Cats alive!
Reba Haas on 07 11, 2007
Last week I took a young couple out to look at houses in a 3-city area. We were working on determining what areas north of Seattle might be places they’d like to consider moving to. To begin our research my clients had picked 6 houses they thought would be interesting to see and in different towns: north Seattle (near Bitter Lake), Shoreline, and Mountlake Terrace. Four of the houses required a call ahead to make an appointment as they were either tenant or owner-occupied. The Shoreline house I called surprised me with some news that they were on their way to pick up a couple of new kittens that day and we would need to be careful not to let them out when we came to our pre-set appointment the following day.
Hmmmm…. let’s see, you’re selling your house and somehow decide that getting 2 new kittens is a good idea? I can think of several reasons why this is a bad idea.
1. the hassle. the kittens may cause some serious problems in showings when people are attempting to not let them out. Oh, and by the way this family lives on a main arterial in Shoreline so it’s very likely the kittens could get run down if they run into the street.
2. the smell. I’ll mention here that when we arrived to see the house we found that the mother had picked up not only 2 kittens but rather 4 (yes, FOUR) new kittens.
[photopress:kittens.jpg,thumb,alignright]
3. They detract from people viewing your house. Sure, they were cute, but we also had trouble managing to not step on them, and then keep them in the laundry room as we attempted to go out the back door to check the yard.
4. The house isn’t in tidy order. When you are home with your two small children and the 4 cats are running around the house you tend to forget things like a real estate agent is coming at 10:30am to show your house.
We literally showed up and found the family at home with all 4 kittens roaming around and the cute little 3 and 5 year old children playing with them. Mom apparently was in the shower when I called ahead a 2nd time to make sure they knew we were coming (the kids apparently are too young to know what the message machine says even though it plays loudly throughout the house when someone calls) and so when I knocked on the door no one answered. Being that this usually means “no one is home” I unlocked the front door to find said children looking with big eyes at me opening the door. I quickly said, “is your mommy home?” to which they replied, “yes, she’s in the shower.” I asked them to alert mom to our presence and we stepped back outside for a bit while mom scrambled to get dressed to come to the door. In the end, we did get a tour of the home and the mom took her kids out for a spin in the car but it was as uncomfortable for my clients as it was for the homeowner. It’s not a great way to make an impression when you’re trying to sell your house. The gal confessed that she “had forgotten” that I’d called the day before as they were focused on getting those kittens.
Note to the wise – DON’T get 4 kittens while trying to sell your home!
About the Author: Rebecca Haas
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12 Responses to “Cats alive!”
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What a disaster, selling a home is too important to allow distractions like that.
Oh my god I can’t believe that. I have cats (and dogs), and not only did we not acquire any new pets when we sold our last home, we sent them off to live with friends while we had the house on the market to avoid exactly this sort of problem.
4 kittens = some seriously stinky cat litter.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only is this NOT going to sell the house, but it is endangering these little kittens. We hear stories like this everyday, and that’s why we try to help agents in these kinds of situations. It can be tricky to tell your client, “hey your house stinks” or “that was a really dumb thing to do, getting four new kittens” without hurting their feelings or getting yourself fired as their agent. Good luck with this one. Sounds like you have your hands full.
I’m happy to say the new kitten owner wasn’t my client. I was representing the buyers and we now laughingly refer to this as “the kitten house” as we see other homes nearby on our continued search for a home for them.
Yes, it is a disaster waiting to perhaps happen and it DOES get very stinky with that many cats using a single catbox.
the mental picture you gave me is hilarious……I’m sorry to laugh but that is just WRONG!
Reminds me of the time, when I was a brand-new agent in San Jose 35 years ago, when I let myself into a home to preview it, and discovered the lady of the house in the shower.
She never knew I was there
[...] Reba Haas must have a heart of cold steel to not simply LOVE four adorable kittens roaming about a house she was showing. Cats Alive! But honestly Reba, how can you not love kitteh? [...]
Back in my title rep days, I use to go on tour with real estate agents and, although I love homes/real estate…there were some with pets (or other odors) that I’d have to leave. I have cats and a dog…but I’m not selling the house I live in. Sometimes people don’t seem to think things through. I’m sure this post will help!
The first thing I think of when I hear of ANY baby animals (kittens, puppies, whatever) is house training. No matter what you do they will end up peeing on the carpets. If my buyers were getting a house where there were kittens or puppies I would insist on a good, professional carpet cleaning and house scrubbing once they were gone.
As for the kids and the answering machine; My oldest turns 5 next month and I have a 20 month old as well so I can confidentally tell you the kids are too young to take phone messages for mom. Kids may hear the answering machine going but it’s background noise to them and they are not listening to what you are saying as it is not important to them at all. The 5 year old might remember to tell his mom that the phone rang but most likely the mom would take too long and he would forget.
Overall it sounds like selling their house isn’t top priority. I always wonder about homeowners who make you feel like you are imposing upon them or “forget” about appointments.
I’m glad this post has brought up some interesting memories and thoughts on the subject. And to post #7, I never said I don’t like kittens – I have 4 pets myself and am a big supporter of local shelters – my article was more about whether or not it was prudent to be getting new pets during the sale of a home. You can love animals and still not want them to ruin the potential sale of a house for a client.
This was a really good point to make, Reba. I’m actually curious to know if people with big dogs have trouble selling their homes. I’d actually be astonished if they didn’t often lose money on their places. The dogs shed like crazy, and the fur gets into every nook and cranny. Have you seen instances where have a large animal has taken the value of a home down? To me, it seems almost inevitable, considering the havoc and destruction they wreak.
Hi Karen,
with respect to dogs and how they impact a home it is very dependent on the pet and it’s personal grooming habits and the homeowners habits in caring for it. I can tell you from very personal experience that many times a SMALL dog can “outweigh” a large dog in terms of damaging a house. We used to have what we lovingly referred to as a “jerk russell terrorist” (and I have 2 more now) that would chew a lot of things in the house. Thankfully he was turned on to chew toys very early on but if we hadn’t done this he would have likely done what many other dogs do when they are nervous, bored, or whatever goes through their little brains; he’d have chewed up carpet, walls, trim, or more.
A man I knew back in one of my former industries had a dog that ate up a big section of carpet in his home and his fiancee made him get rid of the dog. This dog was exercised only once a week for just a few blocks, and it had no chew toys designated for it to turn its energy onto. It would also be left for hours and hours throughout the day while both adults were at work. This was preventable and this dog didn’t need to go through the stress of being changed in its ownership at an older age – plus it’s dog buddy (they had 2 dogs) was depressed when it lost its playmate. A sad situation. Exercise and chew toys would have prevented it.
We’ve always subscribed to the adage “a tired dog is a good dog.” It’s true, a dog that gets a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day is much more relaxed than a dog that gets none. This can make the difference between a house that is wracked with dog damage and one that is only minorly affected.
As for hair and smell – this is very dog dependent too. I’ve noticed that dogs with dense, short hair tend to hold smell more than others that have loose hair. Some shed less, like the Bichon Frise breed that my mom has bred for 20+ years. An example: german shepherds versus a border collie. I’ve got a flat coat retriever and he smells way better than some labs I’ve pet (and then had to wash my hands from the smell). It also depends on how frequently your dog is groomed, etc. Dog hair can get picked up fairly well if you are conscientious about cleaning up, sweeping, vacuuming, etc. I’ve got 3 dogs and a cat and most people don’t get a “pet smell” when they come in my home because I’m very sensitive to it myself. It might mean we have to vacuum every 3-5 days but I have to do that anyway for my allergies to the pets so I don’t mind, it’s a small price to pay for their wonderful, unconditional love.
Selling a house with a pet can be done successfully if the seller is aware of what to do. I’ve sold many a home with a pet and without giving up the value to the seller. I wrote another article about “if it smells, it doesn’t sell” that speaks to this issue too.