Hello all, I am a real estate investor licensed real estate agent listing my first property for someone else. The seller bought the property sight unseen only 1 month ago and is already trying to sell for what he paid for it. The reason being, the entire basement was full of dog crap! He cleaned out the physical matter, but the entire house stinks!
He now just wants to sell, but is set on the price starting at what he paid for it, which was already too high even if there was no feces or smell. But the smell on top of it will be impossible, imo.
What are thoughts on how to proceed? I have not yet listed, but immediately I will get negative feedback for the price and I also feel I need to disclose about the smell; it could seriously cause sickness!
Call a professional cleaner ASAP. Sellers are stubborn and think they can list at any price and tend to ignore what the market is saying.
Get market data by running comps and if you're really desperate, get an appraisal.
I want to piggyback on what Bob said - use a company like Servpro who specialize in cleaning up properties after water or fire damage. They are excellent at removing smells.
Call a professional cleaner ASAP. Sellers are stubborn and think they can list at any price and tend to ignore what the market is saying.
Get market data by running comps and if you're really desperate, get an appraisal.
I want to piggyback on what Bob said - use a company like Servpro who specialize in cleaning up properties after water or fire damage. They are excellent at removing smells.
I agree with the others. Be honest, tell him he needs a professional cleaner to ensure everything is sanitary. You can also get an ozone machine from amazon for under $100 and turn it on for 24 hours (make sure the house is vacant) to help with the smell.
The fact that he bought it sight unseen and overpaid, is his problem.
I agree with the recommendation on a company like Servpro or some other remediation company. If the smell has saturated the drywall it would be best to just pull it out and replace it rather than try and remove the odor. You may need to do the same for flooring and other areas.
This person took a risk and sometimes risks don't work out. Good luck having the honest conversation with the client that their expectations are not in alignment with your market.
I have used them for a fire remediation only and it was through an insurance claim.
They do provide free quotes, but there are also some other big national ones like Rainbow Restore. You may even have some in your local area that can do the estimates as well.
@Ethan Jennings do u know what would servepro charge for 1000 sqft hardwood floors?
I told my client how it was and they are going to hold onto it and put sweat equity into it so we didn't move forward,
@Chad Keilen my understanding from talking to them is that each job is unique. Cause of the issue and what it will take to fix. Servpro is a franchise and rates will also differ based on your market.
@Theresa Harris have u used ozone machines? Happy with the results?
I own an ozone machine. It removed heavy animal odors after running continuously throughout a house. I had less luck with a house that had a heavy smoker. But it wasn't run as much as I would have like. The air does smell a bit off after the ozone machine is run and you aren't supposed to be in the house when it is running.