The Power of Scent

So many home staging and house selling tip sites and books will tell you, "Bake a pie. Bake some cookies. Bake some bread. The smell will drive people wild and make them whip out their checkbooks on the spot." I admit it, it is possible that the majority of buyers out there might like to smell pie upon entering a house. But I submit, friends, that we are trying to reach the broadest range of folks possible. Statistics show that less than 1% of sales come from Open Houses, so most sales come from individual showings. In a perfect world, we would have prior notice of showings, but in today's world of tons-of-houses-for-sale, we're lucky to get a phone call a half hour before a Realtor shows up with a potential buyer in tow. Hardly time to throw the laundry into the washer and turn on all the lights before you have to skedaddle, let alone bake a pie.

Well, okay, how about candles? Unattended candles, hmmmm. I suppose you could light them and then blow them out right before you leave, but then the house would smell like wax. You could use some of those plug-in thingies or one of those remote spray jobbies, but who knows how many people really want to walk into a house that smells like a Mai Tai or a laudromat?

So, what's a seller to do? What worked well for me was a combination of air sanitizer in a neutral scent with a fabric refresher, again, in a neutral scent. I wanted the house to present as blank a canvas as possible--for all the senses. I wanted the potential buyers to be able to project their lives onto the stage of the house, and that included their being able to decide what they wanted to bake, not being forced to think "If I live here, I must bake bread and drink umbrella drinks." Maybe an extreme view, but, again--I wanted to appeal to the broadest market possible with potential buyers being greeted by a non-specific neutral, clean smell.

How to Stay Cool

"That's great, Jen," you say. "Keep cool. Riiiight." Alright, I know, I know. It's easy to say it, but how do you do it? Well, there are a bunch of ways; you have to find the way that works for you. If you are a religious person, you can ask congregation members and your clergy to keep you in their prayers. It always helps to know that people are pulling for you. If you're not a big church goer, you can still have your friends think positive thoughts, send you calming energy, etc--whatever fits comfortably into your world view.

Maybe you're more of an "I am an island" person. Someone who does not look to others. If you work out, you could easily incorporate a "Stay cool" mantra as you're doing your cardio. As a matter of fact, pairing positive talk that everything will work out with the endorphin rush you get from exercise is probably a really good idea.

"Gee, Jen. So far you've given us mystical assignments; where's all the information on the concrete steps I need to take to sell my house?" Well, friends, unless you have your head in the right space, your action plan isn't going to be as effective. I'm not saying that you won't be able to sell; I'm just saying that our negative thoughts are our own worst enemy when selling. Get your head in the game, and I promise the nuts and bolts are coming.

The Case for Keeping Cool, Part II

As I was saying, believe that selling your house is the right decision. Why? Honestly, because if you have come to the conclusion that you have to sell, you obviously don't have another choice. So, you may as well decide that it is the right thing to do. If you spend a lot of time wishing you didn't have to sell, wishing that things were different, wanting to stay in that house even though you can't, you've set up a war within yourself. A war between what is and what you want. So, no matter what you are doing externally to sell--hiring a Realtor, listing, putting a sign in the yard--internally your thought is "This sucks. I can't believe this is happening. Why us?"

If this is your internal monologue, how in the world can you even begin to focus on what you need to do? Folks, stop the madness. Cry, gnash your teeth, rail against the fates, but then pull it together, take some deep breaths, and just keep cool. Tell yourself that, no matter why you're here, you need to sell. You need to sell quickly so you can get on with your lives.

Do what you need to do to reconcile your internal thoughts with your external reality. The mind is a powerful thing. To paraphrase the NAACP, "The Power of the Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." Spending your time wanting something that is entirely at odds with your reality is a waste of time. And believing that you can't sell your house when you're going through the motions creates a kind of psychic deadlock. Look at our little pug friends up there. They're both pulling for all they're worth. If we could hear them, they'd be growling and doing that snore-breathing that pugs do. But for all the energy they're expending, neither is getting anywhere. Get it?

Now we get to the crux of the matter. In a nutshell, here's the case for keeping cool: if you don't keep your cool and surrender to what is, you will expend a lot of energy being anxious and conflicted and you really won't be able to sell. Settle down, reconcile yourself to your reality, and believe you can sell. I believe that you can. Still not convinced? More later...

The Case for Keeping Cool, Part I

When you know that what you're doing is right and that it will lead you to your goal, the anxiety goes away. You are left with your resolve and your action plan, and you are better able to focus on what needs to be done since you're not spending that time worrying if what you're doing is right.

So, how do you get there? How do you go from panic and anxiety to assurance and purpose? What people have tried to tell me for ever is true: It really is all in your head. At some point, you have to make the conscious decision that what you're doing is correct. I think a lot of the anxiety comes from worrying that all your plans will end in ruin. Gee, talk about a self-fulfilling prophesy!

The fact of the matter boils down to this: if you're here reading this, you want or need to sell your house. Believe that, no matter what events led you to this decision, it is the right decision for you at this time.

More later, but I do want to share this with you. It's my shiny new Press Release about my eBook.