Everyone knows that when you are around a smell for so long that you can no longer smell it. That is true with smoking and pets. Two of the most revolting smells a prospective buyer can be met with upon entering your home. Both give the impression of unclean even if your home appears spotless. Few people don’t care about buying a foul smelling house. Have you ever asked a trusted friend, “Now tell me the truth, does my house stink?” Consider me your friend and I’m telling you as a true friend should. If you smoke or have a pet, all the Fabreeze in the world isn’t going to take the smell out. The only way to eliminate the smell is to eliminate the source even if only temporarily.
If you have a pet or are a smoker or both you have eliminated your audience of buyers down to three categories, other smokers, people who just don’t care and buyers looking to buy low and flip. Even other pet owners don’t want someone else’s pet smells in a house that they are thinking of purchasing.
My suggestion, even though it isn’t a popular one for some, is once you’ve cleaned the carpets, draperies, furniture and just about every possible surface and painted. Start smoking outside until you sell your house….I promise you enough of the odor will still be on your clothes that you wear back into the house to keep your closet and dirty clothes area smelling funky. For that I suggest putting an air freshener with a natural smell so it doesn’t look like you’re trying to mask odors……like you are.
Pets are another down side of selling a house, unlike smoking, your pets are a beloved stinky family member and even those of us who love our pets and understand the dilemma, we still don’t want to buy someone else’s stinky dog house. My suggestion in this case is. Prepare for an open house and remove all signs of a pet living there then take the pet with you during the open house. After the open house you are going to have to just stay on top of dusting, vacuuming, fur and drool until you sell it but keep all evidence out of sight. You might be able to pull off masking the odors but a lot of pet paraphernalia is only going to bring it to the forefront and suggest the odor is present even if it’s not.
Selling a home is not easy, more so because of the inconvenience. You literally have to change your lifestyle to be ready for strangers to meander through your home, at a moment’s notice, to pass judgment on it. Unfortunately, that is what you have to put up with to get your house sold and get the highest possible price you can get.
Next Tuesday….Open houses.
No comments:
Post a Comment