Here’s a question dear to Cathy’s heart:
I’m selling my house and have pets so I don’t want to put my house on a lock box. All the realtors I’ve talked to say I have to put my house on a lock box, and the one who I wanted to give the job to actually turned me down if I don’t put it on a lock box. She said she can’t sell it if I don’t. Is that true?
Good thing you didn’t call me: I would have insisted on a lock-box, you bet. But beyond that, I would want two more things:
- I would want the pets out of the house entirely
- I would want their odors completely eliminated
Pets are a wonderful thing. Because I love my wife, and because she loves every living thing, we have four dogs and nine cats right now. How do we sell our houses? We move first, then remodel the house we’re leaving prior to selling it. The carpets go, and everything gets repainted. Plus we pet-proof our new house before moving in.
Does that sound like an extreme expense? This is the burden you took on when first you admitted a large, furry, affectionate creature into your life. (Note that in real estate, pets that can’t escape their habitat and don’t make odors don’t matter.)
I have been in pet-occupied homes where I could not smell the animal. But I have been in far more where I can smell the pets from outside, even from the street.
Odor is a powerful subconscious influence on the human mind. Even people who like pets won’t like the smell of your pets.
So: Lock-box, yes, but not before the pets are out of the house and all of their odors eliminated. If you want your house to sell, you have to present it in the way the buyer wants to buy it. If you don’t, buyers will go elsewhere…
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rudolph d. bachraty III says:
greg,
great job thus far!
-rudy.sellsius°
September 26, 2006 — 4:15 am
jf.sellsius says:
A little off topic but regarding pets in NYC. There is a Pet Law which says that if you bring in a pet and the landlord does not object within 30 days, you get to keep the pet, even if the lease has a “no pets” clause.
September 26, 2006 — 8:24 am
Greg Swann says:
> There is a Pet Law which says that if you bring in a pet and the landlord does not object within 30 days, you get to keep the pet, even if the lease has a “no pets” clause.
There is a law of nature that says, if you are a residential landlord in New York City, you need to have your head examined. 😉
September 30, 2006 — 1:36 pm