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Your House Smells!!!

By
Real Estate Agent with Real Living HER

picture fo girl holding her nose

No matter how we may want to dance around the subject, the truth is, one of the first things people notice when they enter your Central Ohio home is the way it smells good or bad.  Everyone will agree that each home has its own unique smell.  As residents we often become immune to the smells in our own homes, however, when a seller is looking to impress perspective buyers it is critical to be aware of potentially offensive smells.  Below are a few tips on how common household occurrences like pet stains and musty odors can be eliminated.

 

Identify Were the Smell is coming from:

•1.        If the smell is coming from an identifiable source clean the area with warm water and baking soda.

•2.       Sprinkle a little baking soda on the area and allow sitting and vacuuming or cleaning up after an hour or two.

•3.       Spray a little vinegar and water mixture on the source and dab away excess

 

Unidentifiable Source:

•1.        Open a box or two of baking soda and place in areas where they will not be disturbed (behind furniture, up high in a room)

•2.       Place charcoal briquettes in a container with holes in the top (good for absorbing pet smells, cigarettes smoke smells, and musty smells also helpful in absorbing moisture)

•3.       Utilize kitty litter to help eliminate unidentifiable sources of odor.  Place in containers under furniture of in out of the way areas.

 

Other Items that can be used to neutralize odors are:

•1.        A mixture of lemon juice and water use to spritz base boards.

•2.       Coffee beans to absorb kitchen smells.

•3.       Citrus fruits to deodorize garbage disposals.

 

If you are looking for more cost effective tips to help your home sell call me at 614-273-6406 or email me at Vanessa.simmons@realliving.com

Baking soda: http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/154/1/30-baking-soda-tips.html

Vinegar:  http://greenliving.lifetips.com/cat/63666/alternative-green-lifestyles/index.html#tip-118349

Charcoal:  http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/heloise/odors/basement-deodorizer-oct01

Zane Coffin
Century-21 Homestar - Geneva, OH
(Geneva Ohio Real Estate Agent)

Vanessa, very useful information ,I have used some of them in my own house and cars.....peace zane

Feb 16, 2009 02:12 AM
Anonymous
Kathy Durham

After reading your entry I decided to copy and paste my response to another similar blog.  Please don't be offended but I truly believe our clients should not be deceived by masking odors, thank goodness there are good odor eliminators reasonable priced that will make the sale happen and keep the new owner happy...

Kathy Durham, Laguna Hills realty

 

...Please don't be offended but MASKING the odors is what in my opinion is wrong with our industry.

What if the owner was "baking cookies" when you and your client arrived? The bad smell might have been masked and your client most likely would have put in an offer to which no standard agreement would have let her out from. 

Now she is stuck with a smelly house and feeling deceived by realtors in general.  The listing agent from my point of view, gave full disclosure and should be commended for her honesty.  I agree with Claudette, sellers should CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! Not MASK MASK MASK.

I've been a realtor since '85, in that time I have found many cleaning products that work well without tearing the whole house apart.  The best, in my opinion (price point a ease of use) are products that contain Chlorine Dioxide, I have my favorite company, it's called Biocide Systems, (www.biocidesystems.com ).  I tell my customers to use their liquid solution as a pretreatment on all floorings, and Room-shocker (a fast acting fogger) to remove the rest of the smells from walls, ceilings, furniture, etc.

It really does work like a miracle no much elbow grease needed; no need to deceive the odor is really GONE GONE GONE!

Let's all pull together and elevate the title realtor to the pre-bubble level it enjoyed.

Apr 27, 2010 03:15 PM
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