have to buy one of those furminators. It looks like it works great. One of my cats is a Persian and I usually get his hair cut in the spring and summer in a lion cut to help keep down the fine hair that floats off him or comes off in clumps. My dog is a 5 lb. toy poodle so he doesn't really shed. He just gets groomed every 4-6 weeks. Because of his size I do not leave him alone outside at all. And I always pick up outside right away, so no worry about stepping in any doggie stuff here. Besides we will probably still have snow on the ground when I sell.

I already have an allergic free vaccumm, so I just gotta remember to really go around and vaccuum everything every other day if I can (including the curtains where the cats end up rubbing against).

Fortunately, we live in an area in upstate NY where the housing market is still stable. Our houses did go up in price, but did not rise as much as some other areas on the east coast. Also, there is new industry starting to come in here so people are still buying here. Most of the homes for sale near me have already sold this year so I am hoping that next spring will be good still. I think I will stick to appointment only and probably for qualified buyers only as our house although not the most expensive in town, is one of the more expensive and nicer ones.

We will be moving out of state into a rental if and when we sell as my new home is yet to be built. So we will have some time to list this home if it doesn't sell right away. We are still working with an architect on the design and the house build is to start at the earliest in fall 08

I understand why someone may miss the house bc of no lock box, but I can't take the chance that someone would come over without calling me.

Even if a house had a lock box, if we did not talk to the agent that it was ok to get in, we didn't. There were a few that we couldn't make contact with, so they could have lost a sale to me as I don't back-track.

With my listing, I ask for 1 hr notice. If someone is outside and is calling from the street, I won't turn them away.

As far as cleaning goes the only bit of advice I can give is to invest in a Dyson Animal.

Those of you with a Dyson seem to like them. It's what I want for Christmas as I can't vac with the Kirby we have. I tried a Dyson in the store 2 years ago and was amazed at how light it was to push.

The red commercial sanitaire vacuums (bag, not canister, they are cleaner) are way better and way cheaper than Dysons. It's what the professional house cleaners use. I've had one for 2 years and have a huge indoor black lab with LOTS of shedding. I would vacuum three times with my hoover windtunnel and still have hair in the carpet. The first time I vacuumed very fast with this vacuum, I got on my hands and knees and couldn't find a SINGLE dog hair. It was incredible.

Anyway, to the original OP, daily vacuuming and swiffering helps a lot. If you can, move the litter boxes outside or to a garage -- or at the very least, move them outside when you leave. Get a crate for all of the animals or take them with you. We have a large laundry room with a dutch door, so that's where our dog would go, but lookers could still peek into the room. We were on lockbox and my name/number was listed for the realtor to call before showing. I was usually ready to show within 45 minutes and the realtors were all very flexible. I don't think you need to resort to "by appt. only." We never had one mention of the dog or any smell. And multiple people commented that my house was very clean.

I showed my house with 3 cats and 3 dogs- the smallest of which was 165 lbs (wolfhounds). I took them all with me in the van for each showing- no way will I trust my animals to strangers remembering to close a door or a gate- not even close. I kept the cat crates lined up in the LR and leashes handy- it's all about getting a routine established. The hardest part was always catching the cats- they had to be crated before I put out the orchids in each room.

We always scoop the poop the minute it is produced, so the yard was no problem. Ditto litterboxes- I normally do them twice a day but while showing scooped them almost hourly.

The housecleaning is IMO a matter of making the right choices to begin with- no upholstered furniture only leather and microfibers. No carpet- tile and hardwood plus area rugs. No nubby bedspreads or draperies. I vacuumed everything every morning and used a rechargeable for last minute touch ups. Every animal always got brushed each day anyway so hair wasn't much of a problem- it was mostly tracked in dirt.

It wasn't the easiest couple of months in my life but it is quite doable if you are really motivated to sell.