When it comes to selling your house, it is the little things that can make a big difference in whether you obtain the price you are wanting for your property and in how long it takes to sell it.
With this in mind, I emailed a handful of my favorite Arkansas Realtors® and asked for their advice on how to prepare a home for sale. Much to my surprise they all focused on the importance smell has on a potential buyer’s impression of your property.
According to the Scent Marketing Institute, the sense of smell is the strongest and most primal of all our senses. It protects us from drinking milk that’s turned sour and alerts us to the presence of natural gas. It vividly reminds us of moments – good or bad – we first experienced decades ago. It is the first of our senses to evolve in the evolutionary chain and the sense with the strongest, most accurate level of recall.
In marketing, scent can trigger a memory or desire that influences a purchase decision. Alternatively, scent can remind us of pleasant associations, whether that is "home", the beach or a meadow. These associations help to create an environment in which we feel comfortable, "at home” so it only makes sense that as a seller you want to make sure visitors to your home are breathing in the right scents.
“A home’s smell has a tremendous impact on what a buyer thinks of your home,” said Paulette Richie, Executive Broker, Coldwell Banker RPM. “Your home needs to smell clean, even new if possible.”
To achieve a new-like smell, Richie recommends applying a fresh coat of polyurethane to natural wood surfaces or latex paint to walls. Kelli Small, an Associate Broker with McDowell Properties in Conway, recommends cleaning out all the clutter from closets and losing the moth balls.
Want your buyer to feel safe, secure and nostalgic? According to the Scent Marketing Institute you should introduce a talcum powder scent to your environment. Want them to relax? Choose lavender, vanilla or chamomile. Want to get your buyer to perceive a room as bigger? The smell of apples and cucumbers.
To eliminate the possibility of foul odors taking over, Laurie Rushing, Executive Broker with Trademark Real Estate in Hot Springs, recommends bathing your pets, changing the litter box frequently, shampooing carpets and emptying trash cans, recycling bins and ash trays. “Introduce pleasing smells to your home by placing fresh flowers throughout the house and refraining from cooking fish or other strong-smelling foods.”
So what is the smell that supposedly will get them in the mood for buying a home? Fresh baked goods.
For more information on scent marketing readers can visit the scent marketing web site at http://www.scentmarketing.org/.
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House to House is written by Amy Glover Bryant, APR and distributed weekly by the Arkansas Realtors® Association.
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