Did you know that pets can influence the sale tremendously? I hope you like pets. I have sold properties in Costa Rica for about 20 years now. And still, now and then, I am surprised by the strange things that happen during the showing of the property.
Of course, I tell the sellers all the things a good and serious realtor has to say when listing a property. Like painting the front door, work on the curb appeal as well as putting the pets away when I come with clients. Because, believe it or not, pets can influence the sale.
I work mostly the Escazu and Santa Ana areas and many homeowners there have pets. Most foreign buyers love pets and many locals do not. The love of pets is not so much part of the local culture though that is changing a little now.
So when you show a property with pets walking around freely, you either have buyers who are all eyes for the pets and play with them or you have buyers who are afraid for them. In both cases, the buyers forget to look at the property for sale.
Here are some true stories about some of these showings, so you get a better feeling about how pets can influence the sale. That is the reason realtors ask the owners to put the pets away before we arrive at the property.
Animal Farm
A nice quiet estate for sale in Escazu, an older 5 bed home on one acre of view land with beautiful trees. I arrive with a couple from Florida looking for a possible Bed & Breakfast for sale. Since the owner of this 
beautiful estate loves animals, I have always allowed the owner to show us around because she has all kinds of animals hidden everywhere.
At the entrance to the property, the owner says “I hope you don’t mind pets, we have tied up the louder dogs”. The couple says “oh, we have a dog too, don’t worry”! We then got surrounded by approximately 6 loud barking dogs that looked like they were half rat. (We never got to see the ones tied up, thank God).
Walking inside and after seeing the living room and kitchen, the seller shows the master bedroom and bath and a couple of bedrooms. When she opens the second bathroom door she says “this is Suzy the …………” and an enormous 300-pound pig charges by us, nearly breaking my leg.
Later, we learned that what started as a cute Vietnamese Pot Belly Pig, was actually a normal Tico pig which grew and grew.
A scary showing
Another property for sale in Escazu was a modern house with a view and recently remodeled. It was rented to so-called “friends of the family”. The friends were obviously paying very little and wanted to stay as long as they could. The buyers were a young couple looking for a family home with a view. As soon as the tenant opens the front door he says “don’t worry, these two dogs don’t do anything and I have the other dog upstairs.
While I am showing the first floor, which stunk of dogs, we were, of course, wondering what was upstairs. Once upstairs we went through a living area and then the kitchen. The kitchen opens out to a large covered terrace with incredible views being the selling feature of this property.
Through the kitchen window, we see the tenant standing there, holding this enormous Pitbull on a leash and the tenant shouts through the closed door “don’t worry, I have hold of him!” The wife, very sensibly, says she could see enough through the kitchen window. The husband did go with me into the balcony to see the views and we had to pass both the tenant and the monster twice.
Lost interest
Unfortunately, the scare was stronger than the urge of buying a beautiful house. My clients lost all interest in this property in Escazu. I’m sure you now understand how pets can influence the sale of properties.
When I list a property for sale, I always tell the seller to please walk the pets through the neighborhood while I show the house, no matter what animals they are.
Contact me if you are in the market to purchase a home for sale in the Escazu – Santa Ana area, with or without pets.
