Pest and Critter Damage

Some of the more obvious unwanted house guests like ants can often be clearly sighted moving throughout the house, but most of the common critters and pests survive inside homes for so long because of their ability to stay under the radar of homeowners. Let’s take a look at some of the signs that you should keep an eye out for.

• Visible pests
  The most blatant sign of an infestation is an actual sighting. This might seem overly obvious, but many pests won’t go into areas that they know are frequently used by people. Because of this, its important to check the nooks and crannies of your home every so often. This includes areas such as crawl spaces, behind appliances, and corners of the attic or basement.
• Signs of Nesting
  Mice and rats are known to create nests out of just about anything. Things like torn pieces of fabric, shredded paper, and scattered trash near your garbage can are all potential signs of a rodent gathering materials for a nest. Although the materials they use can potentially be found anywhere in the house, the nests themselves are typically found in the nooks and crannies of homes that we mentioned earlier. This includes areas such as corners of the attic or basement, crawl spaces, behind appliances, etc.
• Droppings
  Droppings are a classic tell tale of not only the presence of a pest, but also what kind. A quick search on the internet can give you a good idea of what you’re dealing with. Just search for the common types of pest droppings inside homes and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a guide to help you determine what you’re dealing with.
• Strange Smells
  Many pests are known to have a distinct scent. For example, mice are known to use urine to mark territory as a guide for themselves and other mice. This means that they will be leaving trails of urine around your home when they’re present. We know, super gross! Other pests also give off recognizable scents that can help you become aware of their presence, unfortunately the cause of those smells is usually just as off-putting. Rats are known to emit an ammonia like smell similar to the smell of mice, but less musty. Bed bugs are said to give off a sweet/musty scent and cockroaches are known to emit an oily scent.
• Odd Sounds
  Most houses have their usual “aches and groans.” Strange sounds can sometimes be caused by the heating system, the pipes, or the house settling; but when strange sounds become erratic and more frequent, it should be a cause for concern. The pitter-patter of small feet, scratching noises in the walls or ceiling, tapping noises, and squeaking noises are all strong signs of pests. Some larger insects can also be heard at times making clicking or chirping noises
• Holes and Other Marks
  Holes in your furniture, walls, or floors are a sure-fire sign of some sort of pest. You may also notice scratches or gnaw marks left behind by rodents. Rats for example, love to chew on just about anything. Gnaw marks on walls and chewed electrical wires are commonly found whenever a home has a rodent infestation.
• Tracks and Grease Marks
  Pests often leave behind trails of urine and droppings that can help you see not only that they’re present, but also where they’re coming from. Rodents are also known to follow the same paths throughout a home and can leave greasy trails along the walls where they travel.
• Dead bugs
  Keep an eye out for a build up of dead insects around the home. Common locations are in corners, on window ledges, and in the basement. If there’s a large number of dead ones around, chances are that there’s a greater number of live ones!
• Termites
  Racking up an estimated $5 billion dollars of home damage per year, these guys are deserving of their own signs section. Termites are wood destroyers and need to be dealt with quickly or they can cause serious cosmetic and structural damage to a home. Keep an eye out for sawdust, holes in hardwood surfaces and furniture, sagging floors, and hollow sounding wood.

Here is a list of the various types of pest/critters you may encounter in your home, as well as, the types of damages they can cause:

• Termites
  Unfortunately, most homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover termite damage. This is especially troublesome since the National Pest Management Association estimates a yearly $5 billion dollars of damage caused by termites each year. Termites eat wood, which is obviously a huge problem when many of the major structural components of your home also happen to be made from wood! These guys typically start from the middle of the wood and eat their way out. This means that before you’ve even noticed that they’re there they may have already done serious damage. Extermination costs can be high on these guys as you need to make sure that it is done properly. If the problem has already gone too long, or if they go left unchecked, termite damage can cause tens of thousands of dollars in structural damage. That’s not to mention superficial damages to walls, floors, and wooden furniture.
• Powderpost beetles
  Powderpost beetles are hardwood eaters that are particularly common in the south but are present in Ohio and are in fact one of four types of wood destroying insects taking up residence in our state. While they’re not as destructive as termites, they can still be a major headache. The powderpost beetle’s signature mark is small bored holes in things like hardwood floors, cabinets, molding, doors, and hardwood furniture. When selling a home in most states, these are reportable on the state wood destroying insects reports needed for securing some type of loans. Due to their destructive nature, these pests can not only make finding a buyer more difficult, but also reduce the price that your home can fetch.
• Carpenter ants
  Carpenter ants are also known wood destroyers, but depending on where you live, the extent of the damage they cause can vary. Carpenter ants in the pacific northwest for example have much stronger jaws then the ones found in the southern part of the country. The stronger jawed ants are known to hollow out soft woods to build their nests. This can cause the structural integrity of your home to be compromised. Their weaker jawed cousins, on the other hand, usually look for already hollowed areas like behind a home’s insulation, inside hollow doors, and inside styrofoam insulation panels. Despite this difference, most states still require an infestation of these ant to be disclosed when selling a property. Because of the common conception that all carpenter ants are wood destroyers, they’re likely to scare away potential buyers in any state, as well as, reduce the price your property can fetch on the market.
• Mice
  While not an insect, mice are one of the most common types of pest infestations. They can burrow into a home, enter through and hole on the house’s exterior, and even sneak through improperly sealed drainage or sewer pipes. These little guys are smarter than most people give them credit for and can be tough to catch at times. Mouse droppings and urine are known to contain harmful bacteria and pathogens that can cause health issues in humans. Unfortunately for anyone hosting these little guys, they tend to do A LOT of exploring throughout homes. This means that mouse waste can end up on your countertops, silverware, furniture, and food cupboards; a thought that almost any homeowner would shudder at.
• Rats
  Rats are not only uglier and larger than their mouse cousins, but they can also be more problematic. Rats are known for carrying diseases that can be transferred to humans and the bacteria and pathogens that cause these diseases can be found in the urine and droppings that they leave around your home. To make things worse, rats are also known to chew on just about anything. Gnawing on furniture and other visible parts of the home can cause superficial damage, but they’re also known to chew electrical wires. This can result in costly electrical repair bills, as well as, potentially pose a fire risk.
• Squirrels
  Squirrels are typically in a home for one reason: to nest. They will typically get into the house through an already existing hole in your home’s siding or soffit. If they can’t find an existing hole, they’ll sometimes just create their own to get inside. Although cute, these pests not only make a lot of noise while moving throughout the walls of your home, but are also known to chew electrical wires. This can cause costly electrical repair bills and can potentially lead to a fire. Because of the danger that this poses, it is important to have these pests removed. However, their ability to move throughout the walls of your home can make them difficult to catch and will likely require the assistance of a professional.
• Honeybees
  Bees are fantastic for the environment, just not for our homes. After only a few days, a colony of bees can construct a pretty large hive. There are several honeybee removal services, please consider calling someone to remove the hive rather than resort to an insecticide. While they do sell insecticides that you can use to kill these bees yourself, that can cause several issues. First of all, you’ll be left with a ton of dead bees and honey. This is not only a large clean up effort, but the bees will attract scavenger animals and insects which could potentially lead to a new infestation. In addition, the wax that the hive is made of will start to melt without the bees to maintain it. That will result in melting wax and fermenting honey leaking all over your home, attracting new insects and infestations effectively tripling the required clean up. Because of this, it’s best to hire a professional who can remove the hive; potentially with the hive intact and the bees alive. There are many professionals available on google, and we’d like to provide a resource as well.
• Indoor Ants
  While these guys aren’t going to destroy your home, they’re certainly less than desirable roommates. No one wants to find ants crawling all over the belonging; let alone on their body or their pets. These scavengers will raid your pantry and trash, looking for food wherever it’s accessible. While ants can sometimes be dealt with using store-bought traps, some large-scale infestations will require professionals. With the reduced standard of living that these little guys bring along with them, they’re likely to reduce a homes desirability and value. This makes dealing with infestations a necessity when selling a home.
• Fire Ants
  A bit more “fiery” than their passive cousins, these ants can cause greater issues for homeowners. These ants not only bite, but are also known to damage electrical relays. This can cause serious damage to transformer boxes, air conditioning systems, and other household appliances; potentially causing electrical shorts and power outages.
• German Cockroaches
  Arguably the most repulsive of the common household pests, cockroaches also pose health risks in addition to just being straight up gross to look at. They are known to carry a wide range of bacteria and pathogens that can cause illnesses in humans and have even been shown to increase the rate that children develop asthma and allergies. This allergic and asthmatic reaction is caused by the skin that cockroaches shed around homes. For these reasons, you’re likely to have trouble selling a home with a known infestation. Store-bought traps and baits exist to deal with cockroaches, but more severe situations may require a professional to spray a home with insecticides.
• Bed Bugs
  While bed bugs aren’t known to carry diseases, they’re probably the worst roommates we can imagine. These little guys are parasites and feed on human blood. As such, they’re known to leave people covered in bites which are both unsightly and itchy. Living on your bed, they’re known to soil bedding by leaving feces scattered on your mattress. To make matters worse, bed bugs are known to spread very easily and require a professional to completely remove them from a house. We recommend doing your research and hiring someone who comes well recommended as these removal procedures can be expensive and inconvenient since they require the spraying of insecticides.
• Possums
  The most unfortunate and unhealthy aspect of having a possum taking shelter in your home is the bacteria ridden waste that they leave behind. Possum feces tends to be large and they typically make quite a bit of it. The possum may also get itself trapped inside the walls of your home and die there. If that happens, there will not only be the lingering smell of a possum carcass throughout your home, but it will also likely attract scavenger animals and insects which may lead to a new infestation. Removal of larger animals like a possum is best left to the professionals.
• Birds
  Like many of the other potential pests, birds will typically take up residence in your home to nest. While they’re often thought of as a harmless animal, they can be an issue when living in your home. In addition to causing damage to the area that they’re nesting in, birds are also noisy and will leave droppings all around the area that they’re residing in. These droppings carry bacteria that can cause sickness. Removing these pests is a necessity, but the cost of doing so can be unfortunately high. Basic removals can cost a few hundred dollars, but more intricate situations can run a homeowner up to $1000 dollars.
• Bats
  Bats are known to spread disease and can carry the deadly rabies virus. The waste that the bats leave behind can also cause bacterial growth and, if it dries up, can be inhaled and cause lung issues in humans. Because of the potential health risks, you shouldn’t attempt to remove these guys on your own. Your best bet is to hire a professional. The cost of removal can vary considerably, depending on how large of an infestation you have; ranging anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to several thousand.

So, let’s take a look at the possible options available to sellers that are struggling with one (or several) of the above-mentioned issues:

• Fix the Issues Yourself
  The first option is to go through the steps of pest removal. Depending on which issue your struggling with and how severe the infestation is, the cost of this approach can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars all the way up to tens of thousands of dollars. The important thing is that you acquire a reputable professional to handle the issue and acquire proof that the issue has been properly and completely resolved before trying to find a buyer. Be sure to save all paperwork as buyers may request to see it. In addition to dealing with the pests themselves, you will also need to repair any damage they have caused to your home.
• Open Market Sales
  Option two is to take the home right to market and listing it as-is. If you opt to go this route, whatever current issue you’re dealing with will have to be disclosed to potential buyers, neglecting to do so could lead to future lawsuits. A pest infestation of any sort definitely isn’t a selling point to potential buyers, but how greatly the value and appeal of the home is affected depends on how severe of a situation you’re dealing with. Although many buyers may simply not want to deal with some of the more minor inconveniences such as a mouse problem, other potential buyers may not even be able to secure a loan if the home suffers from something more serious such as structural damage due to termites. After reviewing the Property Disclosure Forms, lenders may choose to refuse granting the loan if the home suffers from more severe issues. These hiccups can substantially drag out the selling process.
• Selling to cash investors
  By far the least stressful of the three options is selling to a cash investor. Selling for cash allows you to skip the headache associated with the sale of a problematic property. We will buy properties in as-is condition, which can be beneficial in several ways. For starters, you may not have the cash on hand to deal with the costly removal and corrections of your pest issue. When opting to sell to a cash buyer, the cost and effort of getting professionals to deal with the issue is taken on by the buyer. Though you are, of course, still legally obligated to disclose any pest infestations, our buyers aren’t going to back out of the sale over it. Once you’ve contacted us, our buyers will view the property once or twice and will then be able to get you an offer within 24-48 hours. In certain cases you may even receive an offer the same day! Once we agree on the price, we can close in as little as 7 days. That makes the entire process faster than simply getting the professionals into your home to assess; let alone the time it will take to market and sell your home! We can close quickly and simply, saving you time, stress, and effort. Please call us at (216) 220-7373 for a confidential conversation to determine if we can help you!