How to Stage Your Home with Pets

Six Tips in Staging your home with Pets

Here at Morrison Home Team of @Properties, we know you love your pets and we understand that they are another member of your family. But we also know that there are some people who don’t always understand that: Potential buyers. Therefore, we recommend hiding evidence of your pets while your home is on the market. To help make this task seem less overwhelming, we have made this list to help streamline the process and make sure everything is show ready when the time comes to sell your home. We have also provided cute pictures of puppies and kittens to make it more enjoyable.

Get rid of any stains or damages from pets

First impressions are important, which is why eliminating stains and repairing damages is the first step. Stains, especially carpet stains from puppy accidents, can lead to odors, which can deter potential buyers from wanting your home. On top of that, damages to furniture or baseboards (from puppy teeth) can make it look as though the house isn’t cared for. Feel free to ask your MHT agent for a reliable carpet cleaner or contractor to get these tasks checked off.

Clean, clean, clean!

This is obviously vital to making sure your home is show ready whether or not you have pets, but a few extra steps should be taken if you do. We recommend vacuuming the floors and furniture every day to make sure there is minimal evidence of shedding. If you dedicate just 15 minutes daily, then you will always be ready for a last-minute showing! Another area to check often: air vents. Pet hair can get trapped and built up in there, which makes it a great spot to clean them out whenever possible. Finally, if you have an adventurous cat, it would be worth it to dust of shelves frequently.

Tidy up after your pet

Since we can’t tell our dogs and cats to put away their toys, we recommend finding a hiding spot for them during showing times. This will also help your home to generally look less cluttered. A basket next to a crate or hidden in the laundry room is the perfect place to get these toys out of sight and mind.

Be a Super Pooper Scooper

Pick a day, perhaps twice a week, where you venture into the backyard and clean up after your pup. Nothing ruins a day, or the opinion of a home, than if potential buyers decide to walk through your backyard and step in a sizable…present…left just for them!

Air out the house

Sometimes you get used to the scent of having a pet around, but that is the first thing that will hit potential buyers when they walk through your door: the smell. Since we’ve already agreed that positive first impressions are necessary for a positive experience, why not make it a neutral or enjoyable smell? Open up the windows to bring in some fresh air, invest in odor neutralizers, and even bake some fresh cookies if you know that you have a showing later! Taking these measures will ensure that potential buyers have a positive experiences when viewing your home.

Finally: remove the pets for the showing

When the time comes to show the house, do everything in your power to get your pets out of the house. This will eliminate the possibility of a dog barking throughout the showing. Or even worse: if someone is allergic to dog or cat dander, this will eliminate the risk of them breaking out into an allergic reaction! Hopefully this will provide some bonding time with you and your pets while you’re out with them!

We hope this checklist will help eliminate some overwhelming feelings about making sure everything is perfect with a pet while your home is on the market. If you or anyone you know is currently experiencing this, please share this post with them!