Guess what? The Right Smells Can Help Sell Your Home

It may seem like a last minute and potentially unnecessary detail, but how your house smells is one of the most underrated important things to consider when selling your home. 

In fact, it seems as though even retailers have caught on to how important our senses are as another form of in-store marketing, and have been manipulating them to trigger buyer behaviors, with our sense of smell being considered as our “most emotional” sense. 

So how can you take advantage of potential buyers’ sense of smell when selling your home? 

Let’s dive deeper: 

Keep it Clean

Start the process off by removing all odours outright with the usual cleaning and decluttering. You want to try keep your home feeling and smelling fresh, so try have a neutral base if possible. 

When using cleaning products, stick to those with limited or no lingering scents - you don’t want your buyer to think you are trying to conceal an odour with scents! 

Refrain from activities that produce less-than-neutral smells (smoking, cooking intense-smelling foods) prior to home inspections and remove items that are generally known to emit odours (I’m looking at you, cat litter!). This means emptying all garbage bins and storing less-than-fresh shoes in an air-tight and out-of-sight container.

Keep It Simple

Have you ever walked into a store, couldn’t quite put your finger on the smell, and then spent the remainder of your time in said store trying to figure it out?

Is it ginger and lemon – or is that mandarin?? Is it basil and thyme…like that new cookie mixture that Auntie Patricia made the other night? 

They’re so focused on the smell that they don’t even pay attention to what’s being sold, or worse, they’re not a fan. 

This is the exact opposite response that you’re after when selling your home. 

Strong, complex scents may work for you and remind you of home – but this isn’t about you. 

Aim for a neutral base, and if you wanted to add a scent, stick to subtle, simple scents that act as an accessory to the staging of your home as a whole instead of a distraction. 

Think citrus, cinnamon, vanilla or familiar scents that avoid being overbearing.

Keep It Consistent

Part of keeping scents simple means keeping them uniform. 

Similar to home staging themes and overall décor, the scent you choose should be unchanging throughout the house to provide consistency. When a scent is carried from room to room, it works with the home to provide a solid base and as an accent to encourage potential buyers’ imaginations.

Make sure your chosen scent aligns to the home itself too. Think about your home’s location (beach vs hinterlands), overall feel (eclectic vs cozy), and typical buyer (single vs family with kids) in conjunction with your home’s scent to create a seamless experience when showing your home.

So there you have it. 

Ensure your home is clean, incorporate some simple subtle smells like citrus or cinnamon and make sure the smell you select aligns to the feel and the target market of your home. With those tricks in tow, you’ll already be one step ahead of a lot of other home-sellers!