If you’ve ever been a homeseller, you know what a hassle it can be.
An agent makes an appointment to see your house. Your house has been cleaned from top to bottom. The kitchen sparkles. The lights have been turned on. The blinds have been opened. The carpet has been vacuumed. The furniture is dust-free. You’ve flushed all the toilets and put all the lids down.
You’ve rearranged your time to accommodate the homebuyers. You’ve forgone a meal or put it off to later. Wonder of wonder, the agent has it altogether and arrives on time. You’re already celebrating his or her efficiency and professionalism. You leave your house on an errand you didn’t plan on going on and let the agent freely show your house to strangers.
A half an hour later, you return home. There’s no strange car parked in your driveway. You timed it perfectly.
Home sweet home. You open the door and find the pungent odor of ...
Not your perfume. Someone else’s perfume. Could be the agent’s perfume. Or the homebuyer’s perfume. Whosever perfume it is ... it’s definitely not your perfume.
Every room is infected with that other person’s perfume. You can tell everywhere they’ve been ... and most importantly ... where they haven’t been.
You’re like a hound dog, sniffing out the evidence.
Your visitors were in the master bedroom, but they didn’t venture into the master bath. They were in the family room, but they didn’t step into the guest room. They didn’t stick their noses into the laundry room, either. Or the garage either.
When you left, it was still your house. It still belonged to you.
When you returned, it was as if your house had been invaded.
To be sure, you invited the buyers ... this agent ... into your house. But you didn’t invite them to leave their ‘presence’ behind as a souvenir.
Many people are allergic to perfume. Many people wear perfume themselves but won’t necessarily like yours. Many people hardly ever wear perfume and don’t like their homes to smell like a perfume factory.
To put the topic in reverse ... a cautionary notice to homesellers. Don’t use sprays or potpourri or plug-in room deordorizers to sweeten up your house. It can be offensive to your buyers. Instead, use fresh air. Opening a window just before the homebuyers arrive works wonders.
