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I just sold my house this weekend right after a showing. I only had about 10 minutes to make the house look presentable as I had to rush home from work. After I left, I realized that I forgot to unplug my Glade plug-in (what? I like the smell?!) and guess what? The couple wasn't offended by the smell and immediately wanted to put in an offer at the end of the showing.
That's the thing. some people like them. my mother is one. I cannot leave her house without a little discomfort. if I don't open a window it goes into a migraine. but I love her so I do put up with it. when selling you want the widest appeal possible. if one person in a family has a very adverse reaction (asthma, BAD chemical migraines) odds are that house is skipped. One could get lucky and the perfect person sees your house but it's been mentioned many times that a good chunk of people don't like them, get adverse reactions or will automatically assuming it's used to hide a defect that costs big or good money to remediate. When she sold all her scented stuff was out of the house. She used the breeze outside, OCD deep cleaning, and baking to give off good smells per her agents recommendation. Sold quickly.
My migraines heighten my sense of smell (become sensitive to smell, light and motion, very nauseous). when one hits every smell is hitting me. a dog toy 12 feet away, a sock under the bed, dust on the bookcase tops. So in essence that house smells far dirtier. We do become used to the smells in our homes, but fragrance products add something else to the mix in my experience not make something smell better to other people walking in.
so in my house I am careful of what I use. I don't expect anyone else to, but as a shopper they could lose a sale because of something simple like a plug in if it's the right one that visits migraine city.
Helping my family members choose a house the biggest thing that moved them quickly, got multiple offers was being VERY clean. no scents needed. some baked cookies or sugar and spice in a crockpot and such to give aroma but a very clean house shows pride of ownership better then almost anything, and gives the sense that these people care about keeping their home well in other ways. Dirtier house gives off "I neglect stuff!" vibes.. the dirty houses -some the agent proudly proclaimed they were staged and cleaned! I couldn't imagine the "before" we all noticed scented products in every room of the dirtiest places. so really started to form a pattern as a buyer to these products. joked later "nice try" we still smell you don't clean enough sellers". sweat, dirty clothes/shoes, dust and window mold plus "wildflowers in spring" added. Another reason that can have such a negative association to buyers. typically the cleanest houses avoid them. and the dirtiest ones have them everywhere as a shopper. my mother who loves them said she viewed them as "hiding/compensating" when she was shopping and got it then why the agent wanted her to take down all of hers..
I agree that there's no need for fake fragrances anytime. Now personally my husband and I love the scent of eucalyptus and not only will we occasionally buy eucalyptus to put in floral displays, we also like eucalyptus candles and essential oil. But I know that many people do NOT like that scent. So when we are selling a house, we don't use it.
Like the above poster stated - you can hardly go wrong with the scent of fresh baked cookies (real ones) or a simmering pot of cinnamon and apple juice. Or like I said before, if you don't like those sweet scents (which I really don't personally) you can always open some windows, air your linens outside, and place little bowls of fresh rosemary and lavender and basil around.
Thanks for the overwelmingly strong response that these air freshener plug-ins are rotten and do not smell nice to most. YES my husband is still somewhat fragile, maybe you want to poke a stick at him and chase around people with low mental capacity for good measure-that went out with the 1970's?
My husband got Multiple Chemical Sensitivity from our first home improvement in 12 years. We lost our home, I lost my husband part-time when he had to go live with his mom for 7 mos. with one days notice.
So that is related but this is bigger than that. I do see them-plug-ins as our next health hazard in the wait.
We looked at a home that had dog and cigarette odors the seller was asking 10 k lower than other homes probably because of that. They did NOT try to mask it. We LOVED the home despite the natural smells and were going to bid on it-but a location factor ended up deleting it as an option.
The hilarious part is two of you suggest a new build for us. It might kill my husband. The amount of chemicals and off gassing in new construction is terrible. Look it up yourself if you don't believe me. There was a family that had a home built and had the money to put in all new furniture, the whole family got ill. The amount of chemicals we are inviting into our homes is immense.
My husband got Multiple Chemical Sensitivity from our first home improvement in 12 years. We lost our home, I lost my husband part-time when he had to go live with his mom for 7 mos. with one days notice.
How does a home improvement cause Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to magically appear? What caused you to lose your home? How did you lose your husband part-time (that alone sounds odd) because he went to live with his mother? You didn't go? Where were you? How did you lose a house and become homeless in one day? That doesn't make any sense unless the house burned down.
How does a home improvement cause Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to magically appear? What caused you to lose your home? How did you lose your husband part-time (that alone sounds odd) because he went to live with his mother? You didn't go? Where were you? How did you lose a house and become homeless in one day? That doesn't make any sense unless the house burned down.
OMG really?
Cleaning agents,adhesives, solvents, fiberglass, formaldehyde, compressed "wood", Paint, carpet... just because you're not familiar with it try google. And that's not even INCLUDING the DEMO, FFS.
Ever rip a ceiling out?
Go google "new carpet" and read about the manufacturers making NEW CARPET technology because of this very problem.
Google paint and VOC.
Heck, you can't even live in a house with a parrot when painting or getting new carpet, it kills them. Which is how they discovered the problem with Teflon.
What's 45' & 48'? Mobile homes? I used to work in sales for a living, in people's homes. It's pretty weird out there when they 'are' putting their best foot forward (selling their home).
Can you imagine what I've seen over 30 years when they weren't? Some used to have those misters tht shot chemicals every couple of minutes or so... I used to time holding my breath when I knew it was ready to go off.. But it was weirder.. much, much more weirder than that...
Yep, Mobile homes have an overwhelming HUGE problem with mold and mildew trapped in the underbelly of the units. The older ones especially when the fiberglass insulation breaks up over time.
I gave up all dog walking clients who may call me living in one because 90% of them have that issue the minute you walk in you can smell it.
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