Odors Can Make Or Break The Sale Of Your Home
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

It's amazing how important the sense of smell is to manypeople. If you're selling your home, and this applies across theboard to houses, townhouses, condos, apartments, or whatever,you need to be aware of the power of odors. An odor likecigarette smoke can cause potential buyers to leave quicklywithout ever really considering purchasing your home. On theother hand, an odor like that of bread baking can conjure up allsorts of homey feelings and cause the same potential buyer tolinger.

Do You Have "Deal Killer" Odors?

The two most common offenders are cigarettes and pet odors.Sadly, most people who smoke or have pets don't realize this.Often, they don't notice the smells themselves,



so they thinkthis isn't a problem. Well, it is. A surprising number of peoplewill have a swift, strong, negative reaction. Would you like tosmack every second or third prospective buyer in the face whenthey come through your door?

Anything cloyingly sweet like "room deodorizers" which reallyjust cover up other scents by overwhelming them is likely to bean offender. The same thing is true of other strong, funkysmells. Unwashed gym clothes and shoes, cooking smells fromfoods such as cabbage, fish or more than a little garlic orcurry will probably be offensive to many people.

So is it really necessary to stop smoking (or only smokeoutdoors), ban the dog to the garden and basement, wash thelaundry, and stop cooking strong smelling foods until your homeis sold?

Yes.

Beyond that, it's necessary to "clean up your act" if you'rereally desirous of selling your home. You've probably cleaned itup visually already, but what to do about lingering odors?Anything made of cloth holds odors for a long time. Carpets,upholstery, curtains and draperies, table skirts and the likewill smell for months or forever. What on earth do you do aboutthem?

If it's bad enough, carpets need to be replaced and upholsteredfurniture put into storage. However, it's often adequate toshampoo carpets and the upholstery in the most intense areas(your favorite smoking chair and the pieces nearby) and launderthe curtains. Keep fans going while things are drying; you don'twant to end up with mold and mildew smells. Your goal is toclean up the cause of the smell, not to cover it up.

Attractive Odors Attract

Odors people find attractive are very personal, but there aregeneral smells that are pleasant and cause good emotionalresponses in most people. We've already mentioned baking bread.Almost anything that smells sweet when tends to be in thiscategory - cookies, apple pie, cinnamon buns, etc. Of course,it's not practical to bake the whole time your house is on themarket, but one thing each week-end might be possible.

In cool weather, apple cider simmering with a cinnamon stick ortwo and a few cloves has much the same effect and is definitelyeasier to do. A vase or two of flowers with mildly scentedflowers is another possibility.

Of the two, cleaning out offending scents is much more importantthan adding pleasant ones. If you can successfully do both,you're way ahead of much of your competition and it will helpyour home sell faster.

About the author:Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing FSBOhomes For Sale By Owner. Visit our "sell my home" page athttp://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to list and sell your homefor free for one month. Visithttp://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale byowner.

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