If you have pets living in your home, the prepping that you need to do to get ready your home for sale needs to be done with additional attentiveness over what a pet-free house would generally require. When you live with animals, you become desensitized to how they affect your living space but visitors to your space will notice things that you don't see or mind.
Many people will not even want to tour your house if they know that you have pets due to allergies or severe dislike of animals. Keep pets or pet toys and beds out of your advertising photos for this reason. Correct or not, prospective buyers might look at pictures with your dog lying on the carpet and only see the possibility that your house is going to smell like dog.
Before you open up your house to prospective buyers consider sending your pets on a little holiday to a friend's or boarding kennel while you're trying to sell your home. This will allow you to clean all traces of your pets out of the house without them shedding all over your clean carpets and such. At the very least, restrict the areas of your house that your pet is in after you've cleaned it and make sure your pets aren't at home when buyers come to look at it.
To best clean your home when you have pets living in it, consider three perspectives: shedding, stains and smell. All three of these issues are related of course, they all come from your animals; but some animals produce far more of one of these issues than others.
Shedding of hair and dander is pretty easy to deal with. Vacuuming every inch of your carpet is a good start. Move your furniture to accomplish this! If there is a build up of pet hair this may need to be done more than once. To test for residue, walk around your house wearing black socks; if your socks grow fur then it needs to be done again.
Stains will need thorough cleaning to get rid of, and a professional carpet cleaning service is your best bet. Shop around to see if you can get one that is proficient in neutralizing pet stains. Ask if they guarantee their work as well, in case the stain comes back once your carpets are dry. Many carpet cleaners can also clean your couch or drapes as well.
Pet smells should be mostly neutralized by vacuuming and carpet shampooing; if they remain don't be tempted to cover them up with perfumed or fruity air fresheners. Many people find that a room freshener is overwhelming, especially in a small space. Personally, I find that a scented air freshener makes me suspicious of what bad smell someone is trying to cover up. Stubborn stains or smells on your carpet may require replacement to completely remove.
Though most people in the country have pets of their own, buyers are almost always more hesitant to buy a house that has resident pets. This may be due to the fact that people like the house that they're buying to be pristine or even just that other people's pets are unfamiliar. Either way, the fewer signs of your pets in a house that you're trying to sell, the better.
