Getting Your House Ready to Sell

• Have your house professionally cleaned. I provide this service to all of my clients, and a professional cleaning *alone* can make SUCH a huge difference.
• Consider having your carpets professionally cleaned as well, OR having them replaced.
• A fresh coat of paint will go a long way, especially if there are scuffs or scratches on the walls.
• Move any cat beds, cat furniture, or litter boxes out of the main living area.
• SMELL is often the biggest issue I see with houses with cats:
  • Spray this if there are any stinky spots.
  • Have a friend or family member (who doesn’t live with you) walk into your house and tell you if there are any pet smells. We get used to our own environment, so you might not be able to tell!
  • Try spraying this on your furniture.
  • Be careful when using an air freshener/candle. Sometimes if you try to cover up a pet smell, and the air freshener is too strong, it just makes it worse!

During Showings

• I would strongly recommend confining the your cat to one room and having a note on the door OR removing the cat. If your cat cannot go outside, don’t rely on whoever is in the house not to let the cat out — it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes people accidentally let the cat out.
• Test out your plan for showings. Have a friend or family member act as if they are showing the house. Does your cat yowl about being confined to a bedroom? It sounds silly, but noise like that can ruin the showing experience for a potential buyer.
• If this is overwhelming, you can always restrict the hours you allow showings too! There’s nothing wrong with that! For example, if removing your cat is too stressful on weeknights after you’ve been at work all day, you don’t have to allow showings every weeknight.

Moving With a Cat

• The best case scenario of moving with a cat is to move your cat to your new house first, to minimize the stress on everyone. Not sure how you can buy your new home before you sell your old one? I have a free guide for that here.
• Make sure your cat is microchipped or consider extra measures to make sure they are safe and secure when you’re moving in.
• Double-check to make sure that your new yard is secure.
• Be prepared for this to be a stressful experience for your cat! It’s stressful enough for humans!
• Look out for your cat peeing in random places. Either the new house freaks them out, or they are trying to mark their new territory. I like this stuff for removing the smell, so once they’ve peed in one place they don’t go back and do it over again!
• Make sure to keep the same litter boxes in similar spots in their new home. Consider adding an extra litter box as well.
• Give your cat (and yourself) extra grace! Spend extra time with your cat and be generous with your affection and treats.