How to create an odorless home
This time of year is filled with many amazing smells, pine needles, pie baking, fireplaces. The regular smells of your home can be new amazing or sometimes they can be so familiar you don’t even know they exist.
This familiar scent is called “nose-blindness” which happens when you are exposed to an odor for a lengthy period of time, what once may have registered as an obtrusive scent turns into one that no longer registers as offensive
As the commercial mentions, it’s not always a comfortable conversation, but a necessary one to keep in mind. While familiar pleasant scents, like those of the holiday are welcome ones, there are some that are a detriment and are something to keep in mind if you are considering selling your home.
Odor control may be one of those uncomfortable conversations that needs to be had between an agent and seller before the home listing becomes active, but a good agent will make sure to cover it.
According to a survey done by the housekeeping channel, the top worst odors in a home are led by the smell of garbage and include, in order, pet smells, body odor and tobacco.
So, if one of these is a problem in your listing, here’s a bit of reference to use to sway a nose-blind seller to make some changes.
Luckily, some of these odoriferous issues have an easy fix.
Garbage
Smelly garbage can? Taking out the trash and scrubbing the container thoroughly usually removes the problem.
While the house is on the market, make sure trash gets taken out more often to prevent this unwanted smell.
Body odor
Does your client have a teenage boy’s bedroom that smells like a post-game locker room for the Philadelphia Eagles? These rooms need a thorough cleaning, more frequent removal of dirty laundry and a set of charcoal odor absorbers for each pair of often-worn shoes.
For odors that permeated carpet and upholstery, using a sprinkle of baking soda, letting it sit and then vacuuming can work wonders.
Scientifically, this works through the process of adsorption, as the odor molecules will adhere to the baking soda, so when you vacuum, you remove both the baking soda and the odors in one step.
Using a HEPA filtered vacuum is another step in battling the odor issues.
What all odors have in common is you must remove the source of the stench first, otherwise any other steps are a waste of time, money and energy.
Pets
This can be tough when it comes to pets, as most pet owners are not willing or financially able to board their four-legged family members while their house is on the market.
That’s fine, but it may mean they need to be more diligent about grooming Fido, brushing Fifi and scooping out Frisky’s litter box. The last thing you want your home to smell like is cat poop and roses, so scooping more often is way more important than trying to cover up the odor with air freshener.
If the odor is more than what these tips can handle, professionals may need to be called in to clean carpets. Especially in the case of pet damage, sometimes carpets may need to be replaced in addition to removing the pad and potentially treating or even removing the subfloor.
Creating an inviting environment with inviting smells goes a long way to making your home appealing to potential buyers.