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Smells Can Make (or Break) a Showing

Apr17
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

smell of cookies

Because a home showing is primarily about creating an experience, convincing the potential buyers not just intellectually but emotionally that they should buy it, sensory details matter. You want to use every tool at your disposal, from sights (Curb appeal! Staging! Lack of clutter!) to sounds (noisy pets, for example) to the subject of this post: smells.

All of us have stepped into a home that smelled inviting, whether it was because of fresh air flowing through windows or a hearty pot roast cooking in the oven. Your goal, as a seller, is to make sure your home offers that kind of aroma.

How can you do this?

Most importantly: CLEAN!
Ridding your home of any bad odors is half the battle when it comes to smells. For tips on that topic, see this Buy Owner Blog article, “Eliminating Odors”. When you decide to sell, it’s a good idea, right at the beginning to do a thorough, top-to-bottom cleaning of your residence. (If you’re interested in making your own cleaning products, click here.) Beyond that, here are some specific strategies:

• Are you a smoker? You must get rid of the smell. There are several ways to do this, but you’ll have to get aggressive. In addition to a thorough cleaning (scrubbing, washing, etc.), you will probably want to repaint the walls with a shellac-based primer. It may also be necessary to replace the carpeting or, at the least, have it professionally cleaned. After you’ve finished eliminating any trace of smoke residue from your home, ask a friend to come over, one who is not a smoker preferably, and ask if he or she can still smell something. If not, you’ve done your job correctly. Note: for the duration of your home listing, you should not smoke inside. At all.

• Do you have pets? The people who end up buying your home could be huge animal lovers, but, trust us, they don’t want to smell yours. As with the smoke smell described above, your goal is to completely eliminate any trace of pet odor completely. Pick up any droppings in the yard and dispose of them, too. Buyers should be imagining summer barbecues, not scraping waste off their shoes.

Another good idea: Add Fragrance!
When your home has been thoroughly cleaned, you won’t need to add a lot of fragrance to make it show well. If the weather’s nice, open the windows to let fresh air flow inside. You can also add other homey scents, but remember some potential buyers could have allergies or sensitivities, and, if so, overdoing fragrances could have the opposite effect you want it to.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are a few suggested smells you may want to use:

• Baking: Whip up a batch of cookies or a cake before the showing, and offer it to buyers when it comes out of the oven. With this idea, you’re engaging both sense of smell and taste!

• Citrus: You could use orange or lemon/lime plug-ins, of course, but for a more subtle effect, place a bowl of fresh citrus on the table in the kitchen or a living area. Bonus: What’s more eye-catching that a beautiful bowl of fresh fruit?

• Scented candles: Be careful with this option, and make sure any candle scents complement, rather than detract from each other.

• Fresh-cut flowers: In season, why not pick some fresh flowers from your garden to display inside? It makes a great conversation piece for buyers and another way to highlight your home’s landscaping.

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged aromas, home showings, open house, selling a home, smells, smells of a home
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Know Your Location!

Jan12
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

When selling your home, you have the opportunity to use all of your built-up knowledge of the home to help the potential buyer realize it’s perfect for him or her! Even though you are most concentrated on the home itself, you should take advantage of each meeting with the buyer by not forgetting to discuss the home’s location too. Will this person fit into the neighborhood and the community? He or she wants to know. By completing some pre-selling research of this home’s surroundings, you may just help a buyer decide that this home is perfect!

Before a potential buyer comes to view your home, here are a few ideas to think about so that you are ready for any question from any personality!

First, sit down and think about what you love most about this location. Why do you love the neighborhood? Where you do most often go for entertainment? What will you miss most about the area? If you can show your true enthusiasm to your surroundings, the potential buyer will notice.

Next, consider what you would want to know most about a new area. Think about everyday affairs. How close are the grocery stores? Where do the buses pick up kids for school? How well are the local schools rated? What is the average age of the neighborhood residents? How close is the nearest hospital? Is anything conveniently in walking distance? Are there nearby train stations or expressways that make commuting simple? The circumstances that affect everyday lives are what potential buyers will want answers to.

Now, move onto what is special about this area. Aside from everyday needs, what makes this area unique? Is there a particular attraction that draws people to this location? Even if you don’t visit the local attractions, think about what a potential buyer would want to know about the area. Or is this a quiet location that no outsiders travel to, therefore always quiet and peaceful? Make sure you know what draws people here.

Also, make sure you keep up with the local news and do some minor research on recent occurrences in the area. Potential buyers may perform some research themselves and find out some negative information. If anything newsworthy has occurred, make sure you are knowledgeable about the situation and able to answer any questions they may have.

Now that you have thought about the positives and potential negatives about the area, be ready to turn a negative into a positive! Consider all age groups and family sizes when pondering different aspects of this location. Scenario: a retired couple loves your house but isn’t keen on the fact that most of the neighbors are young families. Turn this aspect into a positive by letting them know how friendly all the neighbors are, how they will make friends in no time and how someone is always available to help with whatever they may need help with.

Plan to ask the potential buyer what sort of pastime activities they enjoy. With your newly completed research, you should be quick on your feet to discover what this personality would be most interested to hear about the surroundings. Practice on friends and family members so that you are experienced with all types of personalities and interests.

Most importantly, be honest. Don’t go overboard and create falsities about the area to gain potential buyer’s interests. Don’t overdue it. This is merely a topic of conversation that can fill the gaps in discussions about the house. And maybe, with your newly gained information on the town, the potential buyers will see why this house and location can together create their new home.

For more information on what to research about your location, read this Buy Owner Blog article.

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged location, neighborhood, selling a home
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Founded in 1984, BuyOwner.com® is the leading provider of real estate marketing services. We pioneered the "For Sale by Owner" (FSBO) market, which today represents over 20 percent of all residential real estate transactions.

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