That New Home Smell?

[NMW]

I am a "Sell this House" and "Designed to Sell" junkie!! I tivo like every episode of these shows.

They ALWAYS say that smells (especially pet) and just general dirt (dirty windows, light fixtures, greasy kitchen cabinets) are the biggest turn-offs to buyers.

Oh, also buyers hate other people's wallpaper. Some buyers may not see removal as a big problem, for others who just want to "move their stuff in", it may be a big problem. I would reccomend removing any if you have it, and giving every room fresh neutral paint-like a light taupe. Also, if your trim (baseboards, moldings, doors, windows) are painted and not stained, give it all a fresh coat of pure white semi-gloss. Dry-wall can and does absorb oders (cooking/pets) and new paint in addtion to making your house look new and fresh will make it smell better.

Do a super cleaning job. An every surface cleaning! Replace any old light fixtures. Put in bright bulbs. Remove any heavy drapes/blinds, so people can see how bright and airy your house is. If carpets are really bad and it is with-in your budget, I would consider replacing them. You could also ask your real estate agents opinion about this.

I would start to pre-pack any clutter, photos, things you have on the walls, etc. That way people can picture their things in the house. If you have an open house, I would board the cats and remove all trace of them for the day. Replace the filter in your furnace with a good allergy/pet dander one. Also baking something for the pleasant oder is a good idea.

Best of luck!!

Oh, I also wouldn't clean with vinegar. The smell bothers some people.

 

[englishteacha]

Every time I clean with vinegar my husband complains that the house smells like pickles. I think it smells clean, but I can see where some people wouldn't like it. Make sure everything is super clean. I've had family buy homes that weren't clean because they had "potential" and after watching them spend weeks scrubbing, scouring, and disinfecting, I doubt there are many people who are willing to do that when they buy a home!

 

[TheRatPack]

Our house sold in less than a week last year and we really didn't put too many special special smells out there. We just kept it clean. I cleaned the windows every other day (little fingers leave many prints LOL), swiffered the wood floors, cleaned all the bathrooms daily and put away lots of our stuff in a storage facility (we actually rented two). Price it right, keep it clean and get rid of clutter.

Oh and we had freshly painted all the rooms to a neutral color, refinished the hardwood floors, redid the extra washroom/bathroom with new fixtures, new toilet/sink and flooring. Oh and we'd put down all new moulding/trim when we redid the hardwood floors. Didn't hurt that we lived there for 12 years either, we had a fully landscaped yard with 20 or so roses and other plants, and a great lot priced just right.

One thing I do have to say about smells, is that we came home from one showing one day and YUCK! It smelled like dirty body odor.....I don't know who came to see the house that day but NASTY! We would usually ride to the park and let the kids play, and our neighbor would call when the people left so I'd know to come home. So we got home maybe 20 minutes after they'd left and we had to air the house out. It really makes you feel odd thinking about other people in your house, sitting on your furniture....etc. I'm glad it didn't take too long to sell it.

 

[meeskamouska]

I noticed many model homes have vanilla scented air freshners. Might give them a try.

Also have to get rid of eau-de-cat-stuff. We have four cats, they have 2 litter boxes inside the garage, but also go outside. We scoop it every day, use baking soda, but friends say they can still smell it. That would put buyers off. How to get rid of the smell and keep the kitties?

Try Feline Pine Litter...we have always had two cats...now three adn noone has ever smelled them....this stuff works miracles!!! BTW...we don't have to scoop it....we just change twice a week!!!!

 

[mmcguire]

IAlso have to get rid of eau-de-cat-stuff. We have four cats, they have 2 litter boxes inside the garage, but also go outside. We scoop it every day, use baking soda, but friends say they can still smell it. That would put buyers off. How to get rid of the smell and keep the kitties?

We have two cats and no kitty smell, and we use an Omega Paw self-cleaning cat box. I recommend it to anyone with average size cats (the door may be too small for very large cats). It isn't motorized; it's an ingeniously simple design where you simply roll over onto its lid, roll it back, then remove a little drawer to dispose of the waste. We've had ours for 3+ years and LOVE it. They cost about $23 on Amazon, but your local PetsMart or Petco might carry them. We bought an extra for when we're gone for a few days. You'd probably need two, just like you have now for four cats.

You may also want to try an ultraviolet light designed for locating organic stains (they usually sell these at the pet store too). Your cats may have sprayed or urinated someplace without your knowledge. If they have, you can see it with the light and neutralize it with Simple Solution. It works -- we had a male cat at our previous house, and discovered he had marked a couple of corners in our basement before he was neutered. Simple Solution completely got rid of the smell.

Best of luck in selling your home!!!

 

[mjbaby]

Maybe I should stop cleaning with vinegar?

When we sold our house last year, I kept cleaning with my usual vinegar/baking soda routine and it was fine. I do add essential oils as a matter of course for extra cleaning power and disinfection so you might want to look into that if you're concerned about smell. Cinnamon, lavender and tea tree oils are particularly good for this, although to me tea tree oil smells like puke so I'd go with one of the other two in your situation! Add just the teeniest amount and you're good to go.

 

[momm2four]

I always think it's funny on these "Sell your home" shows when they show people looking at the home they're trying to sell.

They showed a couple going through the house, and they would say things like, "This table doesn't match the counters," or, "I don't like the furniture in the living room." I kept thinking, "You're not buying the dang FURNITURE!"

Lori P.

 

[rt2dz]

Whatever you do, be very careful of the scents you choose. I have bad allergies, and we have had to walk out of house without even walking in because they were making me sick. There are also a lot oc cleaners that drive me nuts (Pine scents).

Try baking cookies or putting on a fresh pot of coffee v. using sprays and scented candles and such. Vanilla and sugar cookie scents are generally ok, but cinnamen and most anything else isn't.

 

[mercydisney]

We had our house built almost 7yrs ago. Every year before we go on vacation, I do a really good spring cleaning. ( I love to come home to clean house and the extra benefit is I feel like I'm still on vacation when I don't have to clean that wk.) When we get back from vacation and open our doors our home still has that new home smell, after 7yrs.

I do not get that smell any other time. I guess cause my house is very well lived in. We do not have pets (allergies) and I do clean the house once a wk and dust when needed.

So my suggestions is do a really good spring cleaning and go on vacation!!

 

[figment52]

Wipe down the cupboards with Murphy's Oil Soap mixed in water. It gives a fresh furniture/woodys smell.

 

[branv]

Ok, this is going to sound weird...but the "new house" smell I love is freshly installed carpet smell. Something about it just makes me want to move right in! It's probably just the glue making me loopy

 

[Tinkerbell2002]

This is what I did.... I took a pot water and put some cinnammin in it. Boiled it for a couple minutes. Then turned off the stove. And let the pot sit there for 10-15 minutes. We just sold our house this past summer. We have 3 cats and a dog. You couldn't smell the animals at all. I did this everytime I got a call saying that someone was coming to see the house. I just let it sit on the stove while I picked up the ds toys and put the kid and dog in the car. Then I just stuck the pot in the oven (oven turned off). The cats stayed at the house while people came in to see the house. But they are scardy cats and always hid when people are around. We never had an open house so I don't have any ideas on what to do with them during that.

 

[TheRatPack]

We had our house built almost 7yrs ago. Every year before we go on vacation, I do a really good spring cleaning. ( I love to come home to clean house and the extra benefit is I feel like I'm still on vacation when I don't have to clean that wk.) When we get back from vacation and open our doors our home still has that new home smell, after 7yrs.

I do not get that smell any other time. I guess cause my house is very well lived in. We do not have pets (allergies) and I do clean the house once a wk and dust when needed.

So my suggestions is do a really good spring cleaning and go on vacation!!

We have lots of woodwork. We have hardwood floors, wood wainscotting, pine cabinets, wood crown moulding...etc and well just wood everywhere LOL We clean before going on vacation too, and when we get back home it always smells so nice and new. I wonder if that is what people smell when they come to visit us and we're just used to it

 

[writersblock42]

We almost did not buy our house because of the cat smell. Luckily I saw past a lot of the things that were huge turn offs to other buyers and knew we could change them. The house first of all smelled like cat-I knew eventually the smell would be gone and now it finally does not smell like cat-it smells like dog lol. However, I still hate the smell of dog in my house-how do I get rid of that. Anyway other things were the horrible colors of the walls. Do not do anything artsy with the colors like paint them deep shades of red with swirls on top or anything else crazy. Also the burlap ceiling was a huge turn off. The other smell that will turn me away is cigarette smell. And for the record, I do not like the new house smell except carpet I love the smell of new carpet.

 

[writersblock42]

Oh I wanted to add the other smell I hate is the smell of fried food. So no cooking lots of fried food in the house before sellers come. But cooking smells that are good are bread, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies,

 

[Minnie_me]

When we were selling our home, I burned Yankee Candle's oatmeal cookie candle -- YUMMY!!!! It smelled like I'd been baking. My realtor told us that EVERYONE who came in said, "It's so homey here, so comfortable", and she's convinced it was the cookie smell. LOL!

But if you want a "new" and "clean" smell, I highly recommend Yankee Candle's "Clean Linen" - OMG it smells wonderfully crisp and clean.

Good luck!

 

[mjbaby]

They showed a couple going through the house, and they would say things like, "This table doesn't match the counters," or, "I don't like the furniture in the living room." I kept thinking, "You're not buying the dang FURNITURE!"

A realtor friend of mine told us when helping us sell each of two homes that the more we can make the house look like a Pottery Barn catalog, the better. His position is that PB is one of the most popular home decorating companies across the country and if you look at their catalog or in model homes in new build developments, it's all very neutral colors with rich fabrics and no personal stuff at all. He also told us that "country"-style decor was a non-starter, that he had more negative comments about the heavy oak furniture, pink and blue paint colors, lace curtains and lots of folksy knick-knacks that he cringes when someone with that kind of decor asks him to represent them. Apparently, the "VIctorian" decors are nearly, but not quite as bad. He said that he's seen more than one couple rule out buying a house for no other reason than they didn't care for the furniture the sellers had. Strange, but true.