One of the top turn-offs for home buyers is
smoke odor and pet odor. Unfortunately, those are often the most difficult
odors to remove. From AllerAir, the odor control experts, here’s an action plan
to tackle odors for your open house:
1. Forget the air fresheners.
Surprised? Cat, dog and smoke odors can’t
be effectively masked with air freshening plug-ins, gels and oils. The only
thing you’ll do is draw attention to the fact that you’re desperately trying to
cover-up an odor problem. These fragrances are also laced with chemicals which
are unhealthy to breathe and may trigger allergies in your prospective
home-buyers.
2. Bring
in a friend for a sniff test
Ask a friend to come in and smell your home –
and don’t be offended by their feedback. It’s a neat trick of biology that we quickly
become accustom to strong odors in our own environment – so chances are you can’t
even smell the full extent of your odor problem.
3. Tackle the odor issue head on
If you smoke – stop smoking in your home and
make sure you’ve emptied and removed your ashtrays. If you have pets, change
cage linings and litter boxes frequently and consider isolating pets to one
room in the house. It’s easier to tackle one stinky room than an entire stinky
home.
3. Increasing air circulation is only a start
Leaving windows open for a few hours prior to
your showing can remove that stale lived-in smell, but is not enough to remove pet
odors and long-term smoke-smell. Start by doing a top to bottom clean – wash
down walls, bedding, curtains, pet toys and blankets and consider hiring a cleaning
service that specializes in cleaning carpets and upholstery. In the case of
smoke, you may also want to consider re-painting as the smoke will have
penetrated deep into your dry-wall.
4. Buy
an air purifier (or several) with the deepest-bed activated carbon filter you
can afford
Most air purifiers only have a HEPA filter
for particles or a tiny carbon filter which is completely ineffective on tough
pet odors and smoke odors. A deep-bed activated carbon filter will actually
absorb odors and smoke. It’s important to keep these units running 24/7 as it
may take time to remove odors that are embedded in furniture, draperies,
carpeting, clothing and anything else soft and porous in your home that can hold
on to odor. Try a 5000 D or a smoke unit like the 5000 DS with an extra
tar-trapping filter.
5. Bake
Once you’ve taken steps to properly control your
odor problem – concentrate on creating an inviting atmosphere. It may sound
crazy, but people respond to the smell of freshly baked cookies or bread. If
you don’t have time to bake, boil some orange peel, cinnamon, vanilla
and cloves on the stove top. Real estate agents swear by it.
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