November 18th, 2012 10:40 PM by Dan Howard
Let’s face it. A house that smells bad, is more difficult to sell. People react to bad odors on a very elementary and primal level. It stinks… the reaction is “yuck”! It is not easy to fall in love with a home you think stinks. When it does sell, it will sell for less money.
The next step is the home inspection. If the cause of the odor is found, the cost of correcting the problem will be deducted from the sales price. Bang….POW… Smack…. you get hit again for the same problem when the buyer, who bought the house at a reduced price wants you to fix the problem. The contractors that bid on the job know that the seller is on the ropes, and that they can charge more (ouch again). If the seller does not fix the problem, and the home goes back on to the market, it will have the rap of “it sold, but the deal fell through because it was a sick house”If you have the problem identified by a proper environmental professional, the problem can be corrected before the home is on the market. This will likely result in the home selling for more money in less time.