With the current sellers market it’s wise to work with an agent who follows up after your home has been shown. This week I received feedback on one of the properties I am currently selling that the home had a strange smell. The agent was so kind to mention this. When you live in your home you are used to ‘the smell’, only when you come back into your home you will notice this or, when somebody else comes over to visit. After discussing this with my client, we came to the conclusion that is had to be the fact that she had fish for lunch.
A poll by Canadian real estate company Royal LePage shows that the odor of a home has a huge impact on buyers’ decisions about whether to buy a home. According to the poll, 53 percent of buyers said strong odors such as pet and cigarette smells had a stronger impact on their impression of a home than overall tidiness and cleanliness, strong wall colors or an outdated facade and landscaping.
Here are some tips for making sure your home has good scents:
- Don’t mask smells with candles or potpourri. Buyers will wonder what odor you are trying to hide.
- Keep the exotic spices and fish to a minimum when cooking the night before a showing.
- Work toward achieving a “clean” smell.
- Remove animals and litter boxes from the property.
Getting rid of repellent scents is the first step, but some staging experts also advise using “homey” smells to entice buyers. After all, who doesn’t love the aroma of freshly baked cookies or pie?
Some numbers, just for fun: as of this morning, there are 3285 active listings in Sonoma County and there are 422 properties in escrow or pending. That is quite a bit of inventory!
However, in the last 30 days, 445 properties did sell!