<p>Our house has been on the market for over 90 days. It’s older, built in 1948, and has wood floors and a crawl space that tend to give it a musty smell on occasion. One of the things I’ve been doing when the house is about to be shown is burn a scented candle. I feel that even if my choice of scent (which is not “Birthday Cake” or another type of food scent) is not someone else’s first choice, at least the potential buyers aren’t smelling mustiness or something worse. I’ve quizzed friends and family about this and get mixed results. Some people have very strong feelings about candles.</p>
<p>I do open the windows when the temperature is right to get fresh air in, but this isn’t always possible right before a showing. And I personally don’t smell anything when I first enter my home, but I think most people are too used to the odors in their own house to smell anything.</p>
<p>I don’t leave the candle burning while realtors show.</p>
<p>Can you put a dehumidifier in the crawl space?</p>
<p>Another thought: there are metal rings that go around conventional light bulbs into which you can put scented oils. The heat of the bulb disseminates the scent. Since lights are usually on during showings, it would lightly scent the air without you being there. I’d make sure to choose a fairly light scent, though. And one bulb would be enough.</p>
<p>The two houses I have sold (and we did it without a realtor), sold on days when I baked pumpkin bread. It bakes a long time and the scent really goes through the house. You can also put some out for people to eat.</p>
<p>To me, scented candles are a dead giveaway that you’re covering up something. This may be because my husband, who moved to our current home four months before the rest of the family did, burned them all over the place just before we arrived to conceal the fact that he had been smoking in the house (something he never did again after we joined him).</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you just happen to be cooking or baking something that smells good on the day when potential buyers visit, that wouldn’t trigger my suspicions.</p>
<p>Consolation, I like the metal rings idea. That would spread it around a little, and I could adjust to make it heavier or lighter.</p>
<p>artlovers, thanks for the reminder. I do supervise my candle!</p>
<p>And MD Mom, I would love to bake for every showing. We did this before the open house and the agent loved it. Unfortunately, I literally get calls from the curb and so this is not always possible.</p>
<p>Some people have almost an allergic reaction to candle scents. My mother hates candles. My realtor seems to think a candle a good idea but she seems overly careful about hurting my feelings, I’ve noticed. My sister thinks my house smells like cleaning supplies and says the candle is better. I don’t want my house to smell like Pine Sol, but I don’t want to knock people out with candle scent the minute they walk in the door.</p>
<p>I think I’ll buy some oil and metal rings and give that a try.</p>
<p>There are also some moisture absorbing products on the market that you might try; I don’t know whether those would help. Good luck. Remember, you only need one buyer.</p>
<p>If I smelled candles when I walked into the house, I would assume you were trying to hide something, which you are. Try to fix the problem if you can. Aren’t you legally required to disclose problems, or is that only for major structural issues?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that putting out a couple of pans around 13x9, with a layer of baking soda can help absorb musty odors. Then get rid of them before the open house. I’ve never tried it, but it might be worth a shot.</p>
<p>If your house smells like cleaning supplies, switch to unscented products.</p>
<p>If you try the ring, be very careful not to overdo it. I would be very surprised if two were not enough for the whole house. You don’t want to knock people out! :)</p>
<p>^^ We absolutely vacate the house. Realtors have left multiple positive feedback comments on how delightful it is to show. I turn on all the lights, leave it spotless, keep fresh flowers out, spruce up the pool and patio area, take out the laundry and trash. It has been professionally staged. All of the obvious has been take care of.</p>
<p>But this issue of smell bothers me. Again, I don’t smell anything, and we do have a dehumidifer in the crawlspace. I’ve quizzed both the realtor and and interior decorator that spent many days here, and they both didn’t feel like odor was a problem.</p>
<p>So, I can discontinue the candles, but I really just wanted peoples opinions. I certainly don’t want potential buyers to think I’m hiding something.</p>
<p>I had this really great smelling candle-thingy that looked like a cast iron pan (but small- about 6 inches) that you didn’t even need to light. It smelled like gingerbread or something. I thought it smelled great. At one point my husband found it outside. Our realtor had put it out because someone complained that the house smelled “like dog”. It was the candle! To each his own, I guess.</p>
<p>Some people might think that you are covering some undesirable smell if you use candles. I might be different from others, since I cannot stand any smell, not fragrance or other “pleasant” or detergent, everything is “smell free” in my house.</p>
<p>We have our house up for sale and were having a problem with a musty odor due to the house being shut up during the winter. We left a couple of windows slightly open, but the stale smell was there sometimes. </p>
<p>I got several of the baking soda boxes with mesh sides made to eliminate odors and put one in each bathroom and several in the kitchens. Then I sprayed natural lavender oil on paper towels and left them in closets and cupboards. That helped a lot and the house smelled fresh.</p>
<p>Don’t use scented candles; they remind me of some mall stores; cheap, smelly and claustrophobic. It doesn’t matter what the scent is; I find them cloyingly, sickeningly sweet. Not everyone can bake pumpkin bread before a showing (although it does sound nice). I do remember going to a realtor’s open house with an art studio in the basement; one realtor had an immediate allergic reaction to a solvent…pretty much guaranteeing that she’d never show anyone that home.</p>