What to do - house on market - potential buyers say "smells like dog"

[DumboPrincess]

7. Continue using the bath and body works plug ins

I work for Bath & Body Works and can def. vouch for this line of odor neutralizers coming from a 3 cat household!
Check it out--my personal fave is the Brilliant Citrus--smells like Lemon Drops. Some customers tell me it smells like Pledge, so people would think you just cleaned. Clean Mist is good too, and just smells clean. The Wall Flowers are also Odor Neutralizing, so you can buy the refills to replace your current plugs, and the fabric refresher is safe for your couch, curtains and carpet. Spray the room spray before you walk out the door and you're set!

Can you tell I love this line? They are making the Odor Neutralizers in the car fragrances in July...but I digress. OT!

Here's the link: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/fam...bfw 2bfyAl Z2CjCdwzfAywv.pCjCRpBy HkbFbEzfbET

I hope this helps!

I also agree with bathing the dog as often as possible and cleaning out your air ducts!

Good Luck!

 

[englishteacha]

I am very sensitive to smells. I know if someone has a dog the second I walk through the door. Some other, easy things to do that might help are place bowls of baking soda or white vinegar everywhere! It helps neutralize odor. You can sprinkle baking soda on the carpets and furniture and then vacuum up, too. Coffee grounds in bowls helps, as well. Wash everything that can be washed, and remove as much "soft goods" from the house as you can-throw rugs, pillows, blankets, etc. Letting the dog sleep on your bed, even without the comforter, is going to cause an odor unless you wash the blankets every day.

I know you must love your dog, but perhaps you need to make him a cozy place to "live" out of the main house for now. Maybe a luxury dog house, or a space in the basement, or something? I'm not a dog person, so I apologize if I'm making an unreasonable suggestion. As much as I love my cat, if she were preventing me from selling my home, she'd be staying with Grandma for a while!

 

[olena]

Hi Guys...You are all the best -- I knew I would get some help on the Dis.

I emailed my realtor about the carpet allowance and she does not want to do that right now - she thinks if we put something in the listing it will decrease the number of showings. I am going to talk to her again about it though or maybe we could put a note in the house with the other paperwork about the floor allowance.

The dog smell is not urine -- he has never had an accident in the house.

The smell is undoubtedly this musty, frito-like smell that bulldogs - at least our bulldog - has. He is also very gassy. On the weekends and at night he is not home for the showings but unfortunately for showings during the week while we are at work - he is in the basement.

We don't have a ventilation system or central air or anything like that.

We are going to do the following:

1. Remove all evidence of the dog (pictures, toys, his bed, water bowl...) Although I recognize that won't help on weekdays when the actual dog is in the basement. But physchologically maybe it will help people see the house before they see the dog.

2. Wash all the walls and the kitchen/bathroom floors

3. We are going to have our couches cleaned

4. We are going to wash our bedroom comforter and take it off the bed - the dog sleeps on the bed - so we aren't going to let him sleep on the bedspread -- we will just put that back on the bed for showings only.

5. We are getting rid of his dog bed and will replace it with a new one -- his current bed stinks.

6. Windows opening to air out the house as much as possible.

7. Continue using the bath and body works plug ins

8. When possible before a showing I'll bake on low some vanilla/cinammon

9. Going to talk to the realtor about the carpet allowance again

10. We are going to wash all the curtains/drapes

11. We are getting rid of all throw pillows and afghans on the couches

12. We are going to ask my DH's cousin who is *very* allergic to dogs who has only been to our house once and is very nasty and critical to come over - tell her the issue and have her go through the house after we do the above things to point out the problems to us or where she smells the dog

I guess for now that is all we can do.

My DH is against ripping up the carpets right now because he is afraid if we spend all that money and do it and still get the comments - then what do we do then.

So for now we are going to try all of the above and go from there.

Any other suggestions/thoughts I would love to hear them!!

Thanks all
Nicole

That actually sounds like a great plan! Best of luck to you....

 

[clarabelle]

We call our dogs feet "corn chippers"
I'll bet the dog bed is the worst culprit -or any other place he lays regularly.
If he lays on the couch -I would put a sheet or something on it when he is laying there (after you get it cleaned)
Good luck!

 

[golfgal]

Do you have a dehumidifier? You can buy one for about $120 at Walmart or whatever. That might help if you don't have AC. It will take the moisture out of the air and help reduce the smell. Our old neighbors had a horrible dog smell in their basement from the previous owners. They took up all the carpet, bleached the concrete, did everything, and couldn't get the smell to go away. The dehumidifier was the only thing that helped. It didn't go away, the smell came back after a day or so, but at least that would mask it while it is on the market.

 

[shortbun]

Everyone I know who's family includes a dog has dog smell in their house. I think you have to move the dog out, then clean again and don't bring him back. No one wants to buy a house that smells of a pet they do not own. If you're going to sell, you need to take drastic measures. Sorry.

 

[delilah]

This is interesting, because I can't imagine how one dog could cause such an odor that people would comment on it. Years ago, when we sold our house, we actually had three dogs. During the day, when the house was being shown, the dogs were out of the house. We were moving to a different house in the same area, so, actually, we just moved the dogs in to the new house while we were showing the old house (we also had cats). We sold the house within a week to the third or fourth people who looked at it. This won't work if you are moving across the country, however.

We sort of did the same thing when we moved from Ohio to Indiana. The pets moved to Indiana with my husband a month before I finished my residency in Ohio. But, that time, we sold the house within a week with the pets present.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Your realtor is correct in not wanting to put the words "carpet allowance" in the listing. What that reads to other realtors is "I'm dirty inside".

Your husband needs to get on board with the hardwood/laminate floors. Carpets do not help to sell a house, new hardwoods or laminates will. Check with your realtor on this, she'll confirm it. Also, hardwoods and/or laminates are non-porous and will not trap dog odor like porous surfaces like carpeting and bedding will.

Your basement is a large part of your house. By putting the dog down there you are in effect making that part of your house invisible to buyers. Even if they are willing to go down there with a dog (and as a dog owner I won't go down there where there's a strange dog), it's going to smell like dog farts.

Selling is a total, complete drag. It upheaves your life. If you're gonna commit to selling and get the dang thing sold in this market, then you have to commit WHOLE HOG.

Get the dog out of the house when you're not there.

Keep the dog confined in a crate when he sleeps-you can move the crate into your car when you have to leave and that removes the smelly bed and keeps him confined when you're out of the house.

By now you're saying, oh, that's cruel to the dog. Well, selling a house is cruel to everyone. My kids cried because i put so many of their toys away. EVERYONE'S MISERABLE. Why? Because having your house on the market moves your lifestyle into an unnatural state.

The houses that sell fast are the ones that are MOVE IN READY. Which means you've taken as much of yourself out of the house as you can so the new owners can see themselves in it.

Very, very few people see themselves in a house with a gassy bulldog and smelly carpets. They'll bring their own pecadillos to the house, of course (we all have them!) but when they look at it they don't want to see YOU, they want to see THEMSELVES.

Good luck, I know it's really stressful. Just take yourselves and the dog out of the personal equation and you'll do better-be analytical about the whole thing and don't take it personally.

 

[barkley]

you might check to see if you have a company by the name of serve-pro near you. if they are'nt, call your homeowner's insurance company and ask if they can reccommend a company that does smoke damage restoration work.
those companies are in the buisness of removing odors from walls, flooring, ducts and fabrics. smoke is one of the hardest odors to get out so they likely would not have a problem at getting to the bottom and curing whatever is holding on to the dog odor. it could be much less expensive and time consuming than trying to tackle it yourself.

just want to echo the comment on limiting other odors in the home-even ones you perceive as plesant. we did extensive house hunting when we were looking for our current home, and i'm in that camp of people who can't stand/tolerate sweet smelling candles and esp. fabreeze-being exposed to it for even the short time i would tour a home left me with a nasty headache so it got to the point that if we walked into the front door and we could smell it we had to turn around and walk away.

somewhat similarly on dogs-i like them but i don't know how a person's dog is going to react to me, a stranger, walking around from room to room in their space, esp. when their owner is not present (as is the case with all the showings we attended). some dogs that were left outside were going nuts seeing us through sliding glass doors-even if they were chained up they were straining at their collars such that we would'nt hazard to go into the backyards (and when i look at a home to buy i want to "walk" the entire property). if a dog were relegated to a garage or basement it would just make that room off limits for me to look at, which would be detrimental to the purpose of considering the home for purchase. i think it's best if at all possible to have the dog located out of the home during periods of potential showings.

 

[distherapy]

Just wanted to say "ditto" to the people who recommended:

1. Keeping the dog out of the house as much as possible, especially during periods of potential showings. I have 2 dogs that I adore and am a "dog person" but was totally turned off when a pet was in someone's home while house-hunting. It made it feel like I was invading space and an interloper instead of imagining myself and my family in the home. Not to mention the inevitable thought of "where is this dog usually? how dirty is the house? what will I find if I buy it?"

2. Stop with the air fresheners. As you have seen with the number of replies about this in particular, more people hate them than like them. For so many of us, it is not just an unpleasant smell (as much as you may like it), it's a headache causing nightmare. I can distinctly remember the homes we visited that smelled strongly and how immediately we had headaches and couldn't think clearly - couldn't imagine our "sofa there, or our daughter's room here", it was just "get me into fresh air".

Good luck!

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

4. We are going to wash our bedroom comforter and take it off the bed - the dog sleeps on the bed - so we aren't going to let him sleep on the bedspread -- we will just put that back on the bed for showings only.

5. We are getting rid of his dog bed and will replace it with a new one -- his current bed stinks.

What about using a sheet over new dog bed and one on top of your bed that could be washed every week?

 

[Inigo]

This is interesting, because I can't imagine how one dog could cause such an odor that people would comment on it. .

I don't have inside pets, and I can tell when I enter a house that has a dog, even if there are no dog signs present. Maybe I just have a really sensitive nose, but there are odors. Some houses are worse than others, of course.

There are people, too, that I can tell are pet owners or smokers just by being within a few feet of them. I have one client that he and his mother reek of cat urine odor. I always leave the office door open, and have a fan blowing when I have appointments with them. (I then febreeze the heck out of my office when they leave.)

Personally, it would have to be an exceptional deal to make me enter a bid on a house that reeks of odor, whether that odor be dog, cat urine, cigarette smoke, or just general gross smells.

I'd find a friend to dog-sit until the house sells, and then I'd clean the house, furniture, drapes, etc, obsessively. I'd then ask the hyper-critical relative to visit and give an honest opinion.

Good luck with the sale.

 

[disneyfreakk]

Take your guy to the vet and have his anal glands cleaned! This may or may not be the problem, but it only costs about $10 for them to do it. (you DO NOT want to do this yourself, lol!)

Google bulldog + anal gland

My pug has problems with hers. And really, the only way we knew she had a problem was because she was in my lap one day and leaked this stuff on my leg. We used to have them cleaned every other week, but have since switched her to natural dog food. Now we only have to have them cleaned about ever 3 or 4 months.


Also, please be careful about bathing your bulldog so often! It removes too much of the natural oils and can cause skin irritation and skin problems.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

2. Stop with the air fresheners. As you have seen with the number of replies about this in particular, more people hate them than like them. For so many of us, it is not just an unpleasant smell (as much as you may like it), it's a headache causing nightmare. I can distinctly remember the homes we visited that smelled strongly and how immediately we had headaches and couldn't think clearly - couldn't imagine our "sofa there, or our daughter's room here", it was just "get me into fresh air".

Good luck!

Agree! I would rather smell a stinky dog than an air freshner. I know people love their candles, fresh cookie smells, and glade plugs in however I am not one of them.

I want to smell the house, period. If I can't, then I will probably pass up your house to buy.

 

[kellyg403]

I agree with the others about removing the dog while having your house on the market. Not only are the prospective buyers missing seeing the one part of the house that might make a difference for them, but I agree that the dog smell is probably going to stay as long as you keep him down there for long periods of time.

I also agree about the air freshners etc. After looking at several houses, dh and I decided on this cute rambler out in the country. GREAT living spaces etc. The homeowner on the day of the open house had candles burning, cookies baking the whole nine. When we went back to do another walk through we were surprised that the house smelled horribly like dog and urine. I mean disgustingly so. After some investigation, the septic tank was failing and in order to cover up the smell from the mess the homeowner and the realitor were using cover up smells. Did they mask the smell for a while? Yes they did but once the candles were not burning my gosh the smell was horrible! So glad we went back. Now, whenever we are look at a house and I see candles burning it sends a red flag to me that something is up..rightly so or not.

I agree with all the advise, put those hardwood/laminates down, remove the dog, wash all the curtains or buy some new sheers that are relatively inexpensive or cheap new blinds. Maybe a little paint. It will start smelling new! That is the 'move in' ready most people are looking for!

Kelly

 

[Muffy]

I would also suggest removing the dog from the house for showing. Most of the time the smell is coming directly from the dog. They bark, get upset and give off a doggy smell when they hear people in their house. If you can swing it I think it will pay you back in spades. Good luck!

 

[Angelhalo]

If you can afford to replace the floors by yourself then by all means do it but this statement by another poster is incorrect:

Your realtor is correct in not wanting to put the words "carpet allowance" in the listing. What that reads to other realtors is "I'm dirty inside".

I work in real estate and LOADS of realtors put carpet allowances on listings for many different reasons and I've never had a potential buyer or realtor say that they assume that means the house is dirty. Some people put in flooring allowances because they realize that everyone might not like they're taste in flooring, or because not everyone can deal with living on someone's used carpet due to allergens etc. The majority of buyers and realtors I have ever worked with love the fact that there is a flooring allowance before they've even seen the inside of the home because they know it means that if they don't like it, then they don't have to worry about it, because they can have it changed without it costing them a bunch of money. The realtors usually love it because they know that if they take the buyer in and the buyer HATES the flooring, they can always chime in and remind them that there is an allowance available to fix it.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Dog breath and dog feet are also major offenders.

OUrs both have bad breath, and freddy has sweaty feet. when he gets nervous, he can leave footprints they sweat so much. they smell like fritos...

Mikeeee

 

[daisyduck123]

This is interesting, because I can't imagine how one dog could cause such an odor that people would comment on it.

I have been in PLENTY of houses with just one dog & oh did those houses smell! There was one woman in my Bunco group who could never understand why the rest of us would never take her up on her offer of hosting at her house for an evening. No way! Her entire house stunk...she just couldn't smell it. Sometimes even her clothes smelled like dog.

Dog owners can't detect the smell, because they live with it all the time.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

OP I applaud you for taking the comments seriously and not being offended. I think you have gotten some great advice here. I really would rip up the carpets. When we were looking at a house we saw what we call the "animal house." It reeked of dog and cat. The owners were not dirty but they had carpet and pets. The house smelled so gross that even the realtor said something to us about it. Even if that house was a palace we would not have bought it. We have allergies and would have had to remove the carpet and and re-sheetrock before we could ever even move in there.

Stop febreezing, remove all fabric in your home and wash it. Get rid of the carpet. Wash the dog bed every few days. Wash the floors and walls at least every other day. No air fresheners. Keep the windows open.

We have some friends with dogs and you would never ever know. Their homes are spotless but they wash everything down constantly. Some dogs though do smell more doggy than others.
Good luck!