Seller Mistakes - Curry Can Kill The Sale of Your Home!

I would have them check with a local cleaning company. They may have been able to spend $300-500 to have the house cleaned (washing the walls and cabinets).  

Sounds like some pretty expensive curry to me. I hope the seller thought it was worth it.

That must have been painful for the home sellers to lose $50,000. I agree with Gerard above, they could have employed a house cleaning company to give a deep cleaning and possibly the sellers could have refrained from cooking curry until close of escrow. I've been fortunate that I haven't had to work with sellers that have smelly homes. knock on wood... 

I've encountered pet odors and cigarette odors..curry is a new one I've never heard about, but I can imagine it's a big problem.

Not a fan of curry and hate the smell even more.....yikes!

Kathleen,

I laughed reading this!  When were making a move a few years ago, one of the places we saw looked clean and pristine, but when you walked in, every room smelled like curry.  The stovetop did have a hood.  We could not wait to walk out...Good for you for selling the home.  A

I enjoyed your post today, and learned a few things to keep in mind for future reference. Thanks for sharing.

Kathleen-One thing that cannot be seen but can have a big affect on how marketable a home is the smell. Sellers would be wise to fix bad smells just as they are to repair poor curb appeal.

Hi Kathleen - Bad smalls are one of the most effective deal killers, and from experience we know that curry is almost as hard to get rid of as pet urine.

Tis the season for smells Kathleen. The houses a re closed up for the winter and don't get aired as much. I think your client's clone is in my area . Even if they hadn't just cooked the scent of spices lingered on. They couldn't smell it of course but everyone else could! We changed air filters in the furnace, cleaned the oven hood over the stove and painted. Not much you can do about the scent in the soft fabrics.

Yes, there is indeed no greater turn-off than smells in a home be it smoke, spices, cats or whatever. Homes need to smell CLEAN, like fresh air in the forest!

Kathleen, we had a client last year who cooked with curry virtually every day. We were fortunate that they were able to buy another house (using us) and move before we put their home on the market. They repainted the entire house and tore out all the old carpeting and replaced it--at a cost of $16,000. A lot less than the $50 K. BTW, No smells remained other than new paint. 

Kathleen:  Popular topic today!  But you're right.  Odors of any kind should be avoided.  What smells good to one, triggers awful reactions in another.  Sometimes physical reactions too.  Best to have a fresh, NON-smelling home to sell ...

Gene

Cooking smells can be nauseating. I have gotten where even smelling a turkey roast in the over makes me ill. With ethnic foods so common, the spices can drive buyers away and make agents wish they were on vacation.

Kathleen, I can personally say I walked away from buying a great home because of the smell.  It was even in the second floor - literally every where.  This was many years ago, but I was really afraid I would never get that smell out.  

I suggested perhaps that they ensure more ventilation and to air out the house after cooking-My best takeaway from the blog. More Ventilation will air out many unfamililar odors in home.

This blog is Trending now on here which is how I found it. I clicked on the original link but it didnt work. I had to type this into the search engine to find it. Congratulations on you getting your blog featured in Realtor Magazine.

Kathleen, I just read Maria Gilda Racelis shout out to you about this post making it to Realtor magazine and had to stop by and say hello. Excellent post and yes, you never know who's reading your posts...congrats!   

Another interesting and informative post.  Always worth reading!

Kathleen, thanks again for another thought provoking post.  Always good to read what you write.