My next door neighbor was a cat lady.. She had 9 cats, 4 dogs, a dog run installed adjacent to her home but I never went inside the house. One year, one of her trees which were never pruned, fell onto our roof in a huge storm…. so we were very happy once she sold and moved out several years later… I had never envisioned what her house must have looked like …. until a few weeks ago when I took clients to see a home – great price, nice location but it was a ‘cat lady’s’ house…….
I have 2 cats myself – love them so… anyone who has cats will agree… but what happens when you get older? This particular home housed an older, genteel, lady with 3 cats. I called the agent as we were driving by and the house sign caught our attention. The agent responded that the house smelled a great deal, that she would accept ‘x amount’ he felt.. but we couldn’t go in then as she had dishes in the sink. Well, a few things crossed my mind. One, if she was worrying about dishes in the sink, how bad could the house be? She has 3 cats.. I have 2 cats…maybe he was exaggerating..?
We made an appointment for the following day, and I have to admit- it was awful… It wasn’t just the stench of the cat’s urine – there was an awful feces smell… an open ceiling and exposed pipe and flies were flying around.. (perhaps she was down to 2 cats and did not know it?) or the pipe was leaking…. The lady was very prim, a very lady-like person, but also very frail, and the house was a mess…I was trying to hold my breath, and was happy when my client stated “I am sorry but the house is too small..” and we made a quick exit… Couldn’t the agent have suggested a cleaning crew – something as opposed to trying to low ball her home with the agents? I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps she would have liked the help and assistance and perhaps it could have been offered in the guise of ‘staging’…if it had been offered, and this was probably her ‘for ever after money’
What would you do if you were offered a cat lady’s home to sell?
Westchester is GREAT!
