Eliminate all Odors in your Home to Sell it Faster

There are many factors that can draw people to a home you have for sale. Perhaps it is the location, the price, or the layout. Regardless, they aren’t going to buy it without coming inside first. What happens when they step in and it smells terrible – like pets or cigarette smoke?

This is an immediate turn off for those that don’t have pets or those that don’t smoke. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that air fresheners are going to mask those smells either. What often happens is that we don’t recognize them when we enter our domain. We are used to them and so they don’t impact us as they do for others that step into your home.

You can ask any real estate agent out there, and they will tell you nothing gets prospective buyers out of a home faster than such odors. They don’t want to have to get rid of those smells. They can linger in the carpets, curtains, and even on wallpaper that you have in the home.

If you want to encourage potential buyers to actually look around your home, then you need to make sure it is odor free. Start taking action now to ensure when you do put it on the market it is going to sell. If you smoke in your home, start doing so only on the porch. Request that any guests in your home do the same. Most people will be respectful of your decision.

This will help to prevent the smell from getting worse. Next you need to work on eliminating it. Washing all of the walls in your home with hot, soapy water is a good place to start. Some people even have ugly nicotine areas on their walls and ceilings. Covering them up with paint will make them look better but the smell can still linger. You need to wash them and then paint them.

Wash all of your window ceils and the curtains. You will need to try to get smells out of furniture as well. Depending on the type you have, it may be possible to use a carpet cleaner to get the smells out of furniture using various types of attachments. You will also need to clean your carpets thoroughly.

Place jars with distilled vinegar in each room of your home. They will allow the smell of smoke and pet odor to be removed from the air. The length of time it will take though depends on how severe the problem happens to be.

Pet odors are very serious and it can be hard to prevent them from coming back. If they are due to cats, make sure you are cleaning the litter box often. You may need to switch to a better brand of cat litter as well.

If you have indoor pets, it is important that you clean up after them every single day. Training them to use the bathroom in certain areas or outdoors is also going to help. When you place your home on the market your pets should be limited to only a few rooms of the home. That way they are less likely to get all of it to have a smell that pushes potential buyers back out the door when you want them to be taking their time looking around.

Many people are sensitive to various types of smells. With this in mind, you don’t want to use scented air fresheners or burn incense prior to someone coming to see the home. To freshen the place up consider opening up windows to let the breeze from outdoors come in.