How to Get Your Home Sold If You Have a Pet

If you have a pet and you're looking to sell your home, then read on for some helpful advice.

Selling your home? Get a free home valuation.

Buying a home? Search the complete MLS.

The good news is, many homebuyers are looking for a pet-friendly home.

Two out of three of us have a pet, and 61% of pet owners say they have trouble finding a home that is a good match for their pet.

In fact, a recent survey estimates that 31% of animal owners frequently don't put in an offer because a home would not suit their pet.
 
This means that if your home is a good match for a pet, it will be attractive to a large pool of dedicated animal owners.

On the other hand, 67% of Realtors also estimate that actually having a pet in your home can make it harder for you to sell.

So what can you do? Here are three things I typically recommend:

1. Repair any damage

Floors, walls, doors, the yard — these are some typical areas that pets love to chew, scratch, and dig up.

Repairing this damage is an investment that will pay for itself many times over in terms of a higher selling price.

2. Get a professional to remove pet odors

Many pet owners are less sensitive to odors in their home than prospective buyers will be.

Pet owners are less sensitive to odors in their home than prospective buyers are.

That's why you should hire a professional cleaning crew to clean any carpets, rugs, or upholstery that have absorbed pet odors.

Once you're done with the cleaning, ask a friend or your Realtor for a sniff assessment to make sure the job is really complete.

3. Take your pet out during showings

Some people are afraid of animals. Others are allergic. And regardless of the time, money, and effort you've put in to clean and repair your home, many buyers will be prejudiced by knowing that a pet currently lives there.

That's why I recommend taking your pet out during showings and also removing any pet objects such as toys, food bowls, or scratching posts.

By following these three simple guidelines, you will be able to sell your home for top dollar, whether the buyer is a pet owner or not.

And in case you have any questions or concerns about preparing your home for a sale, give me a call. I’m here to help.

Do Decorating Allowances Help or Hurt the Seller?

When selling your home, I always advise against offering allowances for things like flooring, painting, and decorating. Here's why.

Selling your home? Get a free home valuation.

Buying a home? Search the complete MLS.

Today, I wanted to talk about painting, carpeting, and decorating allowances when selling a house in the Indianapolis market.

We often see sellers who realize that their carpet or kitchen flooring, for example, is outdated or needs to be replaced. Many times, these sellers will opt to give a flooring allowance. However, I would advise you not to allow any sort of flooring allowance or decorating allowance up front.

Why? When you make an offer like that, it's like making an up-front offer to your kids—they just don't appreciate it. Secondly, when a buyer walks through your home and sees 2,000 square feet that needs new flooring, the amount of money they will think it takes to replace all of it will be much larger than the actual number it will cost.

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Buyers will always assume flooring replacement will cost more than it actually would.

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Instead, have your Realtor call a flooring person to come out and replace the flooring up front. If you replace it up front, it will not only cost you less than the amount a buyer would have asked for, but it will also help your home sell faster and for more money.

When we sell a home and say there's a carpeting allowance, people tend to automatically assume the house has filthy orange shag carpet when in reality, it might not be that bad to begin with.

If you have any other questions about selling your house, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help!

What Should You Budget for Closing Costs as a Seller?

Buyers aren’t the only ones that have to pay closing costs. Sellers can expect to pay up to 3% of their purchase price on these costs.

Selling your home? Get a free home valuation.

Buying a home? Search the complete MLS.

We often associate the term ‘closing costs’ with buying a home. While buyers will always have closing costs, many people aren’t aware that the sellers will always have them too. These costs are there for you as a seller whether you use a Realtor or not.
 
Closing costs for sellers include, but are not limited to: title insurance, prorated taxes, deed and affidavit recording fees, and a home warranty. Taxes are prorated in Indiana because the state thinks it’s a great idea to pay our taxes one full year late. That’s a big chunk of the costs. You will also have to pay your final sewer bill as part of your closing costs as a seller.

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Sellers have closing costs, too.

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We have found lately that most of our offers come in in the evenings or on the weekends. It’s always a pain to try and contact title companies during that time to get sellers a more accurate idea of what their closing costs will be, so I suggest abiding by this rule of thumb: seller closing costs typically come out to about 3% of the sale price of the home. Budget for that amount and you won’t be left hanging out to dry in the end.
 

If you are thinking about selling and want to know exactly how much money you are going to walk away with, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help out and answer any questions you may have.