Do You Adjust For Dog Cr*p?

[OllieGarchy]

I knock on the door, the owner lets me in and, holey-moley, the smell is like being slugged in the puss. There's dog cr*p and p*ss on the hardwood floors, the tile floors, and the carpeting. I mean everywhere. And it's worked its way into the carpeting so much that, gently put, "the carpeting appears to have reached the end of its economic life".

Now normally you would think a good cleaning can take care of all this, but from the looks of it, I do believe it has also tainted the subflooring and hardwood floors so much so that elbow grease will never be able to take out the stench. I mean, their dog is at least 2 years old without the benefit of being housebroken...

Problem is, I don't know if a good cleaning can take care of all this or if the flooring will have to be replaced. Cleaning is one thing, cost to cure is another.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to handle this?

Incidentally, this 1,500 SF home with vinyl siding that hasn't been updated in decades (except for a newer roof), is probably worth $770K+- without the stench or cr*ppy floors. For those of you familiar with the Montclair area of Oakland, it's a reasonable price.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

This is one of those things that difficult to quantify. Does it have an effect on value??? IMO, yes.

Years ago I received an appraisal order and contract. When I saw the sales price I wanted to know what was wrong, because it was much less than the typical home in the neighborhood. When I went to the home I found out why. The owners smoked like fiends and a toxic cloud came out the house when the door was opened.

I think the most sensible place to make the adjustment is in the appeal section. How much??? That's something that depends on your market. In the particular case I mentioned it turned out to be between 10-15%.

 

[Julie Lee]

That's a tough one. You could do a cost to cure for flooring, subflooring etc.

I once appraised a home with dog poop on the side of the house. Not just a few turds. A pile of it. A pile as high as the roof line, 5 feet wide an at least 12 feet in length. This was where the home owner dumped his dog's poop. It was a corner lot, therefore, none of his neighbors could see it. I'm sure they could smell it tho! It was covered with flies. I called it as a "health and safety" issue. It was. Made the appraisal "subject to" disposing of the poop. The inside of the home has its own issues that didn't help things.

Did another home in a high priced neighborhood. I remember ringing the doorbell and inhaling the most godawful odor I'd ever inhaled before in my life. My first thought was that the homeowner had died in the house over the weekend. Once inside, it became clear. The homeowner was a cat collector (she also had 2 small dogs). There must have been 100 cats inside and out in the back yard. The home had no flooring...it had all been ripped out to the subfloor. One of the bedrooms was filled floor to ceiling with boxes full of coupons. Oddly enough, the house had two spotless remodeled baths. I did the inspection, took lots of pics and again, cited 'health and safety" (back yard was a cat turd landmine area) and made the report subject to installation of flooring. I mentioned the cats and the odor.

In the end, it's up to the lender. Do they want to assume the risk or not? Report what you see and give them pics. Believe me, a photo with a mountain of dog poop speaks volumes!!! :rofl:

 

[Risky Business]

only way out.. find another just like it! Really, just consider the cost to cure, comparables that might be similar, e.g carpet allowances etc, and take it from there. Carpet and padding might not be to your standards, and most other people, but it may be aceptable when cleaned. Quantify, expand or explain the extent and if I read right the RE is worth 775K. Whats the problem. State what your thought is, or leavit it to "average flooring" or worse.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Make it subject to a correction of the problem....new floor covering and proper cleaning. Deduct for the obvious deduction that a buyer would...i.e.- heckofalotmore than the cost to cure.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Will it effect value?

Just pretend that you are a potential buyer walking into the house for the first time. Will the smell typically effect you? Positive or negative?

How did it effect you when you walked in?

There's the answer to your question.

Now tell your client just what you smelled and saw and what a typical reaction is to the condition of the property.

Unless the client has asked for a value in average condition thereby giving you the authorization to make the property subject to, you can appraise it "as is" using a cost to cure in the cost approach and in the condition in the grid.

 

[Jim Onderisin]

The unfinished basement of one house I appraised had lots of dust and dirt and had been used a long time by multiple cats as their cat-box. Same problem...stunk to high heaven. Not only in the basement, but in the rest of the house, as well. My report described the problem and included a cost to cure. The cost to cure is not the cost of buying a broom and shovel and spending a Saturday morning cleaning up. It's the cost of hiring a company who's specialty is clean-up, deodorizing, and sanitizing. The client had me reinspect the property after the clean-up. The owner wasn't too happy about things, but he wouldn't have had the problem if he had just acted like the rest of us in the civilized world.

 

[Christine Marie]

Report what you see and give them pics. Believe me, a photo with a mountain of dog poop speaks volumes!!!

could you thumbnail that pic in here, I would love to see what Greg B, could do with it?

 

[NC Old Guy]

I'd suggest cost to cure. Had tenants get in to a domestic problem and allowed their cats to get out of hand. Once evicted, a smoke/fire recovery company (that also dealt with pet issues) gave me a bid of $5000 (1500 sqft ranch) to kill the smells and replace the damaged subfloor (from cat urine). Cats do squirt everywhere, including walls, closet shelving, etc. On top of that is removing the floor coverings (which I had done the first day the tenants were gone) and replacing all of the floor coverings. Just removal of the carpet will not be enough (although dogs are less toxic than cats.)

Just FYI.

 

[Julie Lee]

Christine,

the dog poop pic was pre-digital photos. I'm sure its in a file box in my shed somewhere. If I can find it, I'll try to have it scanned and post it. B)