Selling houses when you have animals inside

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pelicano

pelicano

Adult Guinea Pig
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I've reduced my numbers of pets down (I had 10 inside the house at one stage), to 6, but we are seriously starting to think about selling the house in the not-too-distant future and what decorating needs to be done etc.

The thing that worries me most is having the animals, and how it might put buyers off. :( If we could sell the house pretty quickly I might be able to get someone to look after them, with us popping over to clean them out etc, but then I suddenly thought that the buyer might want to come round afterwards to measure up etc when the animals are back. The small cages are less of a problem, but one of our rooms is basically a guinea pig room, with loads of mess etc, as well as a big cage. If the house would be on the market for any length of time that wouldn't be an option anyway.

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. :)
 
I have thought about this too - we aren't thinking of selling up just yet but in a few years (I am a planner).

I was going to sort the outside (ie: garden and shed) as their home when the time was here to sell up.

Is there anyway you can do that? As a temporary measure whilst it's still summer and the very start of autumn?
 
Speak to Debbie she did the same thing when she was shifting, she put some in the shed........i think at the time she had 24?...she'll correct me i'm sure :)
Honestly have a chat with her as she's just been thru it she can give you all the hints etc............

GOOD LUCK xxxxxxxxxxx
 
Non animal lovers may be put off, but a small animal room I personally would be able to look "through" as a buyer, but all the experts recommend against that kind of stuff don't they :( If it's kept clean and smelling fresh I'd like to think that people could see past it, especially if you explain that you used to have a nice big king size bed or whatever in there to demonstrate to them that it can actually be used as a bedroom!

However, on a slightly related note, when we were house hunting we saw a nice house which absolutely reeked of cat pee, it was probably embedded in the carpets and was horrendous, we couldn't wait to get out. Yes, we were able to look past it, but all we could think about what how much it would cost to replace all the carpets and scrub the place down even more thoroughly than you normally would before moving in!
 
Thanks for the comments! :) That's the silly thing, isn't it? A cat or dog in the house is seen as normal and fine, whereas a caged animal isn't! rolleyes I think what might put people off about the guinea pig room in particular is that it is a very small bedroom, therefore an ideal room for a baby!

Moving them outside would obviously depend on the time of the year that we are ready to sell. We have a shed, which we could possibly make some room in and buy a hutch. I have 2 hutches in the garage, but neither is suitable for piggies! rolleyes

I'd obviously much rather keep them with me rather than trying to board them out in some way.
 
we're trying to sell our flat at the minute and we've decided to keep our piggies at my folks until we're all fully moved in! It's not fair with all the strangers walking in and out and through when we painted. I'd rather they were stable. But I'm missing them so much! But I go and see them every other day at least. The only problem is that you dont know how long it'll take to sell your property!
 
Its a toughy isnt it. Its weird how some people look at houses and expect them to be to their taste and something as simple as pets can put people off.

Obviously if the carpets were filthy thats a differernt story but i think your piggies would be fine in a shed, at least while you have have people viewing the house.

I dont know how big the piggy room is but is it possible you could stick a little bed or something in there just to show it is a bedroom?
Every little thing will help, obviously the faster you can sell the quicker your piggles can get back to normal :))
 
Thanks for the suggestions.
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I'm starting to make a plan of sorts. I'm thinking that if I clear out the shed (*shudder*
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) the piggies could move in there, and I could add whatever heating and cooling is necessary (it gets boiling in the summer and obviously cold in the winter). It has electricity, so that should be feasible.

With the small furries, I think a few mad dashes to the garage every time someone is coming over to see the house might sort that, depending on the weather. Obviously if it's cold they'll have to stay in the house.

Yes, I have wondered about trying to get hold of a single bed to show that the tiny room is big enough to be a bedroom.
 
Well this is what I did and it worked incredibly well for me.

My second bedroom was my guinea pig room and although I love my animals to bits I realised that not everyone is going to feel the same.

The first thing I did was totally declutter my house. By the time I had finished I was on first name terms with all the people who work at the tip! LOL I then got rid of all the wallpaper and painted the walls magnolia and even packed up most of my belongings. Basically anything personal was put away!

The last room I decorated was my piggy room and at that point I reluctantly moved all my piggies into the garage. I kept two cages indoors and those were the ones of Ben (my old man) and his mate Patch and Poppet and Skye.

The house was put on the market the week before Easter and the first viewing was on Good Friday. For the viewings I took the two cages I had indoors over to Ellie's place. The first people to view liked what they saw, came back next day to have another look and put an offer in the following Wednesday! Job done!

I truly believe the way to sell a house quickly is to de-clutter, de-personalise and get the pricing right. You have to be realistic in this market, but also remember there isn't a lot out there at the moment, so if you get it right you will sell it quickly.

My piggies did remain in the garage until I moved, and a lovely friend had them all over to her place for about a week so I didn't have to move them all on moving day!

Good luck with selling your house! It's worth spending a bit of time before hand getting it right, and it doesn't need to cost a lot, and it should sell quickly and with little disruption to you or your animals.

By the way, the buyers did come round afterwards and see I had a couple of cages in the lounge and didn't seem worried by that.

Oh and yes, it is important to show that every room can be used for the purpose it is intended so borrowing a bed would be well worth doing.
 
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Thanks!

Yes, I've started the decluttering now, although it will take ages and it's hard to know where to start etc! We've also drawn up a huge list of things that need doing, patching up etc. I'm hoping that by the time the market perks up we'll be ready to sell. :)
 
Hehe, I'm hoping the market stays the same so by the time weve saved up we can still afford to buy!

Seriously though, i wish you all the best in selling your home. -c
 
I never thought I would get there, as there was just so much clutter. In a way though it's quite therapeutic to throw away loads of crap. I was going to change some of the carpets (just put cheap ones down) before putting house on market, but estate agent advised me not to, said most people go into a house and change carpets as one of the first jobs anyway. I do think having neutral decoration helps though. I used to watch 'Selling Houses' and 'House Doctor' to give me ideas. Also you need to get your kerb appeal just right too (See you can tell I've watched too many of these programmes). I do think how your house looks from the front is important because if it doesn't look good then people less likely to come and view. I had the front of my house painted (didn't bother with the sides and back!)
 
Ooooh, that's very interesting about the carpets, thanks! :) I was half thinking about getting the hallway carpet done, that's seen better days, but having the same thoughts about whether it's worth while. I think I'll leave well alone there and concentrate on the walls and dejunking.
 
In regards to the house:
Like furryfriends said, de-clutter and de-personalise the house and fit every room out as it's intended to be.
Hire a storage cube or a friend with a good sized garage or shed where you can store all your stuff.
Like a second bedroom needs to look like a bedroom and a study like a study with the desk, computer etc.
Just give the carpets a good clean and put a rug down in the very worn areas of the house. The walls need a clean or a fresh lick of paint in a neutral colour. Remove all the extra pictures (patch up the holes) and knick knacks around the home. (You might like your antique toiletbowl collection but other people might not be so enthused about it!)

As for your animals:
No-one will cry foul if you have a shed full of piggies that are kept in neat and clean (as best a possible) cages or hutches. One cage inside is not a problem either....a room full of piggies is a problem and not everyone will appreciate your love for the animals.
Yes a cat or a dog seems to be more acceptable but most of the time it's only one or two animals.....(not like the menagerie a lot of us have!)

So when the time comes and you have the place on the market, the piggies move out into a well prepared shed or move to friends places until the sale is done. By the way, de-cluttering takes time and if you tackle one room at the time you get it done quickly.

Good luck!
 
I agree that most people won't mind one cage kept inside, assuming it is kept reasonably clean and the smell is minimal. Personally I would not buy a house with a dedicated animal room because it is so hard to get rid of the smell.

I also won't buy a house from a dog owner as my allergy is so strong that dog hair can make me ill weeks after the dog has gone. But this is personal to me.

If you can keep your animals in a shed or outhouse that might be better whilst trying to sell.
 
Something else to bear in mind though. Are you planning on getting the house on the market fairly soon, because you need to get the piggies moved outside while the weather is still warm. You can't move them from a warm house to a cold shed in the winter months. I had to hang on until spring time before I could move mine, as they had always been in a centrally heated house and I was moving them into the garage. Obviously once they are outside then they will adapt to the cooling weather as autumn/winter approaches.
 
It's OK, I'd never dream of doing that. :) There are no immediate plans to sell - we've got too much to do to the house yet! :red:))
 
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