How To Use The Power Of Smells To Sell Your Home Faster

Do you have a cat?

I do. And he has a litter box. And it smells and badly, too. And we have a big dog. We always have pets.

It's one of the big NO-NOS of home selling.

And I go to a LOT of trouble to make sure no one knows I have a cat or a dog when my houses are for sale. I take all my pets, their food dishes, beds and the littler box, put them in my car as I back out with the vacuum cleaner and ride around until the showing is over.

We have also boarded our pets at the vet or moved them to temporary housing. It can get expensive.

You could also ask a friend or relative to keep them for a short time. I have been keeping a friend's cat for 5 years. Of course her house sold over 4 years ago. I'm sure she's coming to get him soon.

Back to things the need to smell good.

Did you know vacuum cleaners often smell pretty bad? So you have to address that smell, too. You can get scent packets to make them better of crush up a cinnamon stick and vacuum it up with each use.

And there are all kinds of other smells that can hurt you when your house is for sale, too.

Sneakers and other sports equipment can be pretty bad. The diaper pail may be a problem.

And then there is last night's fish.

Of course houses can have musty mildew smells and dirty carpet smells.

Any of these types of smells can hurt you when you are trying to sell a home

But it is possible to clean everything up enough so you don't have problems when you are trying to sell your house.

But it's really essential that you address this problem before you let ANYONE find it for you.

It's all part of the tremendous cleaning process all homeowners who really want to sell have to accomplish. And it may be difficult to detect that you have a problem with an odor.

You live in a house that is what it is. You may not be able to detect an odor if you are used to it or like many of us your sense of smell is handicapped by sinus allergies.

Just keeping a place clean may conquer most odors. Light lemon or cinnamon scents appeal to people if they are not too strong. But heavy scents can put people off, too. If an air freshener is too strong many people think it's covering a problem.

So for the time your house is for sale you can't cook fish or open a can of tuna.

You have to toss or donate all you old running shoes and wash all the clothing and wet towels that needs laundering or cleaning every day.

The bathroom must be perfect and the kitchen must be perfect. And you can't have cabbage or slaw.

And you have to keep the litter box out of sight or smell.

We once sold a house to a couple, the first who looked at it while sitting around our breakfast table eating chocolate chip cookies. It's actually true.

Even if you don't make cookies, make sure there are no strange and unattractive smells lurking to sabotage your sale.


Paula works with her husband Ron in his real estate note buying business. Learn more about mortgage note buying and selling at their websites at Mortgage Buyer and Note Buyer