Monday, 18th of January 2010 at 09:18:33 AMWhen a buyer walks into a home, it is imperative that they only smell fresh, clean aromas. Unpleasant odors will tarnish a buyers first impressions which can lead to reduced offers or no offers at all.
For the strongest odors, especially those that have been in the house for long periods of time such as smoke, an industrial air purifier can make an amazing difference in a short period of time. Having the carpets cleaned or repainting the home can also significantly reduce odors. Try to keep animals either outdoors or limited to a room in the house that is cleaned regularly.
Even mild odors can dampen a house tour. The best “house scent” is no odor at all, which can often be achieved through opening all the windows and doors or running the air circulator on your home air system for an hour or so before a showing. While your house is on the market, it is a good idea to minimize cooking with strong smelling foods and spices. When you do introduce any pleasant smelling items to your home (such as in bathrooms), try to stick to basic scents such as vanilla, apple, cinnamon, lemon. In small doses, these appeal to the most buyers. A small reed diffuser in a bathroom can keep a clean smell while not overwhelming the space. The scent of cleaning products so long as they are mild also appeal to buyers. Stay away from floral scents or strong scents as these are perceived as unpleasant odors to some buyers.
So when preparing your Listing for sale, keep in mind that the best scent is none at all. Fresh air will appeal to the most buyers!
What about the Old Wood smell. We have a 50 year old house that has kitchen cabinets framed out of sappy Yellow Pine. When you open the cabinets or pull open a drawer the smell of rotting wood is very offending. We have tried spraying the wood under the counters with a vinegar. That stopped it for a month. We recently painted the raw wood with a primer and a coat of oil base paint and that lasted about a month. Outside of calling in a bulldozer can you suggest anything that maybe applied to the wood to rid the odor?
If you have any areas that were left unpainted, such as the inside of the cabinets, you can apply orange or lemon oil to the wood. You will likely need to do 2-3 applications the first time and will have to repeat this every 3-6 months. Otherwise, to really seal the wood through paint, you need to use “Kilz” (or something similar) before painting with your final color.