Using Scent to Sell Your Home

There is a lot of information on how to sell your home, from staging to landscaping.But there is an important element of home selling you might never have considered: Scent.

Our sense of smell can be very powerful and has been shown to bring back memories, conjure up new ones and actually even change moods. When it comes to selling a home, scents can have a profound impact on potential homebuyers' first impression of your house. Today, let's look at Using Scent to Sell Your Home.

We all know how repellant certain bad smells can be. They conjure up feelings of disgust and can even make us feel unwell.  What's interesting though is that certain appealing scents can have the opposite effect. They can attract people to your home, make them feel at ease, and even get them excited about the idea of buying and living in your house.

Smell, the Brain and Emotions

Smell and memory are intricately linked. In our brains, the scents we smell go straight to the olfactory bulb, which is connected directly to our amygdala, which is responsible for emotions and motivation, and the hippocampus, which is involved heavily in memory. It stands to reason that using scents in a positive way can have a positive impact on those who are looking to buy.

Deodourize Your Home

There's a chance your home has a smell you aren't even aware of because you've been exposed to it every day for years, so you're no longer sensitive to it. So one of the first things you should do is deodourize. Get an honest friend to provide feedback on your home as well. If they notice an unpleasant fragrance, so will potential buyers.

Some of the stinkiest parts of the home include shoe closets, trash cans, basements, litter box or dog bed area, kitchens, and freezers. If you discover a significant mold problem causing smell in your home, then this post isn't enough to cover your problems. You need a professional, and need to take care of that problem immediately. Mold is a serious issue that can't wait.

Clean Your Carpets

Carpets can be a major source of bad smell in a home. To deodourize carpet, spread baking soda on your carpets for 10-15 minutes and then vacuum it up. You could also get professional carpet cleaners to do an even more thorough job, especially if you have problem areas from pets, put extra effort to deodourize it.

Smoke

If your home smells like smoke, there's a high chance you'll be putting off a lot of potential buyers. Removing the smell of smoke from a home requires significant cleaning of the walls, ceilings, floors, nooks and crannies. Some may opt to remove the scent by painting, but make sure to use a sealer and primer, or else the scent may still be noticeable.

Best Scents

So, now that your home is deodorized, what scents should you use? So let's think for a moment. When it comes to using scent to sell your home, you need to think smart. Appeal to buyers' noses by understanding their preferences when it comes to smell. What are they used to smelling at home? What smells do they enjoy the most?

Some common odours that might be welcomed include vanilla or other sweet smells, fresh-baked bread or cookies, coffee, rosemary or pine for Christmas time, apple cider before Thanksgiving, and many more! Just remember to use appropriate aromas for the season.

You can make use of automatic Airwick or glade air fresheners around the house, scented candles, or you could even use a pan on your stove for festive scents like nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, orange peel, or fresh cranberries.

Essential Oils

To keep it simple, just diffuse some pleasant essential oils. You can get an extensive variety of scents for every season that you can enjoy even after your home sells.

Flowers

During the warmer months, homeowners often plant bushes or flowers with pleasant odors as a way to both increase their homes' curb appeal while increasing their scent appeal. Lillies, hyacinth, and jasmine all are great smelling flowers you could consider.

So, that's it. Deodourize your home either professionally or by yourself; use scents for the appropriate season, and make use of pleasant plants outside to increase the curb and scent appeal.