You’ve done all of the things everyone tells you to sell your home.  You’ve fixed every crack, painted every wall, stained everything a pleasing shade of brown.  Yet, the offers aren’t rolling in.  In a seller’s market, this is a huge problem.  What could be keeping you from selling your home?  Well, it could be right under your nose.  Make your for sale home smell better, and you could be in for a profitable sale.

Pets can ruin your for sale home’s aroma.

If you have pets, you know that, no matter how well you have trained them, they can make messes.  If you don’t find them right away and clean them with a good bacterial cleaner, they can linger in your home, causing you to go nose-blind to them.  Start checking the corners.  Really get in there and sniff.  They make black lights that can help you spot pees as well, so you can be sure to get rid of them.  A cleaned carpet is a bonus when you are talking about your home and will help you get better offers.  If it’s too bad, replace the carpet and underneath pad.  It will be worth it in the long run.  Your for sale home will move.

Your a/c is cool, but it can bring the smells.

When your air conditioner is running, it helps keep your home cool from the summer heat.  However, it can also trap stagnant water, breed mold and mildew, and circulate that through your house.  Smokers in your house can also trap smells in the filter, making that smell worse.  Clean it and fix any leaks that cause it to retain water, and replace the filter.  That should help with any lingering odors.  If you have a for sale home, this can help.

It’s called a garbage disposal, but does it always dispose of the garbage?

Your garbage disposal is a remarkable device, letting you get most of the food waste that you make out of the house.  It also can trap smells deep in their machinery, giving your home that delightful “rotten food” smell that everyone is after.  When you’re selling your home, that’s a pretty major turn-off.  There are over the counter solutions to the problem, but you can also drop ice and frozen lemon peels down there and run the disposal to clean it.  That should clean up the smell and remove any old food from the line.

If you’re ready to buy or sell your home, Rick & Tracy Ellis are ready to make your dream come true.  Call us today at 636-299-3702, email us directly at tracy@tracyellis.com, and visit tracyellis.com for more information on buying and selling your home.  You can also listen to the “The Rick and Tracy Ellis Show” every Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.  Work with the best realtors in St. Louis.