Keeping the Furry Family Members Safe When Selling
When meeting with sellers about the prospect of listing their homes for sale, there are many things to consider. Price and what preparation projects are always top of mind. Ideal time frame is another. Hitting the market is often a combination of optimal market demand and convenience for the seller. If a home has a lot of work to be done, but we are experiencing peak buyer demand right at that moment, the ideal timing is not to list right away. Sellers never get a second chance to make a first impression. Taking buyer demand only into account would result in listing poorly prepared homes and turning off the many buyers that walk through the doors.
Showings are stressful to discuss, particularly when there are multiple family members. Furry family members are part of the consideration. Will pets be present? If at all possible, dogs should be crated or removed because they tend to have more territorial tendencies. Cats, on the other hand, tend to not have those more aggressive territorial tendencies and are often left to roam a home that is on the market. Cats generally fall into two categories, those that avoid strangers in their home and hide and those that will take any opportunity to rub up against a stranger for love. Safety of indoor cats is usually boiled down to alerting anyone touring the home to close exterior doors behind them and not let the cats out.
This past weekend I ran into a whole new level of keeping a cat safe. Kevin (pictured above) is a furry family member of a new seller. Kevin’s mom informed me during our appointment that Kevin, in addition to being an attention hog, loves to jump into the refrigerator. Oddly, Kevin likes the refrigerator so much, he has also learned how to open it himself. Unfortunately, it is a design that closes quickly behind him.
Thankfully, mom has always been around when Kevin pulls this stunt, but it poses a real suffocation threat to Kevin when mom is not home. As such, mom has moved a trash can in front of the refrigerator as a barricade to make it impossible for Kevin to get into the side by side refrigerator. This configuration is not ideal when having a home show ready, but Kevin’s safety must be top of mind.
In the coming weeks, Kevin’s mom and I will be working on a solution to keep this curious troublemaker safe and sound while simultaneously making the house as show ready as possible. If the trash can barricade ends up being our only option, so be it. We can move it for pictures and post signs on the refrigerator and trash can as to where the can needs to sit. While work intense, phone calls to any agent showing the home would be an absolute necessity. Call, text and email will be necessary to ensure all showing agent have gotten the message. If it came down to it, and it might, showings with me present are also an option.
The bottom line when working for my seller’s best interests is keep everyone safe while achieving the desired outcome of selling the home. Whatever needs to be done to keep pets like Kevin, the king of mischief, safe will be done. In the meantime, if you have any bright ideas on how to keep a side by side refrigerator locked, we would love to hear them.
Chris Ann Cleland
Associate Broker
VA License #0225089470
Long & Foster Real Estate
Call or Text: 703-402-0037
Email: ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chris Ann Cleland, not Long & Foster. All content is written by Chris Ann Cleland without the aid of artificial intelligence.