Smells that can sell a home!
Freshly baked bread?
Ground coffee brewing?
What should your home smell like to ensure your viewers make an offer?!
Once upon a time, around the mid-’90s, it was widely believed that you would only sell your home if it smelled of fresh coffee. Every man and his dog was frantically brewing a pot of coffee before their viewers arrived.
In the ’00s, a trend emerged in the world of home selling that you needed to make your home smell of freshly baked bread to get a sale. Busy working home sellers didn’t have time to knead and prove a loaf each time they had a viewing, so they improvised by shoving a part-baked baguette from the supermarket in the oven.
Things have moved on significantly since those days, and I don’t think that any viewers would believe that the seller happened to be whipping up a loaf just before their viewing.
Sometimes sellers overcompensate, and you are slapped around the face by Airwick when you enter the property or one of those automatic air fresheners that squirt out every 5 minutes and catches in the back of your throat. Not exactly welcoming to your viewers, is it!?
So what can you do to make your home more inviting to viewers?
How can you encourage them to see themselves living in the property? How can you encourage them to make an offer?
Whilst freshly baked bread smells divine, it is impractical to bake whilst also running around the house frantically hoovering before the viewers arrive. And synthetic scents that are supposed to mimic baking bread are just not the same.
A lovely clean home will smell clean, which is a great place to start, but some popular scents may encourage viewers to buy.
Vanilla: Often thought of as dull but vanilla is a lovely sweet scent that is not too overpowering. It has become common because it is liked by so many. You can’t go wrong with a vanilla scent.
Lavender: A calming warm scent that is also very popular. If you have fresh lavender in your garden, you could cut some and pop in a small vase to get the real deal, or of course, use essential oils or candles.
Jasmine: A little more unusual, jasmine is a trendy scent and creates a welcoming atmosphere.
For bathrooms, citrus scents are prevalent. Try bergamot, lime, lemon or grapefruit in the bathroom. I would recommend that you stay away from pine as it can smell like toilet cleaner.
For a more quirky, savoury scent, try sandalwood. An earthy, slightly more masculine smell especially good for living rooms and the home office
For the kitchen, try herbs such as fresh thyme or rosemary. If possible, it is best not to have cooking smells from a recent meal, and not the kitchen bin! Fresh herbs smell lovely and evoke memories of family Sunday lunches, or Christmas dinner, which will, for the most part, be a positive memory to conjure. This can create a happy feeling in your viewers and allow them to imagine the family meals of the future in this home.
Why not try a new scent in your home before your viewings?
You can, of course, use fresh flowers and herbs in the property or an electric diffuser or candle.
A diffuser will usually have an automatic switch-off after an hour or so, which is much safer than leaving candles burning whilst your agents are showing people around, and it will not require you to be buying fresh flowers every week.