When pet owners put their homes up for sale, it’s best to make those beloved animals disappear without a trace or at least a low profile. The dog beds, the cat crates, the hair, the chew marks and the smell all need to be removed before the first showing. Here’s a step-by-step guide on selling your home with pets.

Priority one: odor and stain removal. Even a pet-loving buyer will be turned off if the house smells. Pet and smoking odors rate as top turnoffs. You may have become “nose blind” to your pets’ smells, so have a friend do a sniff check.

• Have your carpets professionally cleaned with enzyme solutions that remove organic smells and stains.
• Keep pet bedding clean and ready to stash in your car when notified of a showing. The same goes for food and water bowls.
• Bath dogs weekly. Unbathed dogs smell and the odor can work into carpet, cloth upholstery and drapery. Inside cats rarely need bathing, but if they do, a rubdown with a wet towel is a good option.

Hair removal. While on the market, vacuum and sweep daily to remove pet hair. Chase down dust and hair bunnies under furniture. Wipe down cabinets and shelves. Brush your pet two or three times per week to limit shedding.

Repair damage. If the dog has chewed the woodwork or walls, make all repairs before showing the house. If your hardwood floors are noticeably scratched, refinish them or risk buyers walking away. Any signs of pet damage may cause buyers to pass on your house, questioning what other issues may be lurking.

Clean up your yard.  Remove dog waste daily. If your animals have torn up the lawn, it’s best to reseed or lay sod.

Vacate the premises. Your pets — and all their belongings — should be removed from the house during showings. Besides being a turn off, you don’t want to risk a pet biting or scratching prospective buyers or their children. You also don’t want them to be a distraction to buyers. Ask that your home be shown by appointment only and then be prepared to load up your pets and all their gear when you get the call. If that’s not possible, make arrangements with a friend, relative or neighbor to keep your pets during showings. If indoor cats or crated dogs needs to stay home, let all showing appointments know ahead of time. 

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. Article was revised from HOUSEOPEDIA'S original article.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.

 CREB® - Housing Statistics

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us aware of the many things in our homes that multiple people touch each day. We can sanitize those surfaces frequently, but today’s touchless technology makes it possible to avoid touching many surfaces at all. You may forget and touch your face, but at least you have no need to touch these household devices.

Clean connections

Even with touchless technology, it’s important to regularly sanitize every switch, knob, handle and remote device in your home. You also need to sanitize your cell phone frequently, since some touchless technologies are controlled by phone apps.

Smart hubs

A smart speaker system such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Google Nest Audio, and Apple HomePod mini allows you to control many items around your home with voice commands instead of touch. With this touchless technology, you can turn the TV or lights on or off, play music or radio stations, adjust the thermostat, raise or lower motorized window shades and much more.

Locks and doors

Smart home security systems let you lock and unlock your home’s doors, raise and lower the garage door, adjust the thermostat control and more, all from an app on your phone. These touchless technology systems also offer convenience: You can let people in while you are away and shut the garage door if you forgot to when you left. Camera monitoring of your home is visible from your phone app, and you’ll  get a push notification when doors are opened while you are away. Personal monitoring devices for the elderly allow you to check on them remotely.

Touchless floor cleaning

Regardless of the coronavirus, who wouldn’t love to quit sweeping and mopping the floor? With touchless technology, you can hang up the mop and broom. iRobot’s Roomba will sweep for you, even around furniture and into corners.Then the iRobot Braava Jet M6 takes on the mopping, cleaning the floor areas you select. Or you might like the iRobot Roomba i7 Vacuum with Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal takes convenience to a new level - automatically emptying into an enclosed, disposable bag that holds 30 robot bins so you don’t have to think about vacuuming for weeks.

Touchless technology in the bathroom and kitchen

Hand washing has never been more important, but when you turn the faucet handle or pump the soap dispenser, you’re doing it with dirty hands. Why touch these at all when manufacturers like Moen and Kohler make faucets with motion-sensing technology that turns on the water with the wave of a hand? Likewise, brands like Kohler and simplehuman make dispensers that squirt liquid soap into your palm for you.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. New tech products for floor cleaning were added to HOUSEOPEDIA'S original article.

by CREB®Now Feb 1, 2021

COVID-19 has had widespread impacts on the economy. The shutdowns had significant economic repercussions in the retail, arts and entertainment, tourism, service, and transportation (airlines) industries across the country.

Alberta also faced the additional impact of struggles in the energy sector.

The reduction in global oil demand caused prices to drop to levels far lower than what we have seen over the past five years. This resulted in a significant drop in capital investment and drilling activity. While prices have been recovering from the lows of the spring, some energy forecasters expect prices to generally remain below levels recorded over the past four years and below $50/barrel in 2021.

The economic impacts of further shutdowns at the end of 2020 will likely flow into the early part of 2021.

Nonetheless, economic activity is expected to improve in 2021 following the significant retraction in 2020. However, with travel and social-gathering restrictions expected to persist until enough of the population is vaccinated, the hardest-hit industries – such as accommodation and food, travel, and energy – are expected to take longer to fully recover.

The government supports for businesses and households are expected to remain in place until the middle of 2021, helping to cushion the impact caused by the pandemic. However, given the global magnitude of the crisis, full economic recovery is not expected until late 2022 at the earliest.

Key factors impacting the Alberta economy in 2020

COVID-19 and the shutdown of our economy resulted in a sharp decline in growth, followed by a quick bounce back as the economy reopened. However, the economy did not bounce back to pre-pandemic levels and a second partial shutdown at the end of the year is expected to claw back some of the progress made.

The energy sector was hit particularly hard in 2020, as global oil demand fell and prices crashed. While prices have improved from the lows recorded early in 2020, they remain lower than the levels recorded when oil prices first fell back in 2014. While some mergers have already been announced, further consolidation in the sector is expected.

Final GDP figures for 2020 are not expected to be released until mid-2021, but Alberta is expected to be one of the hardest hit provinces in terms of economic contraction for 2020. It not only impacted our retail, tourism and airline industries, but also had a significant impact on the energy sector.

Low lending rates and government support helped prevent a more significant impact on the housing market.

Persistently high unemployment rates and significant job losses in some sectors of our economy dominated 2020.

Provincial figures point toward more people leaving the province than entering.This shift is due to some loss to other provinces, but also the significant drop in international migration. Thankfully, our young demographic has helped support population growth, albeit at slower rates.

Persistently high unemployment rates and significant job losses in some sectors of our economy dominated 2020.

Provincial figures point toward more people leaving the province than entering.This shift is due to some loss to other provinces, but also the significant drop in international migration. Thankfully, our young demographic has helped support population growth, albeit at slower rates.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract.