Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

Odors Can Make or Break The Sale of Your Home


It's amazing how important the sense of smell is to many people. If you're selling your home, and this applies across the board to houses, townhouses, condos, apartments, or whatever, you need to be aware of the power of odors. An odor like cigarette smoke can cause potential buyers to leave quickly without ever really considering purchasing your home. On the other hand, an odor like that of bread baking can conjure up all sorts of homey feelings and cause the same potential buyer to linger.

Do You Have "Deal Killer" Odors?

The two most common offenders are cigarettes and pet odors. Sadly, most people who smoke or have pets don't realize this. Often, they don't notice the smells themselves, so they think this isn't a problem. Well, it is. A surprising number of people will have a swift, strong, negative reaction. Would you like to smack every second or third prospective buyer in the face when they come through your door?

Anything cloyingly sweet like "room deodorizers" which really just cover up other scents by overwhelming them is likely to be an offender. The same thing is true of other strong, funky smells. Unwashed gym clothes and shoes, cooking smells from foods such as cabbage, fish or more than a little garlic or curry will probably be offensive to many people.

So is it really necessary to stop smoking (or only smoke outdoors), ban the dog to the garden and basement, wash the laundry, and stop cooking strong smelling foods until your home is sold?

Yes.

Beyond that, it's necessary to "clean up your act" if you're really desirous of selling your home. You've probably cleaned it up visually already, but what to do about lingering odors? Anything made of cloth holds odors for a long time. Carpets, upholstery, curtains and draperies, table skirts and the like will smell for months or forever. What on earth do you do about them?

If it's bad enough, carpets need to be replaced and upholstered furniture put into storage. However, it's often adequate to shampoo carpets and the upholstery in the most intense areas (your favorite smoking chair and the pieces nearby) and launder the curtains. Keep fans going while things are drying; you don't want to end up with mold and mildew smells. Your goal is to clean up the cause of the smell, not to cover it up.

Attractive Odors Attract

Odors people find attractive are very personal, but there are general smells that are pleasant and cause good emotional responses in most people. We've already mentioned baking bread. Almost anything that smells sweet when tends to be in this category - cookies, apple pie, cinnamon buns, etc. Of course, it's not practical to bake the whole time your house is on the market, but one thing each week-end might be possible.

In cool weather, apple cider simmering with a cinnamon stick or two and a few cloves has much the same effect and is definitely easier to do. A vase or two of flowers with mildly scented flowers is another possibility.

Of the two, cleaning out offending scents is much more important than adding pleasant ones. If you can successfully do both, you're way ahead of much of your competition and it will help your home sell faster.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.


MORE RESOURCES:

Houston-Based Real Estate Developer Closes More Than $75 Million in Healthcare ...
MarketWatch (press release)
Medistar Corporation is a full-service real estate development company that specializes in the design, development, financing and construction of healthcare real estate. The company focuses on medical office buildings, integrated medical plazas and ...

and more »


Tossed® Hires Real Estate Veteran A. Michael Toroyan as Chief Development Officer
MarketWatch (press release)
Toroyan, a 20-year veteran of the restaurant real estate, and franchising, will bring even greater momentum to Tossed's strong and growing franchise development efforts across the US Toroyan comes to Tossed Franchise Corporation from a previous post as ...

and more »


PR Web (press release)

Web Winners: Navigating real estate industry
News & Observer
By REID KANALEY - The Philadelphia Inquirer Real estate is no easy game, as "underwater" homeowners have found in recent years. You need your wits about you, and these sites help you do that with plain language and suggestions. -The home-buying page at ...
REALTOR(R) University Granted Approval to Offer Master of Real Estate Degree ...MarketWatch (press release)
Real Estate Investment Expert Brett Jennings Signs Publishing Deal With ...PR Web (press release)
Real Estate - LeasesConnecticut Business News Journal
Utah Pulse -NJBIZ
all 15 news articles »


IPE.com

Sam Zell "Comes Clean" for Penton's National Real Estate Investor (nreionline.com)
Sacramento Bee
7, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- In an interview in the February 2012 issue of National Real Estate Investor, Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, stated that the commercial real estate industry needs to "come clean" with expectations.
MIPIM Launches RE-Invest: The Real Estate Summit for Institutional InvestorsMarketWatch (press release)
Investing In China's Real Estate Market: A Look At Funding OptionsNuWire Investor
John Waggoner column: REITs might be good investment to landAppleton Post Crescent
Seeking Alpha -Citybizlist Real Estate
all 17 news articles »


SmartTouch Interactive Launches New Lead Adapter to Integrate with Third Party ...
MarketWatch (press release)
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 08, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SmartTouch(R) Interactive, an interactive real estate marketing agency and real estate marketing automation and CRM software development company, today announced that it has made available the new Smart ...

and more »


CBS Local

Real estate developer says he plans to make cash bid for Philadelphia's 2 ...
Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA — A wealthy real estate developer said Tuesday he and four partners plan to make an offer to buy the city's two largest newspapers, whose downtown offices he already owns. Bart Blatstein said he plans to pursue an acquisition of some or ...
Developer Blatstein seeking to buy Inquirer, Daily News companyBizjournals.com (blog)
Developer plans to make bid for Philly newspapersBoston.com

all 174 news articles »


Seacoast real estate sales off to a robust 2012 start
Seacoastonline.com
“Without a doubt, the favorable weather conditions are helping the Seacoast real estate market, especially compared to a year ago at this time,” said Lauren Kane, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors. “The residential sales decline for January ...

and more »


TEXT: S&P: Nomura Real Estate Residential Fund Bonds Rated 'A'
Reuters
8, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A' rating to Nomura Real Estate Residential Fund Inc.'s (NRF; A/Stable/A-1) proposed JPY5 billion series 2 unsecured bonds, due Feb. 24, 2017. The rating on NRF reflects its relatively ...

and more »


Cole Real Estate Investments Executes Nearly 640000 Square Feet in Retail ...
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Cole Real Estate Investments (Cole), one of the nation's leading investors in high-quality, income-producing retail, office and industrial real estate assets, announced it signed leases totaling nearly 640000 square feet at Cole-related retail ...

and more »


Big deals highlight 2011 real estate in Snowmass
Snowmass Sun Online News
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colorado — 2011 won't go down in Snowmass Village as the most lucrative year for real estate sales, but it could be remembered as a pivotal one. Glenwood Springs-based Land Title Guarantee Co. recently issued its year-end report for ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006