North Shore Views

Does Your House Have Halitosis?

Nothing can turn off a potential home buyer like a house that smells.

Trouble is, when we live in a house, we get used to its particular “aroma” and we may not even realize that others find it noticeably unpleasant. And I know of what I speak. With 3 large dogs, 5 chinchillas and a guinea pig, my house is somewhere between farm and zoo on the olfactory scale. If I ever sell my house, I will have to do some serious odor remediation.

There are several smells that you want to avoid when your house is on the market: cooking aromas, cigarette and cigar smoke, pet odors, garbage and, last but not least, that stale smell typical of a vacant house that’s been closed up for an extended period.

The best way to know if your house does give off an unpleasant odor is to ask a trusted friend to come over and take an objective whiff. Remember that old air freshener ad where the neighbor comes over, sniffs the air and  and says, “Fish for dinner last night?” Of course, no one would actually say that to you, but in this case you really do want her to. Promise her you won’t be offended.

Here are some ways to minimize bad smells in your house:

• Take the garbage out every day and especially right before a showing or an open house.
• Quit smoking. You’ve been wanting to since forever. Well, now you have another good reason to do it. But there will still be smoke smell lingering on all the curtains and upholstery (which you probably won’t notice, but others will), so it might also be a good time to call the Stanley Steemer man.
• Watch what you cook while your house is on the market, and always use the exhaust fan in your kitchen. Certain foods have smells that linger: fish, lamb, broccoli, garlic, onions, curry and fried foods. If you want to eat those things while your house is for sale, go to a restaurant.
• Wash the dog and his bed often.
• Stash the litter box in the garage when people are coming through the house.
• Use a de-humidifier in the basement, especially in summer.

Before you run out and buy all those plug-in air freshener thingies you see advertised on TV, be warned that using them can backfire. First, because the scent may be overpowering, and some people are actually allergic or hyper-sensitive to the fragrances used in those products. And second, because if the scent is really noticeable, people will think you’re trying to cover up something (which you are).

Instead, try these ideas to freshen up your home:

• Open the windows for an hour every day and let fresh air circulate.
• Cut up some lemon wedges and run them through the garbage disposal before showings and open houses.
• Use an odor eliminator like PureAyre which eliminates rather than masks odors. It is completely safe to use around food, babies and people with allergies. It doesn’t cover up odors. Instead it breaks down odor causing compounds. It’s not cheap, but it works. You can buy it at Petco, Whole Foods or online.
• Put a small reed diffuser in the bathroom with a vanilla scent. Vanilla is one of the most universally appealing scents.
• You can bake cookies or you can just heat up some water and throw fresh cinnamon into it. Just turn it off before buyers come though, so it’s not overwhelming.

Related articles:

• Home Staging Works. Here’s Proof.
• How Photos Can Prevent Your House from Selling
  

Tags: eliminating house odors

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 8:53 am and is filed under Home staging, Real estate, Selling a home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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