Author Topic: Repair dog damage before listing?  (Read 6297 times)

DirtDiva

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Repair dog damage before listing?
« on: February 22, 2016, 05:18:21 PM »
We are preparing to list our former residence to sell in the spring.  The house has damaged woodwork from a jumping/scratching dog.  There is deep scratch damage to several areas of trim, as well as some internal doors.  In particular, the door leading from the main home to the breezeway/mud room is damaged, and is one of the first things you see when you walk in the house.

Complete repairs have been estimated at about 2k.  (House listing price will be around 240k).  Does this seem like money well spent, or should we sell as is? 

AH013

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2016, 06:15:53 PM »
I'd vote repair first.  Dog scratches leave potential buyers wondering about what else the dog damaged, what else has been neglected, potential dog allergy issues, etc.  Not stuff you want them thinking about.  Even if they do buy without it fixed, they'll likely ask for a credit after inspection, so you're out the money anyway.

Dicey

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2016, 01:27:16 AM »
Not sure why you're even hesitating. What condition is the rest of the house? How realistic is your asking price?  Have you  gotten multiple estimates? IMO, fewer buyers are interested in doing the work and the ones who are expect to buy at deeper discounts to compensate them for their trouble.
Is the real problem that you don't want to make the repairs and then have your dog do more damage, before you sell?

DirtDiva

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2016, 06:57:14 PM »
The hesitation comes from a disagreement between my spouse and myself.  I think we should fix the damage.  My personal experience as the buyer is to be far more interested in homes in good condition. 

DH just wants to dump the house and be done-- we are undoubtedly going to lose money on the sale, and he doesn't want to sink any more money into fixing it before selling.

arebelspy

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2016, 04:22:10 AM »
is one of the first things you see when you walk in the house.

Fix it.
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ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2016, 09:36:39 AM »
Fix it, but I think you could do a decent enough job yourself for well under $2,000.

Senor Smallchange Soulpatch

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2016, 10:30:18 AM »
I know this is tough to fathom for the dog lovers out there, but some of us simply don't care for dogs and have no desire to share our personal living space with one.  As one of these people I would insta-pass on any house that had visible dog damage.  If you don't fix this you're immediately disqualifying yourself with a significant portion of your potential buyers.

ketchup

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2016, 11:08:27 AM »
I know this is tough to fathom for the dog lovers out there, but some of us simply don't care for dogs and have no desire to share our personal living space with one.  As one of these people I would insta-pass on any house that had visible dog damage.  If you don't fix this you're immediately disqualifying yourself with a significant portion of your potential buyers.
As a dog lover with multiple dogs in the house, I agree.  Fix it.
Fix it, but I think you could do a decent enough job yourself for well under $2,000.
But also this.  You could probably do an 85-90% job for a lot less than 85-90% the cost.

arebelspy

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2016, 11:09:52 AM »
I know this is tough to fathom for the dog lovers out there, but some of us simply don't care for dogs and have no desire to share our personal living space with one.  As one of these people I would insta-pass on any house that had visible dog damage.  If you don't fix this you're immediately disqualifying yourself with a significant portion of your potential buyers.

You understand that the dog doesn't come with the house, right?
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ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2016, 11:31:28 AM »
I know this is tough to fathom for the dog lovers out there, but some of us simply don't care for dogs and have no desire to share our personal living space with one.  As one of these people I would insta-pass on any house that had visible dog damage.  If you don't fix this you're immediately disqualifying yourself with a significant portion of your potential buyers.

I don't like cats at all, but even though when I toured my current house, the owner's cats were jumping up on things to meow in my face, it didn't bother me, because...why would it? I don't understand your post at all.

The worst part was getting all the cat fur off the top of the fans.

iamlindoro

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2016, 01:55:58 PM »
I know this is tough to fathom for the dog lovers out there, but some of us simply don't care for dogs and have no desire to share our personal living space with one.  As one of these people I would insta-pass on any house that had visible dog damage.  If you don't fix this you're immediately disqualifying yourself with a significant portion of your potential buyers.

You understand that the dog doesn't come with the house, right?

LOL!

Also a (multiple) dog owner, also have a number of small to medium sized maintenance items related to the dogs that we'll have to take care of before we sell our primary residence in the next year or two. Flooring, carpets, some minor wall repairs, deck refinishing. I think it's just part of getting the best possible purchase price-- this isn't like putting 50K into a kitchen to increase sales price by 20K... it's just making the place baseline well-maintained.

Dicey

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2016, 03:30:13 PM »
Hmmm, I have two bad dogs and one imperious cat, but my house neither looks nor smells like it. Even as a (multiple) pet owner, when we were house hunting, anything that smelled or had pet damage moved way down on our list. Way down both as in if we were even willing to buy and as in how much we would lower our offer. Why shoot yourself in the foot? People will see the pet damage and assume that you neglected the whole house, which is a bad message to give a buyer. Sure, your spouse may want out, but at what cost?

Senor Smallchange Soulpatch

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2016, 04:07:49 PM »

You understand that the dog doesn't come with the house, right?

Of course, but all the shit they did to the house most certainly does come with it.

If the owner couldn't be bothered to fix the obvious damage, I'm going to apply the iceberg theory and assume I'm only seeing 10% of it.  How much piss and shit soaked in to the pad underneath that carpet?  How much hair is hiding in the ductwork?  How fucked is the yard (I'm in MN and if you're looking in the winter everything's buried under snow, so this isn't always obvious).

I'm mean sure... if I could pick up the property at the right price and it's otherwise exactly what I'm looking for, maybe. But back here in the real world most people aren't going to discount a home at anywhere near the rate I would for this kind of stuff, and my market is active enough that there are almost always directly comparable properties inside of a couple blocks away.

I'm also not saying if I see a food and water dish on the floor I'm immediately turning and running out of there.  Just that in cases where the dog has been allowed to do immediately visible damage to the house, I've got far better shit to do with my time than deal with that.


Blatant

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2016, 05:51:44 AM »
Well, gosh, thanks for letting us know all that.

Gibbelstein

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2016, 04:13:39 PM »

 it's just making the place baseline well-maintained.
[/quote]

I think this is the biggest point.  Not fixing it seems likely to be doubly more negative than you think.  We are likely to see existing damage in our own homes as less severe than it is (you are used to it, it may have happened gradually) and the buyer is likely to see it as more severe than it is (they imagine themselves having to *fix* it).  The comparisons about what is 'worth it', in terms of ROI, to do to a house because it adds to the selling price only applies if the buyer isn't scared off from purchasing at all by something relatively small.

And, in case this is what you are getting at, I think I would also see it as an indicator of deeper problems.

Good luck with the sale!

clarkfan1979

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #15 on: February 26, 2016, 11:42:44 PM »
If there is 2K worth of dog damaged that is grossing everyone out and it's 30K on sale, then I'm buying it.

I would fix it to avoid the negotiation power of the potential buyers.

DirtDiva

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #16 on: March 02, 2016, 05:45:57 PM »
Thank you to everyone for taking the time to voice your opinions.  The votes are unanimous for fixing the damage.  That was my instinct as well, based on my own thoughts when I'm on the buyer's side of the equation.

I'm will show my husband this thread...maybe he will be willing to fix the damage himself.  He certainly has the skills, but limited time (and we are halfway across the country from the house in question).

Thanks again.


arebelspy

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2016, 02:23:25 AM »
I'm will show my husband this thread...maybe he will be willing to fix the damage himself.  He certainly has the skills, but limited time (and we are halfway across the country from the house in question).

In that circumstance, I'd say to give him the option to do it, or have it done, and be 100% behind whichever he decides.
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DirtDiva

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #18 on: August 09, 2016, 08:03:29 PM »
Update: dog damage was repaired for less than 1k by a handy friend.  Closing escrow  in 2 days.

 I truly understand the albatross/neck metaphor after owning this house for 1.5 years after moving away from the area.

Thanks again for the input.

arebelspy

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #19 on: August 09, 2016, 11:44:16 PM »
Thanks for following up.

Congrats on getting it sold! :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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bpleshek

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2016, 08:29:35 AM »
I would fix it.  As a multiple home buyer and investor, I can look past these things when evaluating a property.  It is my belief, and maybe it's wrong, that people who are looking for themselves and are not experienced buyers will only be satisfied with near pristine properties.

DirtDiva

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #21 on: August 10, 2016, 08:23:14 PM »
I would fix it.  As a multiple home buyer and investor, I can look past these things when evaluating a property.  It is my belief, and maybe it's wrong, that people who are looking for themselves and are not experienced buyers will only be satisfied with near pristine properties.

Speaking for myself (with 6 months of recent real estate shopping under my belt) as a homeowner, not an investor:  I can look past things I know how to fix and how much they will cost (i.e. wallpaper/paint, floor coverings that are old or unattractive to me) but it's hard for me to look past things like, well, woodwork.  I would have had no earthly idea how much it would cost to repair or replace woodwork and doors. 

Also, from my unhandy perspective, things that are broken or in poor repair raise a red flag:  what else might be broken or unrepaired that I will have to fix later?

So..bpleshek-  I am confirming your belief.

Dicey

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #22 on: August 11, 2016, 01:21:05 AM »
Update: dog damage was repaired for less than 1k by a handy friend.  Closing escrow  in 2 days.

 I truly understand the albatross/neck metaphor after owning this house for 1.5 years after moving away from the area.

Thanks again for the input.
Did you get your price?

DirtDiva

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #23 on: August 31, 2016, 06:54:17 PM »
Update: dog damage was repaired for less than 1k by a handy friend.  Closing escrow  in 2 days.

 I truly understand the albatross/neck metaphor after owning this house for 1.5 years after moving away from the area.

Thanks again for the input.
Did you get your price?

We bought for 250k in 2005 and sold for 230k in 2016.  This is after we spent a lot more money than we should have on cosmetic updates, as well as a new roof, new furnace, and an energy audit with updated insulation, etc.

So, no.

NoNonsenseLandlord

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Re: Repair dog damage before listing?
« Reply #24 on: September 01, 2016, 06:54:03 AM »
Always repair a small item like that first.  You are essentially painting, not in a literal sense but are doing an cosmetic fix.  Otherwise, the buyer will deduct $5K+ from the price...