Advice Needed - House for sale, realtor states chickens prevent sales!

[ranchhand]

DH and I liked this house when we spotted it, but had other options. Then I spotted the existing chicken coop - SOLD!

We bought a coop with a house attached.

Best of luck to you guys, hope it's all over and for the better soon.

 

[sourland]

You need a new agent.

 

[Tala]

Coop? What coop? That's a shed in the back yard

Seriously, if it looks nice, nobody should notice/complain. If it looks like a junk pile in the back yard.....well yeah I could see the turnoff.

Get a different realtor!!!!!!!

 

[arianna]

Everyone is right about this. Change the agent!

He works for you and he can only give you advices, but not tell you what to do with your own propriety. Some people are allergic to dog or cat hair, yet that doesn't stop them to buy a house that had pets in it. Same thing with cigarettes and smoke.
If your chickens are in the house it might be a deterrent on a first impression to some buyers, but any buyer that is seriously interested in a home will understand that pets, personal decorations, and furniture does not stay with the house.
If the chickens are outside, and the buyer doesn't want to buy your house because you have a chicken coop in the backyard then you can promise to remove it upon the sale of the house.
I sold my house a year ago, and I only had it on the market for one week. We built a new house and where able to move out of the old house and get it ready for the market. I have to admit, it is so much easier to sale a house if you don't have to live in it. Most people are lazy this days, and with the today house market they are also more picky. They want the move in ready house with the right colors on the walls and the spotless clean rooms, so yes, first impression does matter.
The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to sale a house is if you can't move out then rent a storage room and move out anything you can live without for the next few months. De clutter as much as you can, rearrange furniture to make the space to look much larger, give purpose to any empty space, and paint the walls in a neutral color. You'll be amazed to see how many people can not "see" a home past the owner personal decoration and furniture. Making it more appealing to the general eye make a big difference on that first impression. And the first impression IS what sells a home.
Good Luck

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Lots of good points here. If the agent is a friend of the ex, and that was not disclosed when the contract with him/her was signed, the contract is probably void due to conflict of interest. Having a person friend as your real estate agent may work well when a happy couple is selling their home, but when the agent is a friend of one of an unhappy ex-couple...there is definitely a bias. Get a couple of agents from other companies to evaluate your house and whether chickens being present affects its value. Let them know about hte conflict of interest, and that you are looking for a new agent. Also collect the code relating to hens for your property. Are there other nearby properties with chickens? That is also pertinent.

Regardless of what the house sells for, it seems that the fair division of that asset is to split the profit, whatever it may be. Of course there may be other things that offset that in the remainder of the property settlement, so what seems simple may not be.

I know that my birds can rapidly soil grass, so it really might be better to keep the coop in one spot rather than moving it. Damage will not be as apparent when it remains in one spot--simply because it is THERE, and so one does not expect to see lawn. However, I would make sure it is not in the center of the lawn. And as was suggested, re-plant with grass when vacating hte property after the sale is complete.

I would make sure the birds are LOCKED in the coop when people come to see the property.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

i would get a new agent if she is a friend of the ex she needs to go and if you are free range them just lock them up during the showing. it is like see house with dogs n cats and children there. when we were looking for homes they lock up their pets except for horses are in the pastures and there chickens are in the pens. do not get rid of the chickens.

 

[PaulaSB12]

If I was buying a house chickens would more likely get me to buy it. If you want off putting though I looked at one house (before buying the one I have now) and it had several points against it.
1 before entering it we had seen a tabby cat with quite distinctive marking entering another house, that cat had belonged to the house we where looking at and moved out and considering the house I don't blame him
2 the garden had that much dog muck left in it it would have needed a new lawn
3 they had removed all wallpaper and carpets in the house so it looked a mess
4 the kitchen ceiling had a small hole in it and dog urine in several puddles in the cooking area
5 they a downstairs bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. the suite colour was white the inside of the toilet bowl was solid brown
we did not buy that house and had a stronge converation with the estate agents about being sent to such a house

 

[Mattemma]

I have always had relators come once a year to give a market value for the home,but if you are willing to spend the money getting the home appraised would be better. All buyers will get an appraisal if they are getting a bank loan. The bank does not want to loan out more than the home is worth(suprising?!!?!?). If the appraisal is lower than the listing price then you will be stuck selling closer to the price appraised at.Ofcourse you can get varying appraisal prices too,but I would only pay for one. A home inspection and a current property(not mortgage) survey is also a positive.

On the chickens I think they are a plus but ofcourse I am biased. I just took my house hen outside last night,and yes house hens stink up the house like all other animals. I recall having comments over the guinea pigs and cats when we sold the condo. Thankfully we got a buyer that needed a place asap for when his kids visited on weekends.

If you can move the hens somewhere just to hush up the realtor I would do that. If I could not replace the realtor then I would hope to lower her commision.Sounds like your only option is to just go along with it and hope it sells fast.

I know the ex is an ex for many reasons,but I would talk to her about pricing strategy. Like I told my dh we might not be able to sell without a loss,but atleast we can sell and walk away.Many people are stuck. I have seen houses bought for 85k selling for 30k only a few years later. Does she really want the house to sit on the market for years with the value possibly going done? I know they say values will go up.Our home value just keeps going down. Sure she wants to *move on* with her new life. The money would be nice,but money is not the key to happiness. Try to get to agreed upon time line of 3-6 months with an agreed price cut strategy.

I recall a house behind us that was 100k for over a year. They NEVER dropped the price. In the end they had the house and lots auctioned and it sold fot 64k. Big loss for what they were hold outing for,but in the end they just wanted to move on.