Top Tips on Smelling your home!

Top Tips on Smelling your home!

No no, it’s not a typo… we meant to write ‘smell’. Everyone’s heard the old tricks of brewing coffee and baking bread to sell a home – but did you know that 75% of emotions that we generate on a daily basis are associated with scent? With this is in mind, it’s easy to understand why smell is very important when selling your home… but knowing which scents to pick? Well these top tricks from the experts on which smells help us buy (or indeed, sell!), could help…

It’s easy to remember the last time you jumped out your car and was hit in the face by a beautifully warm smell of baking – it makes you hungry whilst whisking you back to your childhood stood pulling on your mother’s apron strings… supermarkets are clever, they play with your emotions and make you hungry before you can even see the food! But have you noticed that smell doesn’t hang around long once you’re through the door? That, of course, is intentional!

Scientists have found that although the delicious infused scents of vanilla and chocolate chip cookies motivates us (particularly women who are 17% more likely to want to buy sweet things on smelling a sweet scent), it also distracts us which means we are unable to perform cognitive tasks to the same ability. This is because these infused, and more complex, smells take longer for our brains to recognize and associate with – subconsciously taking up more of your ‘mental bandwidth’ than necessary. Whereas the simple smells such as just ‘orange’, allow for easier mental processing speeds.

Before blasting out a ‘one smell suits all’ candle & air freshener… it may be key to note that scent is dependent on gender. For instance it’s been found that vanilla encourages women to purchase items and spend more money (whereas men are more likely to not spend money when smelling vanilla) and men prefer rose scents when being asked to part with their cash. With this in mind, we can suddenly see how it’ll be hard to please all potential buyers…
Take a moment and look at your style of property. Is it a swanky new pad, or older and traditional.

If you’re unsure, consider asking the advice from your Estate Agent.

Now take this information and accompany the right smell to the home you’re selling. If you’re selling the family dream with a cosy cottage home, consider memories which may be associated with such a property. Warm apple pie and cinnamon scents can help create the homely feel. But if you have a new build property with more crisp design, consider white tea and fig – this scent has a clean and fresh smell that has been described by aroma experts as soothing and luxurious.  

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Fall-throughs hit housing market for £1bn annually

The latest Fall-Through Index by the House Buyer Bureau has revealed that the number of fall-throughs in the UK fell by -25% in the final quarter of 2025, but the estimated total cost incurred still stood at £218.3m in those three months alone, pushing the total cost for the year to over £1bn. House Buyer…
Read More
Breaking News

More tenants enter the rental market

Tenant demand climbs across England in Q1 as rental market pressure builds for letting agents The latest research by The Letting Partnership has found that tenant demand across England remained strong during the first quarter of 2026, with 27.4% of all rental listings already securing a tenant, meaning that the country’s hottest rental markets are…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

7 Ways Estate Agents Can Adapt to a Changing Property Market

The UK property landscape is evolving rapidly, and estate agents are under increasing pressure to implement innovative strategies. With shifting buyer expectations, new technologies, and alternative sales models entering the market, adapting your approach is essential. So, if you’re looking to see success with your agency, here are just seven key ways you can remain…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

Spring clean drives high maintenance bill for landlord

The latest market insight from property management specialist, Rushbrook & Rathbone, suggests that property maintenance spend is set to surge in April, as the annual ‘spring clean’ by landlords saw the month account for the second highest proportion of total annual maintenance spend in 2025, as well as the largest average spend per work order. Rushbrook…
Read More
Breaking News

65% of homebuyers blame slow process on conveyancers

The latest research from Lyons Bowe reveals that 65% of recent homebuyers say the conveyancing process was the slowest part of their buying process, with a quarter saying the legal back and forth took more than 16 weeks to complete. Lyons Bowe commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK homeowners who made a purchase in the past…
Read More
Breaking News

UK Construction Activity Collapses

Glenigan’s April Construction Index uncovers an industry struggling to cushion the blows from ongoing international conflict and a persistently weak economy. Work starting on-site declined by 17% compared to Q4, remaining 18% below 2025 levels. Residential construction starts dropped by 13% during the Index period and fell by 30% against 2025 figures. Non-residential project-starts dipped…
Read More