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

Section 21s continue to rise ahead of looming ban

The latest research industry insight from LegalforLandlords Section 21 “no-fault” evictions continued to rise in 2025, increasing by 1.7% following a sharp 20.4% surge the previous year. This sustained growth highlights landlords’ continued reliance on Section 21 notices, raising important questions about how possession will be regained once they are outlawed under the Renters’ Rights Act,…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Rightmove house price data showing a 0.8% month on month increase

Commenting on the latest Rightmove house price data showing a 0.8% month on month increase, Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners, said: “Today’s rise in UK house prices points to underlying resilience, but momentum remains constrained by affordability pressures and a ‘higher for longer’ interest rate environment. While recent rate cuts signal easing…
Read More
Breaking News

Canary Wharf tops the London Marathon route

The latest insight from property management specialist Rushbrook & Rathbone has found that E14 is the strongest postcode along the London Marathon route for landlords looking to invest in the capital’s rental market, delivering an estimated average yield of 6.6%. Rushbrook & Rathbone analysed current asking house prices and rents across postcode districts spanning the London…
Read More
Breaking News

46% surge in remortgaging activity in Q1

Stonebridge Mortgage Market Index    Overall mortgage activity rose 24.6% in Q1 while applications for home purchase softened Stonebridge today relaunches its Mortgage Market Briefing as a quarterly Mortgage Market Index   The volume of remortgage applications surged 46% in Q1 prompting overall mortgage activity to jump by a quarter, Stonebridge can reveal. The mortgage…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Housing market remains steady despite higher mortgage rates

The housing market remains steady so far in April despite higher mortgage rates due to global uncertainty. Average new seller asking prices rise by 0.8% (+£2,929) in April to £373,971. This is consistent with February and March, but is below the long-term average for April. The average two‑year fixed rate has risen to 5.42%, from…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing market springs back into life

The latest research by Yopa reveals that as Spring begins, 6.3% more homes are on England’s housing market today compared to the start of the year, with some counties seeing increases of more than 16%, showcasing growing seller confidence in a market that is on the up. Yopa has analysed residential listings data from March…
Read More