Couple with 14 cats wants to sell property for top market value, relator seeks advice on how to inform them that the bad cat odors are deterring potential buyers: ‘[They’ve] ruined their resale value'

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Dec 23, 2024 9:00 AM EST

Having property is a huge flex these days. It's a fantastic investment that provides pretty good financial security. The thing about owning property is that you have to take care of it. Even if it's just land, you still have to maintain that land. Sure, you can still sell land or a home that is in completely disarray, but the value is going to be way lower than its potential. One extremely difficult issue that relators come across a lot are excessive pet owners trying to sell. Cats especially, because cat urine has a chemical in it that is very unpleasantly potent and very very difficult to get rid of. It can seep into the floorboards and ruin them—the only option then is to remove them and start from scratch. 

So when this relator started working on a property with 14 cats, she knew she was in trouble. Though she is new to real estate and this is only her second house, it didn't take years of experience to smell how big of an issues this was going to be. Every potential buyer who has come to look at the place has said they immediately decided not to buy due to the smell. She has tried to convey this to the sellers, but they still want to sell at the higher end of the market value. Now the relator goes to Reddit to seek advice. 

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  • 01
    "Lower the price more or board the cats."
    via Unsplash+ (and Levi Meir Clancy)
  • 02
    How do I tell my clients that cats have ruined their resale value? I've been a realtor for 6 months and listed my second listing 3 weeks ago. My first listing was a vacant home and I was able to successfully get it under contract in 6 days. This listing, however, is posing a few problems. Hoping for some advice on what to do and how to relay that to my clients.
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 03
    The home is a 3 bed/2 bath mobile home sitting on a large lot. For my area, this is a somewhat desirable home and yard size. The clients wanted to list the home for the top end of market value and that would typically be pretty acceptable for this market...except it's owner occupied and they have cats.
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 04
    Not just 2 or 3 cats. They have FOURTEEN cats. The house smells as bad as you might imagine and there is torn up carpet and walls from where the cats have used the house as their scratching post. Our first showing, I was so grateful to have received feedback from the buyers agent. Before listing, I had softly mention to the sellers that the cats may affect their ability to sell but the buyers agent put it in
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 05
    a black and white, "buyers were extremely turned off by the smell of cat urine". I screenshotted that text and sent it directly to the sellers. We dropped the price slightly and I recommended to the owners that they get activated charcoal air fresheners, an air purifier and clean the carpets but the smell persists. The sellers even offered a carpet credit but buyers aren't biting.
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 06
    We have had a few more showings and every one gives me the feedback that the buyers are disinterested due to the odor. At this point, I have told the sellers that we either have to lower the price more or board the cats until they sell. They told me they don't want to do either of those things.
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 07
    What else can I do to sell this home and how can I put it nicely but firm when speaking to the sellers?
    via RealtorTaylor
  • 08
    Vosslen Tell them to replace the carpet now and remove the cats. FYI new carpet isn't enough and that's what I'm trying to get them to see. They will have damaged subfloor and need to re paint the place using killz before the new coat. The place is a meth barn at this point. Cat iss is awful.
    via Vosslen
  • 09
    ShakerNYC Tell them firmly what they need to do to move the property and if they don't. want to do it, politely suggest they find another realtor. I know you're new but the time you're spending here can be spent prospecting better leads that will actually make you money.
    via ShakerNYC
  • 10
    SkyRemarkable... This sounds like it's for an investor. When you determine market value, you should have included all of the cat damage as adjustments to the price so they didn't think they could get a higher price. The house is not in average market condition, so it doesn't get average market pricing.
    via SkyRemarkable5982
  • 11
    SXTY82 Boarding the cats isn't going to fix anything. 14 cats permeates the wood, furniture, rugs and curtains. That smell is not going away anytime soon. All carpet, furniture and window dressings have to be removed. The smell is likely in the wood so on humid days, for years, that house will smell like cat You couldn't pay me to live in a house that had more then 2 or 3 cats living there for an extended period.
    via SXTY82
  • 12
    MM_in_... Don't be nice, soft, or subtle. Be firm. This is where you need to be blunt. Show them every bit of feedback they receive - good and bad. These cats are a problem and are affecting showings and the selling of the house. You have an attractive location, good size lot and good sized home, but the damage from the cats is preventing people from putting in offers. Because of the work they will need to do.
    via MM_in_MN
  • 13
    This is what you need to do in order to attract buyers. A..... B..... C..... D....... Once you do those things, we can reactivate your listing and get your house back on the market. It's more than just cleaning the carpets and charcoal. It's into the carpet pad and likely requiring subfloor replacement. And Kilz-ing what isn't replaced. Drywall replacement and repair. Maybe even ceiling work if anything has leaked through from the floor above.
    via MM_in_MN
  • 14
    lower, we may not find a buyer given the feedback. We may need to go the investor or flipper route and those offers are not what you want pricing wise. Do you have the funds to give the property the proper overhaul it needs to alleviate the cat smell? This would require you to vacate, including the cats." The answer will probably be no.
    via IntelligentEar3035
  • 15
    Then I would say, "I'll give you a few days to weigh your options. Let's circle back and come up with a game plan." In the meantime, I would look up comps that sold for lower. Find the buyers agent and see if their client is still interested in another project
    via IntelligentEar3035
  • 16
    Capybara_Chill_00 As a cat owner who loves my felines in a listing, I am - if I smell cat done. There's not a thing you can offer me that will bring me to put in a bid on that property because I know what I will have to deal with and there are many other properties that don't stink like cat urine. It's just that the discount I would find acceptable the sellers wouldn't find acceptable so there's no point proceeding.
    via Capybara_Chill_00
  • 17
    Show the feedback you're getting to your clients. They have to decide to either steeply reduce the price or truly remediate the urine smell - and while it's fairly easy to address occasional, fresh cat pee incidents, it's almost impossible to correct the situation with that many cats in the house as they'll keep going in the spots they've now been trained to use. If they don't want to do either, it sounds like you as an agent have to decide how much effort you want to put into this.
    via Capybara_Chill_00
  • 18
    OkDepartment9755 The mobile home itself is probably lost cause. By the time you clean and replace everything, you'll have basically built a whole new home. Sell the lot. If i was a buyer i'd remove the home and plop down a new mobile home/prefab anyways. Let the sellers know the home itself is reducing the value.
    via OkDepartment9755
  • 19
    Big_Source4557 You gotta just be honest with them. Say the price would be realistic if in good condition but it's simply not. Cat smells are some of the worst and are really hard to get rid of without fully gutting. Sometimes you even have to replace the wood where the pee soaked in. It's really a larger problem than a small price reduction and you are absolutely looking at a full renovation with 14 cats living in the house. If the lot is
    via Big_Source4557
  • 20
    desirable enough, you might get someone to pay full price but most likely the house would be a tear down. Your clients probably have toxoplasmosis so they aren't going to like what you're saying as they have a parasite in their brain. People with toxoplasmosis are addicted to cat pee smell. Be careful going in there, wear a mask and gloves.
    via Big_Source4557
  • 21
    Admirable_Nothing I was not a realtor but was in a client facing hard sales business. About 4 months after I signed my contract my boss/mentor came to me and said that he was certain I was going to make it (in a business that over 95% of people fail at in the first year) in this business. I asked why? he said because I could tell the difference between an egg and a china egg.
    via Admirable_Nothing
  • 22
    he continued, a china egg looks like an egg and feels like an egg but you can't eat it. What you have in your second listing in the business is a china egg. Best to disengage from these folks as quickly as you can as they are stealing your time and energy.
    via Admirable_Nothing
  • 23
    doodlebakerm This isn't a top end of market value situation. This isn't even average market value. 14 cats in a mobile home for years sounds like a tear down to me. You're selling the land, not the house at this point.
    via doodlebakerm

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