Keep your Home Smelling Neutral During the Selling Process

The way your home smells can affect whether it sells or not. When we are viewing a home we work through all the senses. First, is the visual appeal. How does it look, does it grab their attention, is it was they envisioned? Then we find ourselves utilizing touch. How does the home feel, both physically and mentally? Does it flow well for us, does it make us feel like we want to live there. Quickly, we start to listen. What do we hear? Is there too much outside noise? What are the acoustics in the home itself? Lastly, but easily one of the more important items, is our sense of smell.

When we open the door to a home for the first time, we are hit with all our senses at once. But, one that can stand out the most, both positive and negative, is the smell. In a perfect world a home would smell neutral, meaning not bad and not too overpowering with scent. It should be as though the “smell” is not something that sticks in a buyers head when they are remembering your home. You want them to focus on the strong selling points, not what they recalled hitting them as they walked in the door. In a “better option” scenario the house smells of pleasant scents. This is clearly better than a fowl scent but, at the same time, if you have too much going on it can become annoying. Everyone handles scents differently, some may think something is too strong or not pleasant while others think it’s lovely. Having too much scent throughout the house can also give the wrong impression that you are covering up something. It’s best to be cautious when considering the aroma of your home, and we’ll discuss some choice options later. The worst is when there are pungent smells noticeable to anyone viewing the home. Sometimes we can’t avoid these scenarios. For example, if there’s an unexpected viewing right in the middle of dinner and you have many aromas coming from the kitchen. This can be a good thing, depending the meal being cooked and hoping nothing was burnt! Most times, if a home has an unpleasant odor it’s in part by factors that can be tended to and taken care of. Living in our homes every day, we may find we become immune to the smells. It’s best to allow your realtor to have a blunt conversation with you about any potential deterrents, like scents, that need to be addressed.

Let’s talk about good practices and what to avoid when it comes to creating a neutral smelling home.