The Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home in the Winter

Winter wonderland or real estate chill? Selling your home in the winter comes with its own set of unique advantages and challenges. As the snow falls and temperatures drop, let’s explore the pros and cons of putting your property on the market during the colder months.

Pros

Less Competition, More Attention

Winter often sees a decline in the number of homes available on the market. Many sellers choose to wait for the warmer seasons, leading to a scarcity of options for potential buyers. This reduced competition means your property is more likely to stand out, garnering increased attention from serious home seekers.

Serious Buyers Only

Winter buyers are often more motivated. Whether due to job relocations, changes in family dynamics, or other life events, those shopping for homes in the winter are usually on a tight schedule. This can expedite the selling process, resulting in a faster transaction and a smoother closing.

Cozy Atmosphere

The winter season allows you to showcase the cozy and inviting aspects of your home. A crackling fireplace, warm lighting, and a well-insulated property can create a welcoming atmosphere that resonates with potential buyers. Highlighting these features can make your home feel like a haven from the winter chill.

Cons

Curb Appeal Challenges

One of the downsides of selling in winter is the impact on curb appeal. Snow-covered landscapes and bare trees might not present your home in the best light. To combat this, keep walkways clear, add seasonal decorations, and ensure exterior lighting enhances your home’s exterior even in the darker months.

Weather-Related Delays

Winter weather can be unpredictable, causing delays in the home-selling process. Snowstorms, icy conditions, and freezing temperatures may deter potential buyers from attending showings. Additionally, inclement weather can slow down inspections and appraisals, potentially prolonging the time your property spends on the market.

Limited Daylight Hours

With shorter daylight hours during winter, scheduling showings becomes trickier. Buyers might prefer to view homes during daylight for a better sense of the property. To accommodate this, try to schedule showings earlier in the day and ensure your home is well-lit both inside and outside.

Tips for Selling in Winter

Create a Warm Atmosphere

Embrace the season by making your home feel warm and inviting. Consider baking cookies before showings, use soft, textured blankets and pillows, and ensure your heating system is functioning optimally.

Effective Lighting

Combat the limited daylight by maximizing indoor and outdoor lighting. Well-lit spaces appear more inviting and help potential buyers visualize the property’s full potential.

Weather-Ready Exterior

Keep your property well-maintained despite the winter weather. Regularly shovel snow, salt walkways, and ensure the exterior of your home remains visually appealing, even in colder conditions.

Conclusion

Selling your home in the winter has both advantages and challenges. The key is to leverage the unique opportunities the season presents while addressing potential drawbacks. If you’re prepared to create a cozy, well-lit atmosphere, and stay proactive in maintaining your property’s curb appeal, selling in the winter can be a successful venture.

Remember, every property is unique, and individual circumstances vary. Consider consulting with a local real estate professional to get personalized advice tailored to your situation. With the right approach, your winter sale could turn out to be a warm and satisfying experience for both you and the lucky buyer.

Winter Home Maintenance Tips to Protect Your Investment

As winter descends, it’s vital to fortify your home against the cold and potential hazards that the season brings. Beyond the charm of snowy landscapes and the warmth of indoor coziness, winter demands a proactive approach to maintain your property’s integrity. Here are essential tips to safeguard your investment during the winter months.

Inspect and Clear Your Gutters

The remnants of fall, like leaves and debris, may have settled in your gutters. Kickstart your winter home maintenance routine by giving them a thorough inspection and clearing out any accumulated material. This simple task prevents the formation of ice dams and ensures proper drainage through unobstructed downspouts.

Seal Gaps and Cracks

Detecting and sealing gaps and cracks in your home is crucial to prevent drafts that can compromise its warmth. Take a stroll around your property, paying attention to windows, doors, and walls. Use weatherstripping or caulk to seal any openings, promoting energy efficiency and reducing heating costs.

Service Your Heating System

Before the cold sets in, schedule a professional service for your heating system. Regular maintenance ensures optimal efficiency, keeping your home comfortably warm. Don’t overlook the importance of changing air filters regularly throughout the winter to maintain peak performance.

Protect Your Pipes

Frozen pipes can lead to costly repairs. Safeguard your plumbing by insulating exposed pipes in colder areas of your home. Disconnect and store garden hoses, and consider installing frost-free hose bibs. During extreme cold, allow faucets to drip, and open cabinet doors to facilitate warm air reaching pipes under sinks.

 

Check Your Roof

Your roof bears the brunt of winter, so ensure it’s up to the task. Inspect for loose or damaged shingles, addressing any issues promptly. Remove debris, like leaves and branches, to prevent ice dams. If you’re not comfortable doing this yourself, hire a professional roofing service for a comprehensive inspection.

Inspect Your Fireplace and Chimney

Prepare your fireplace for cozy winter nights by inspecting the chimney for obstructions. Hire a professional chimney sweep to clean and inspect the flue, ensuring safe and efficient operation.

Prepare Outdoor Spaces

Extend your winter maintenance to outdoor spaces. Clean and store outdoor furniture to protect it from the elements. Trim overhanging branches that could pose a threat during snow or ice storms, and promptly clear walkways and driveways to prevent accidents.

Stock Up on Winter Supplies

Prepare for winter emergencies by stocking up on essentials like rock salt, sand, snow shovels, flashlights, batteries, and non-perishable food items. Keep emergency kits easily accessible for unforeseen situations.

Conclusion

Investing time in winter home maintenance safeguards your property and guarantees a cozy, stress-free season. By addressing potential issues before they escalate, you can revel in the winter wonderland outside while staying warm and secure within the comfort of your well-maintained home.

Home Staging for the Holidays: Maximize Your Home’s Worth

The holiday season is not only a time for festive decorations and joyful celebrations but also an opportune moment to showcase your home in its best light. Whether you’re planning to host gatherings or considering selling your property, effective home staging during the holidays can significantly enhance your home’s appeal. Let’s explore some tips to help you make the most of this festive season and maximize your home’s worth.

Warm Welcome: Curb Appeal Matters

First impressions are crucial, and the exterior of your home sets the tone for what’s inside. Create a warm and inviting entrance by adding seasonal touches. Consider placing a festive wreath on the front door, incorporating tasteful outdoor lighting, and cleaning up the yard. Keep pathways clear and add a seasonal welcome mat to greet potential buyers or guests with a cheerful vibe.

Deck the Halls with Style: Festive Interior Decor

Embrace the holiday spirit by incorporating tasteful decorations that complement your home’s style. Choose a cohesive color scheme that aligns with your existing decor, ensuring a seamless transition between your everyday style and holiday embellishments. Consider adding elegant touches like garlands, candles, and seasonal throw pillows to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere.

Less is More: Avoid Clutter

While it’s tempting to go all out with holiday decorations, remember that less is often more when it comes to home staging. Avoid overwhelming potential buyers or guests with excessive clutter. Opt for subtle and sophisticated decor that enhances your home’s features rather than distracting from them. A well-staged home allows visitors to envision their own holiday celebrations in the space.

Showcase Key Features: Highlight Your Home’s Assets

Use strategic placement of decorations to draw attention to your home’s unique features. If you have a stunning fireplace, consider accentuating it with festive decor like stockings or garlands. For homes with picturesque windows, frame them with tasteful curtains and add a subtle touch of holiday charm. By showcasing your home’s assets, you create a memorable impression that can influence potential buyers positively.

Let There Be Light: Enhance with Lighting

Good lighting can transform the ambiance of any space. Maximize natural light by keeping curtains open during daytime showings, allowing potential buyers to appreciate your home’s brightness. In the evening, create a cozy and inviting atmosphere with strategically placed lamps and soft, warm-toned lighting. Consider replacing harsh, cool-toned bulbs with softer alternatives to enhance the overall warmth of your home.

Festive Fragrance: Appeal to the Senses

Harness the power of scent to create a welcoming atmosphere. Subtle and universally appealing scents like cinnamon, vanilla, or pine can evoke feelings of coziness and warmth. Consider using scented candles, essential oil diffusers, or potpourri to infuse your home with a delightful holiday fragrance. Just be cautious not to overwhelm the space with strong scents, as some individuals may be sensitive to certain odors.

Maintain Neutrality: Appeal to a Broad Audience

While personal touches can make a house feel like a home, it’s essential to strike a balance. Aim for a neutral and universally appealing holiday decor that resonates with a broad audience. This approach ensures that potential buyers or guests can envision themselves in the space, making it more likely that they will connect with your home on an emotional level.

Capture Memories: Display Family Photos Thoughtfully

If you have family photos on display, consider arranging them in a way that feels festive yet tasteful. Frame your memories with holiday-themed frames or incorporate them into a stylish gallery wall. This approach allows you to maintain a personal touch while keeping the overall aesthetic cohesive and appealing to a wide range of tastes.

Conclusion: Elevate Your Home’s Appeal This Holiday Season

By strategically staging your home for the holidays, you can maximize its worth and create a lasting impression on potential buyers or guests. From creating a welcoming exterior to tastefully decorating the interior, these tips will help you showcase your home’s true potential during this festive season. Remember, the key is to strike a balance between holiday cheer and maintaining a neutral, appealing atmosphere that resonates with a diverse audience.

Is staging a home for sale worth the expense?

We, as real estate industry professionals, know first-hand the benefits of home staging. We see it over and over. In fact, before the current seller’s market, we have seen homes sell for substantially more than the list price and we believe that home staging is the primary reason.

It makes sense when you realize that something as simple as cleaning your home will bring you an 872 percent return on the money you invest in the process, according to studies by homegain.com.

After making needed repairs, cleaning and getting rid of clutter is among the first steps to take when contemplating hiring a stager.

What is home staging?

Not everyone understands what home staging involves, so here’s a quick rundown for our readers.

In real estate, first impressions are everything, which is why increasing your home’s curb appeal is so important. Think of it as staging the exterior of the home. It’s that first impression that will either compel potential buyers to look at the home’s interior or send them to the next home on their lists.

If the home has been staged and buyers decide to venture forth to the interior, they should see a home that appears roomy, bright and inviting. It should make potential buyers feel that the home has been well-maintained and that they can move right in.

The costs and benefits of staging a home

The services of a professional home stager can cost anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the size of the home and how much staging is required.

There are also numerous ways to DIY your staging and you can find inspiration and instructions on the internet.

Did we mention that the homegain.com study reckons there is an average 586 percent return on investment for homeowners who stage their homes?

Additional benefits of a staged home include the fact that these homes sell faster than homes that aren’t staged. In fact, “95 percent of staged homes sell in 11 days or less,” Glendale, California professional home stager Betsy Wilbur tells Forbes’ Vanessa McGrady.

We absolutely recommend the staging process to our listing clients

Retirees: Check out the benefits of downsizing

One minute, you’re a fresh-faced 20-something taking on the world, and the next, you’re taking down the shingle and considering how the two of you (or the solo you) will deal with life after work.

It’s at this point that many baby boomers decide to flee the empty nest and downsize. It’s a smart move right now considering how much equity homeowners have been able to accumulate in the recent overheated housing market.

The advantages of downsizing outweigh the disadvantages

If you’ve owned your home for some time and plan on selling soon, you may be surprised at how much you’ll gain from selling. “Soon” is the operative word in the scenario, however. The real estate market is correcting and some experts claim that we’ll be in a homebuyers’ market sometime later this year or early 2024.

Selling sooner rather than later allows you to take advantage of mortgage rates that are still “lowish” and a market that is still fairly friendly to sellers.

But, that’s not the only advantage of downsizing

Smaller homes are easier to maintain

The worst part of owning a house is the amount of time, effort and money that maintaining it requires. If you’d rather spend those hours with family and friends or traveling, snoozing or whatever, downsizing is a good choice for you. There are many ways to make a smaller space functional and design-friendly too!

Bonus: Smaller homes also take less time to clean.

You’ll spend less money with a smaller home

Smaller homes not only cost less, but they’re less expensive to insure, heat and cool and they typically come with lower property taxes than larger homes.

Your body will thank you

Come on, we may not like admitting it, but our aging bodies don’t do well with stairs or bending over to pull weeds and anything that represents a “slip and fall” danger becomes terrorizing. Downsizing gives you a chance to choose a home that allows you to safely age in place.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you downsize.

3 ways to make your home attractive to buyers (that have nothing to do with staging and curb appeal)

What is the number one fear of most homebuyers? That the home they have fallen in love with is a “lemon,” and that there will be future issues that will cost the buyer a fortune.

Sure, a professional home inspection can alleviate many of these nagging doubts, but there are other things a seller can do to induce confidence in homebuyers. Things that your competition is most likely not offering.

1. Check your warranties

Have you had any work done to the home? Whether it was replacing a water heater or HVAC system to installing irrigation in the backyard, you hopefully have a warranty or two for the work performed.

Read over the terms of the warranties, looking carefully for whether or not any of them are transferable. “When allowed, warranty transfers are subject to the manufacturer’s terms and conditions so be sure to review the warranty for this important information,” cautions Annie Crawford at GAF.com.

Transferable warranties, especially on pricey items, such as HVAC systems and swimming pools, are a confidence booster for homebuyers, and an excellent marketing tool.

2. Gather renovation records and receipts

Not only do homebuyers love improvements to a home, appraisers do too. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to have on hand, for both parties, receipts and records of any renovations performed on the home.

Offer to make copies so that the buyer knows which contractor to call if service or repairs are ever required.

3. How old is that …?

Savvy homebuyers will ask their real estate agent to find out the age of the pricier systems in a home. These include the HVAC system, roof, electrical system and water heater, among others.

If you’ve had routine service performed on any system in the home (especially the HVAC system), dig out the records to prove this. It’s valuable information for both your bottom line in the home sale and for the buyer’s confidence in the home.

Take these three steps to make your home more attractive to buyers and watch the offers roll in.

 

2 ways to quickly smarten up your home and save money

Across the country, utility bills have skyrocketed. The news is littered with horror stories, such as the couple in Ohio who are looking at a power bill of more than $850.

The rise in heating and cooling costs alone is happening so fast that it’s impossible to determine how much the average American can expect to pay for energy through 2023.

There are, thankfully, methods you can use to pare down those utility bills and they’re all offered via technology.

1. Today’s thermostats are smart, and they offer savings on heating and cooling bills

“A smart thermostat is a thermostat that can be controlled with a phone, tablet, smart speaker, or another internet-connected device, according to Erika Rawes at digitaltrends.com. Unlike traditional thermostats, the digital variety can ‘learn’ various temperature settings and when you want them to kick in.

According to a recent white paper produced by the folks who manufacture the Nest Learning Thermostat, you’ll save, on average, 10% to 12% on your heating bills and about 15% when you use your central air conditioner.

They are more stylish than the traditional thermostat as well.

2. Light up on the cheap

Lighting accounts for around 15% of an average home’s electricity use, claim the experts at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). To whittle that down to a more manageable level, switch your incandescent bulbs to LED smart bulbs, that are compatible with your  smart hub or voice assistant.

Once they’re set up, you’ll be able to control your lights from the comfort of your bed and even from the beach during that tropical vacay you’re dreaming of.

“Energy costs are the highest in 15 years” according to several sources and verified by Politifact.com. Using technology is an easy solution to help you save on these costs.

 

How to Fix a Stuck Garbage Disposal: A Step-by-Step Guide

The garbage disposal is the workhorse of the kitchen. Yet, it’s a device that we assume will always be at our ‘disposal’ at the flip of a switch.

Sadly, that isn’t always the case. I think most of us have, at one time or another, flipped that switch and heard the dreaded humming sound.

How a garbage disposal works 

Before diving into the troubleshooting and fixing process, it’s important to understand the basic functionality of a garbage disposal.

These units are installed under your kitchen sink and are designed to shred food waste into small particles that can safely pass through your plumbing. Here’s a simplified breakdown of how they work:

  • When you turn on the disposal by flipping a switch, it activates an electric motor.
  • The motor rotates a grinding chamber containing impellers or blades. These blades shred and break down food waste into smaller pieces.
  • Water from your faucet is used to wash the shredded particles down the drain, ensuring they are carried away through the plumbing.
  • The ground-up food waste is carried away to the sewage system or septic tank, depending on your home’s setup.

What causes a jammed garbage disposal?

Several factors can lead to a jammed garbage disposal:

  • Foreign Objects: The most common cause of jams is foreign objects, such as utensils, small bones, or non-food items, accidentally falling into the disposal.
  • Overloading: Putting too much food waste into the disposal at once can overwhelm it and lead to jamming.
  • Improper Use: Running the disposal without enough water or not letting it run long enough after grinding can cause clogs. Not understanding what can and cannot be put into the disposal is also a common cause of jams.
  • Dull Blades: Over time, the blades in your disposal can become dull, making it less effective at grinding food waste.

Safety considerations before working on the disposal

Before attempting to fix a stuck garbage disposal, ensure your safety.

Turn off the Power: Always disconnect the power to the disposal to prevent accidental starts. Locate the circuit breaker or power switch for the disposal and turn it off.

Cut the Power Cord: If your disposal doesn’t have a dedicated switch or breaker, you may want to unplug it. If it’s hardwired, consult an electrician.

Use Protective Gear: Wear gloves and eye protection to safeguard against any potential debris or sharp objects.

Never Reach In: Avoid putting your hand into the disposal, even when it’s disconnected. Instead, use tools for retrieval.

Tools needed to get the job done

To fix a jammed garbage disposal, you’ll need a few essential tools:

Hex Wrench (Allen Wrench): Most disposals come with a hex wrench for manually turning the disposal’s flywheel to free obstructions. If you’ve misplaced yours, use a ¼-inch Allen wrench.

Needle Nose Pliers: Long-nose pliers are useful for extracting objects that may be causing the jam. You can also use kitchen tongs.

Bucket: To catch any water or debris that may lead while working on the disposal.

Flashlight: This helps you see inside the disposal for a better view of the problem.

Let’s get to it: Fixing a a stuck garbage disposal

Follow these steps to troubleshoot and fix a jammed garbage disposal:

Turn Off the Power: Ensure the disposal is completely disconnected from the power source.

Inspect the Jam: Use a flashlight to look inside the disposal and identify the cause of the jam. If you see any foreign objects, carefully use tongs or kitchen pliers to remove them.

Use the Hex Wrench: There is an area on the bottom of the disposal where you can insert the hex wrench. Yes, you will need to lay down under the sink to see it. Manually turn the flywheel back and forth to free any obstructions. This may require some effort, so be patient.

Reset the Disposal: After clearing the jam, press the reset button, typically located on the bottom or side of the disposal. This will reset the safety mechanism.

Turn the Power Back On: Reconnect the power and test the disposal with a small amount of food waste. Ensure it’s running smoothly before using it for larger loads.

Avoiding future jams and keeping your disposal clean 

Preventing future jams and maintaining a clean garbage disposal is crucial for its longevity and efficiency. Here’s how to do it:

Always use cold water when using the disposal: “Hot water may cause fats to congeal. When congealed, fats and oils can stick to the blades of your disposal and cause the system to work harder than necessary, impacting the motor,” cautions the pros with Smith & Keene.

Snake the drain: Smith & Keene pros also suggest snaking the drain every two years. Snakes are inexpensive at the big home improvement stores.

Be mindful of what you put in the disposal: Avoid putting hard or fibrous items like bones, fruit pits, potato and apple peels, and corn husks into the disposal. Avoid pouring grease down the drain and never throw rice, pasta or bread into the unit.

Regular Cleaning: Clean your disposal every two weeks to prevent odors and buildup. Pour ice cubes into the disposal and run it with cold water for a few seconds. This helps clean the blades and dislodges debris.

Use a degreaser: Occasionally use a degreaser to help keep down the amount of fat that can build up and cause even more problems.

Getting rid of what’s jamming a garbage disposer is a super easy DIY project. Remember to follow the safety precautions and use the right tools and your disposal should run like a champ!

 

 

What’s going on in the real estate market?

To say that our neck of the woods is wildly popular would be an understatement. From national press accolades as one of the country’s best places to live to excellent schools, our communities offer an unparalleled lifestyle.

Its popularity is one reason that our market is being particularly hard hit by a low inventory of homes for sale. With far more buyers in the market than homes to sell, prices are soaring in response to the demand.

How is “inventory” determined?

Real estate professionals answer a hypothetical question when determining the absorption rate for the current inventory of homes for sale:

“How long would it take to sell every listed home if no new homes came on the market?”

Finding the answer requires using a specific calculation that results in a “months of inventory” figure.

As of this writing, U.S. Existing Home Months’ Supply is at 3.30, which is up from 3.10 the previous month. In fact, the inventory of available homes has been steadily increasing, month over month, since December of 2022, according to research from the National Association of REALTORS.

Most real estate professionals agree that an inventory of 5 or 6 months is a sign of a balanced housing market. We still have a way to go to reach either of those numbers, but the steady increase over the past 10 months is encouraging for homebuyers.

This is where we are right now – a market that still favors sellers, but is in flux. If you hope to take advantage of the sellers’ market, jump in soon.

Why are there so few homes for sale?

The reasons behind our low inventory situation are multi-pronged.

Mortgage interest rates

Not only are rates higher than they’ve been in some time, but folks who bought when they were super low are reluctant to sell. “… homeowners don’t want to give up their low mortgage rates,” according to Holden Lewis at NerdWallet.com.

Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964)

Our older generation is taking much of the blame. Surveys of this generation of homeowners (33 million are owner-occupants), find that the majority of them have decided to age in place. Plus, they are concerned about number 1, above, losing their current low mortgage rate if they sell and then buy another home.

Home builders

“New home sales are up almost a third compared to last year, even as sales for existing homes remain in the doldrums,” claims Diccon Hyatt at Investopedia.com.

Sounds like good news, right? Not so fast.

Those higher interest rates aren’t only hurting homebuyers. Builders need credit as well and financing their projects has become vastly more expensive.

While housing permits have increased, completions have dropped to the “… lowest level since January 2022,” according to Lucia Mutikani at Reuters.com.

Finally, investors who have been snatching up homes over the past few years are seeing rents rise at an astonishing rate. “Those investors have no incentive to sell,” Dennis Cisterna, CEO of Investability Solutions tells Lewis.

What are you waiting for?

If you’re thinking of selling your home, why are you waiting? With each increase in mortgage rates, a certain number of potential buyers leave the pool. If those numbers grow larger, the market will change and prices may begin to come down.

Right now, your home value is most likely at a record high and buyers are clamoring for homes. If ever there was a better time to sell a home, this is absolutely it.

Many would-be sellers tell us that they’re hesitating because of a fear that they won’t be able to find a suitable replacement home. Buying a home while trying to sell one can be challenging, but we offer brilliant solutions that make the process far less stressful.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions about the real estate market here in our corner of the world We love to talk about real estate!

3 Things you absolutely must do before the open house

Yes, there aren’t enough homes for sale for all of the buyers who are dreaming of buying one. The good news for homebuyers is that the inventory of available homes has increased, month over month, since April of this year (realtor.com).

Let’s hope that trend continues, for buyers’ sake.

As for home sellers? If you are putting your home on the market soon, pat yourself on the back. The inventory will, someday soon, get back to normal. When it does, there will be plenty of competition among home sellers and prices typically drop in these situations.

You will get more for the house right now than in a buyers’ market. Especially if you ready the home for the spotlight.

1. Clean anything that’s gross

Potential homebuyers look at just about everything in your home. They open drawers to see how roomy they are, they open closets for the same reason.

They open kitchen appliances if they’re included in the sale.

Many homeowners learn to live with the gunk that accumulates inside appliances, such as the oven, refrigerator and dishwasher,  without performing routine cleaning. Open house attendees will consider it disgusting.

Ensure that any appliances that will be included in the sale are impeccably clean, inside and out.

Clean the toilet until it sparkles, get rid of soap scum in the bathtub and hang up fresh towels.

2.Don’t ignore your curb appeal (or lack thereof)

We like to ask our listing clients to go outside and stand at the curb in front of the house. Ask a friend or neighbor to accompany you.

Take notes of what you see and ask your companion to do the same. Since this spot, at the curb, is most likely where potential buyers will get their first in-person glimpse of the home, look at it with a critical eye.

Are there any turnoffs? These can be anything from chipped or peeling paint on the fascia to dead plants and torn window screens.

Transform that area of the home into a magnet that draws people out of their cars and into the home.

3.Don’t leave home without them

Common home-selling practices include the fact that the homeowner should not be home during the open house. Your real estate agent will act as your representative to all that attend.

Your real estate agent, on the other hand, isn’t responsible for ensuring that the home is clean, that the landscaping is in top shape and that your pets aren’t present.

Yes, it’s a terrible inconvenience to have to find a place for your pets for several hours. But it is critical. Here’s why:

  • Many people are allergic to dogs and/or cats. Just looking at them may psychologically trigger their allergies.
  • An intense fear of dogs. Nobody knows how many people suffer from this phobia but the experts at the Cleveland Clinic claim that “… fear of animals is one of the most common types of specific phobias.”

They also say that “… about 1 in every 3 people with a phobia of animals has an overwhelming fear of dogs.”

  • With all of the people coming in and going out of the house, your pets may get out.

Many homeowners think that they can get around these issues by crating the animals and keeping them in a closed-off-to-open-house attendees room.

It’s something most listing agents discourage. Potential buyers will wonder why it isn’t available to view. Think of it this way:

Would you buy a car from a seller who refuses to allow you to look in the trunk?

There are many ways to deal with the pet conundrum:

  • Schedule their grooming for open house day
  • Ask a friend or family member to watch them
  • Take them to a pet daycare center
  • Hire a dog walker for a few hours
  • Take the dog to the park
  • Negotiate with a boarding facility for an hourly rate