Showing a house with kids & dogs

Ms2011

So we will be putting our house up for sale in the next few weeks & I'm just really looking for tips & tricks to prepare the house for a viewing considering I will have 1.5 yr old & a 4.5 yr old plus 2 dogs (Rottweiler & Chihuahua). We will be getting 24 hrs notice for any viewings but it still has me in a bit of a panic as to how to make sure my house is looking it's best when I have the above 4 uncooperative members of my household.

Any wise words would be much appreciated

Mrs OBumble

Boardking kennels. For the dogs, anyways.

sadie1502

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Boardking kennels. For the dogs, anyways.

Really that's expensive. Take them out for a walk whilst the house is being viewed. Keep on top of the cleaning. Vanilla in the oven keep it clean not saying your house isn't clean. Just be prepared to take them off out for a walk.

Ms2011

My sister lives around the corner, I have a key to her house so we can walk around & sit in hers while to house is being viewed, no problem there.
I think I'm just panicing because it's so hard to keep the house clean to the standard I might have had pre children, anyone with kids will know you could spend the day clean only for it to be turned up side down in two minutes by kids.

sadie1502

Ms2011 wrote: »

My sister lives around the corner, I have a key to her house so we can walk around & sit in hers while to house is being viewed, no problem there.
I think I'm just panicing because it's so hard to keep the house clean to the standard I might have had pre children, anyone with kids will know you could spend the day clean only for it to be turned up side down in two minutes by kids.

I know I have the kids and the two dogs the only thing is to prepare and keep on top of things. 24hrs notice should give you the time to prepare. What age are your kids are they all babies? To help it sell quick keep it clean open windows burn vanilla it's the only thing I'm afraid.

elperello

Stop worrying.
Assuming your house is a family type house any realistic prospective buyer will expect to encounter a bit of kid related clutter and will see past it.
As for the dogs you really need to get them out of the way for the viewing, especially the big guy.

dori_dormer

Would you not rearrange the viewings for an open 30 min on say a Saturday? Get it mostly over with in one go. Then anyone interested can arrange a second viewing with a few days notice

Ms2011

elperello wrote: »

Stop worrying.
Assuming your house is a family type house any realistic prospective buyer will expect to encounter a bit of kid related clutter and will see past it.
As for the dogs you really need to get them out of the way for the viewing, especially the big guy.

See that's what I'm wondering, how clean do people expect at a viewing?
It's just a standard 3 bed terrace house, definitely a family house, it is clean & well kept so I'm hoping that'll be enough.
Dogs will be in my sisters for viewings. We have the back garden split in 3, one decked for the kids, one with grass & plants for me & one slabbed for the dogs which I will hose down & Jeyes Fluid before any view to hopefully elevate any doogy smell.

PhoenixParker

Declutter would be my recommendation. Makes it easier to tidy and clean, makes the house appear more spacious and gets you ready to move.
Throw out, donate, sell and recycle. Put anything else you won't need for six months in storage.

Ms2011

dori_dormer wrote: »

Would you not rearrange the viewings for an open 30 min on say a Saturday? Get it mostly over with in one go. Then anyone interested can arrange a second viewing with a few days notice

Didn't realise you could do that, EA just said we'd get 24hrs notice. I must enquiry about a bulk viewing.
I've bought 2 houses in my life but never attended a viewing so this is all new to me.

Parchment

Just take your dogs out for a walk etc but i would air the house out a bit as people who come form a non-doggy home will smell dog when they come in. Im sure your house is spotless but there is a doggy smell when a dog lives there! (i love the mix of dogs you have too!)

Regarding the kids - just tidy their rooms/put toys away. Whenever i viewed a house that we knew was still occupied it was nice to see how it was used and lived in so no need to get rid of lots of things - just keep it tidy!

Ms2011

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Declutter would be my recommendation. Makes it easier to tidy and clean, makes the house appear more spacious and gets you ready to move.
Throw out, donate, sell and recycle. Put anything else you won't need for six months in storage.

Thank you. We have the luxury of already owning the house we'll be moving to so we'll have any non essential there so hopefully that'll help.

Ms2011

Parchment wrote: »

Just take your dogs out for a walk etc but i would air the house out a bit as people who come form a non-doggy home will smell dog when they come in. Im sure your house is spotless but there is a doggy smell when a dog lives there! (i love the mix of dogs you have too!)

Regarding the kids - just tidy their rooms/put toys away. Whenever i viewed a house that we knew was still occupied it was nice to see how it was used and lived in so no need to get rid of lots of things - just keep it tidy!

Thank you, appreciate a viewers perspective

Just speaking from my own experience as a viewer here.
We knew exactly what we wanted in a home. We knew how many rooms, general layout, size etc. We also knew fairly well how we'd want it to look when we got our hands on it. ( Like we had a clear image of how we'd layout and decorate the master bedroom for example, what furniture we'd be putting in etc).

So when we viewed, the standard of cleaning didn't really matter to us, because we looked at every room and imagined nothing in it to see if it was fit for our needs.

Unless it's the kind of dirty that would create a huge headache for the new owners I wouldn't worry about it tbh. We saw houses on every end of the scale and mess, even at times filth, didn't stop us considering the house if the more important things ticked all our boxes.

We also met lots of dogs and as animal lovers weren't bothered at all. (I actually loved it, I wanted to buy a completely unfitting house just in the hope they'd throw their gorgeous German shepherd into the bargain! )

The house we bought in the end was extremely messy when we viewed but we could see underneath that it was perfect!

Bear in mind as well a lot of people looking for a home will either already have kids or planning to have kids and will appreciate seeing how it works as a family home.

Don't panic over this! Clean it as best you can but no point stressing or limiting the kids play or anything.

Ms2011

Deleted User wrote: »

Just speaking from my own experience as a viewer here.
We knew exactly what we wanted in a home. We knew how many rooms, general layout, size etc. We also knew fairly well how we'd want it to look when we got our hands on it. ( Like we had a clear image of how we'd layout and decorate the master bedroom for example, what furniture we'd be putting in etc).

So when we viewed, the standard of cleaning didn't really matter to us, because we looked at every room and imagined nothing in it to see if it was fit for our needs.

Unless it's the kind of dirty that would create a huge headache for the new owners I wouldn't worry about it tbh. We saw houses on every end of the scale and mess, even at times filth, didn't stop us considering the house if the more important things ticked all our boxes.

We also met lots of dogs and as animal lovers weren't bothered at all. (I actually loved it, I wanted to buy a completely unfitting house just in the hope they'd throw their gorgeous German shepherd into the bargain! )

The house we bought in the end was extremely messy when we viewed but we could see underneath that it was perfect!

Bear in mind as well a lot of people looking for a home will either already have kids or planning to have kids and will appreciate seeing how it works as a family home.

Don't panic over this! Clean it as best you can but no point stressing or limiting the kids play or anything.

Thanks so much for your reply, it has made me feel alot better.
Ironically the house we are moving to had been abandoned for 5 years before we bought it, had been stripped out & had no running water or electricity but when I walked into it I just knew it was our house, here's hoping someone else feels the same about this house

ThisRegard

It's pretty straightforward, just take the dogs and kids out during the viewings, they'll usually be only half/one hour windows anyway. Hide away the dog beds and have their area nice and odour free.

Spanish Eyes

Just do as you said and go to sister's house for the viewings, or do an open house for an hour or so at the weekend.

Don't stress about having everything sparkly clean, it is a lived in house. As long as it's within acceptable norms it will be fine. I would definitely remove the doggies though for the duration!

Anyway, and no offence, but most people would do a deep clean and possibly redecorate anyway after moving in, and can see over most of normal living!

Best of luck.

riffmongous

I'd really watch out for the smell, your nose is very good at blocking out smells after a little bit of time so you mightn't notice it but visitors from non dog houses might. Could you ask someone with none to pop round and see if they still get it?

Samuel T. Cogley

Stay in, have a chat and a cuppa with your prospective purchasers, introduce them to the dogs and what a lovely family home you have.

Samuel T. Cogley

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Stay in, have a chat and a cuppa with your prospective purchasers, introduce them to the dogs and what a lovely family home you have.

I wouldn't advise this its not the done thing in Ireland and might put people off, people like to look around without the owners looking over their shoulders and the dogs in the house will definitely put some people off. The smallest things put people off and I would certainly like to view a house without the owners there.

Marcusm

Ms2011 wrote: »

My sister lives around the corner, I have a key to her house so we can walk around & sit in hers while to house is being viewed, no problem there.
I think I'm just panicing because it's so hard to keep the house clean to the standard I might have had pre children, anyone with kids will know you could spend the day clean only for it to be turned up side down in two minutes by kids.

Where are you selling the house? Is scheduling a few open houses a possibility? IT would be quite ususal in Dublin. The reason I ask is that it would give you an opportunity to get a really deep clean and present the house optimally maybe twice or three times rather than having multiple visits. Some people hate open viewings but in circumstances where the house needs a de petting, dechilding, it's probably a good idea.

ThisRegard

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Stay in, have a chat and a cuppa with your prospective purchasers, introduce them to the dogs and what a lovely family home you have.

Not a good idea, nobody wants to view a house with anyone in it, never mind the owners watching you.

Millem

Ms2011 I have two dogs too! I would get my OH to take them out and take out kids while you clean. That's what I do when I need to get organised for a party etc in the house. I would also schedule viewings for Saturdays. I found those kallax units great for storage. We have them for toys everything in our house goes in a basket or box! Our living room is a toy free zone.

I honestly thought my house did not smell of dog.....I am pregnant at the mo and literally gag somedays with the smell! I am going to buy one of those air wick refreshers that spray every so often!

Samuel T. Cogley

ThisRegard wrote: »

Not a good idea, nobody wants to view a house with anyone in it, never mind the owners watching you.

While I realise it's very odd here, it's the norm in many other places. The in laws are closing on a very nice house in across the border, they, I, the brother in law etc. had a very nice meeting with the vendors on a second visit and were all the more in love with the place for it. To be fair they weren't there on the first visit. Similarly the in laws selling their house met with all there perspective purchasers, I commented on how odd I thought that was and they said they've never bought or sold a house, or heard of anyone buying or selling a house in the North of England that wasn't on hand for viewings.

As a buyer you get a lot of info you're probably not meant to - A good reason for a vendor not to do it, and I agree with Nox it's not the norm so that in of itself is problematic.

However assuming this is Dublin, Cork or Galway the OP would probably leave the Dogs guarding the front room and the house would still sell so I think give the place a bit of a tidy, scurry on out of the place as vendors do here and not to worry about it too much.

Alun

ThisRegard wrote: »

Not a good idea, nobody wants to view a house with anyone in it, never mind the owners watching you.

As Samuel T. Cogley says, it's actually the norm in many other places, including the Netherlands where I sold my last house before moving here.

Personally I prefer it both as a seller and a buyer.

For a start as a seller I don't have to go through this ridiculous staging malarkey, trying to pretend that my house isn't actually lived in by real normal people, but instead some kind of ultra-minimalist robots, and also having hordes of complete strangers traipsing trough what is still my property.

As a buyer I can ask questions to the sellers about the house and the area, and even if I don't always get straight answers it'sd be easier to tell if they're lying than some slimey estate agent.

ThisRegard

I know it's the norm in other places, but as the saying goes, if he stuck his hand in the fire would you. You pay estate agents to sell your house.

It's different meeting the owners on subsequent visits (I met up with our purchasers before handing the keys over), but in terms of a first viewing I wouldn't fancy either the owner being there, or being the owner and present for viewings.

We viewed one place where the existing tenants were hanging around which was awkward for all.

Samuel T. Cogley

ThisRegard wrote: »

I know it's the norm in other places, but as the saying goes, if he stuck his hand in the fire would you. You pay estate agents to sell your house.

We viewed one place where the existing tenants were hanging around which was awkward for all.

Well, it's not really sticking your hand in the fire, it's just doing things a bit differently, but to be fair there is the Irish thing of 'don't make a show of yourself', for better or for worse.

Tenants is a bit different, to a friendly vendor who's in their own home.

In fairness though - fair enough, it's not the done thing - that alone might be an issue.

Ms2011

riffmongous wrote: »

I'd really watch out for the smell, your nose is very good at blocking out smells after a little bit of time so you mightn't notice it but visitors from non dog houses might. Could you ask someone with none to pop round and see if they still get it?

This is a concern, our dogs sleep in crates so they can be removed from the house during viewings.
They are not allowed on furniture which I find holds alot of odour & I use a product called Zoflora when mopping floors which is an odour neutraliser, I also put some on a cloth behind the radiator.
Hopefully doing this will address an lingering doggy smell,

Ms2011

Marcusm wrote: »

Where are you selling the house? Is scheduling a few open houses a possibility? IT would be quite ususal in Dublin. The reason I ask is that it would give you an opportunity to get a really deep clean and present the house optimally maybe twice or three times rather than having multiple visits. Some people hate open viewings but in circumstances where the house needs a de petting, dechilding, it's probably a good idea.

Selling in west Dublin. I am going to inquiry about doing an open day, it would definitely suit me alot better.

drunkmonkey

I'd worry a bit if trying to get best price.

Bought a house from big dog owners, on each of the viewings the house absolutely stank of dog even though there was fires on and candles lighting, so bad I think we were the only people to put in an offer. It was dark and gloomy feeling with oldish carpets. Currently don't have a dog but I grew up with one, to me it was easily fixable (carpets were thrown out after a few weeks, tried professional cleaning but didn't get rid of the smell).

I'd ask someone not familiar with dogs to give an honest opinion on the smell as there will be one. For someone not used to it might turn them off in the first minute, great saying dog owners won't mind but your possibly loosing a lot of potential customers.
If it's in dublin or somewhere there isn't much competion it might not matter.

Spanish Eyes

Would you buy your dream house if a cigarette smoker or dog owner lived there?

I don't know. Unless it was the perfect house for me.

Limits your chances really doesn't it. But maybe not in today's manic market. But with the help to buy for new builds, second hand houses have to up their game now I THINK.