A Wasilla Real Estate News reader who works in the Environmental Health Field has contributed the following article.? We look forward to adding ?a “Healthy Home” category on this site soon.
For many home sellers who believe the TV commercials that claim chemical sprays ?sanitize? the air, plug-ins ?freshen? the air and fragrance emitting devices actually clean the air, well?this may not be good news.?
The savvy home buyer has added chemical fragrances to their list of what they don?t want to smell when they are looking to buy a home. These chemical fragrances are now listed right next to mold, cigarette smoke and animal urine by many home buyers.
Home buyers today are more educated than ever. Even inexperienced first time home buyers understand that fragrances do not clean the air, they contaminate it and more often than not make people very sick. They have kids with asthma and allergies. They themselves might suffer from migraines, anaphylaxis or fragrance sensitivity.
Home buyers know that clean should not have a smell. So, while the location, square footage and price of your home might be perfect for your would-be buyer, the smell of your home just might be the deciding factor on why an offer was not written.What does your house smell like? Once plug in style fragrance emitting devices are used in a home, the oil / fragrance permeates the sheetrock as well as flooring.?This also?goes for the fragranced dryer sheets in the laundry room. These chemical odors then circulate in the air vent system and will never come out, no matter what you do.
With the growing population of people suffering with fragrance sensitivity, asthma and allergies, house hunting can prove to be quite a challenge.
If you are in the market to sell your home, increase your odds of getting top dollar and more offers by discontinuing the use of fragranced products. Open your windows and let the fresh air in.? Clean with non-fragranced products. . Your house will then be marketable to all potential buyers… even those with health issues.
After all, you do want your home to take a buyers breath away… but not literally.
Thank you for the above information.? If anyone else would like to contribute, feel free to submit an article by email.? It must be your own and you will need to give me permssion to publish. ?
February 24th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Good advice! Some sellers and I were talking about this issue today. We need some nice warm weather so we can open some windows here…
February 24th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Let’s see, it’s about ten below zero right now. I still recommend that people get some fresh air into their home.
Thanks for stopping in.
February 25th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Interesting… We just turned down a house for this exact reason. We couldn’t even finish the walk through. There were candles in the bathrooms and livingroom, potpouree in a bowl on the table and those plug-ins scattered in different outlets (even one in the kitchen). The smell was so strong that we could literally “taste” the fragrances in our mouth.
We just wanted to get out of the house. Interestingly enough, this was not a vacant house. I wondered about the health of the people who actually lived in this chemical fragrance soup home.
Definately not worth having to take Allergy or Migraine meds for.
I’ll pass.
February 25th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Great article, a very large percentage of the population is highly affected from scented products like perfumes and “air cleaners” that do nothing but increase the problem or trigger health problems like asthma or make an existing health condition worse. I myself can not allow anyone inside my residence with scented items on the person as many are known to trigger my migraines. The following link has a great vast amount of data on how dangerious scented products can be. http://www.ourlittleplace.com/perfume.html
February 26th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Thank you for bringing the topic of fragrance into the light. It’s a serious health issue for many. While looking for a fragrance-free home, I can remember one house we wanted to look at. I couldn’t even go in because I can tell right away when plug-ins are used and waited outside. My husband went it and said the owner complained her husband suffered from allergies and always felt unwell, yet her house had a plug-in in every room.
This is an eye-opening article on what’s in fragrance these days.
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/1998/106-12/focus.html
February 26th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
WOW! It’s so great to see a realtor educated about the dangers of toxic chemicals in air fresheners, plug-ins, fabric softeners and scented candles! I am looking for a place now and this is the number one issue for me. Thanks for publishing this article and bringing the issue to light. The more things like this are published, the sooner the general public will be aware and the sooner more people will change their habits. THANKS for helping to make this shift!!
February 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I am so glad to see that at least one Real Estate agent is taking this issue seriously. I am not currently in the market for a new home, but if I were this would be the first thing that would knock a house out of the running, even before price or location or amenitites. Thank you for posting this article.
February 26th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I can not go into a home where fragranced products have been used. Scented candles, pot-pourri, fabric sprays, and perfumed cleaning chemicals give me a headache and makes it very difficult for me to breathe. My son has the same problems. He was able to buy a house where none of these toxic products were used, but it took him a long time to find a home that was safe for him. Those scented products are a health hazard for many people, especially those of us who have asthma and allergies. Thanks for the article, about a very serious problem.
February 26th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
OH MY GOSH!! i cant believe someone else out there really realizes the problems that can be caused by these toxic chemicals in our homes and elsewhere! thank you for publishing this to the public. education is so important.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
For many people their home is their sanctuary from the toxicity of chemicals and attempting to rent or purchase a home that has been saturated with toxic fragrances can be a nightmare. I recently got my Broker’s license and started looking at homes to get a feel for selling, but find that many times I can’t even go in a house because realtors often feel the need to use scented candles, plug-ins, etc. When I explain to realtors that I can’t be in the house because of the scented candles, the looks say it all. Also, even if someone’s health doesn’t prevent them from viewing the home, scents are very personal and what is pleasant to one person may be offensive to another. Thank you helping spread the work about the toxicity of scented products and for providing a much need service.
February 27th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Thank you for bringing this issue to light. Air quality in a home is my number one consideration due to health issues. If it has been degraded by incense, plugs-ins, or other fragrances that can’t easily be aired out, forget it. Even more temporary fragrances can cover up a smell of must, mildew or mold, about which I need to know.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Thanks for encouraging fragrance-free homes. Though some fragrances can be pleasing to some people, I think there are at least as many people who would prefer a fragrance-free experience while visiting a home for sale. I know, for myself, if fragrances are used in a home I am considering to purchase, I immediately cross it off my list. I have lived fragrance-free for more than twenty years, and know it’s very difficult to remove fragrances from a home where they have been frequently used. I have a couple of resources that may be useful on my blog: Removing Fragrance from Houses (http://dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=1574) and Workplace Fragrance-Free Policies (http://dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=594).
February 27th, 2007 at 11:49 am
I’m very glad to see this in print! Over the years of moving around it had become increasingly difficult to view a house without fragranced chemicals saturating it. I have asthma & am made severely ill by any whiff of fragrance, from personal care products to plug-ins to cleaning chemicals. I hope someday the word will be spread wide enough about these toxic chemicals that are affecting our next generations genetic make-up.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Thanks so much for this article! I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and like many others who have responded to this article often can’t go in homes due to the level of toxicity. I can tell well before i hit the door. The last time i was at my girlfriends home i nearly passed out in the bathroom b/c of all the toxic cleaning and personal care products. It’s time for people to wake up…..clean doesn’t have a smell!
February 28th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Thanks for the awareness-raising that you are doing in the real estate field! I am a nurse with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and cannot spend any time in homes with air fresheners and other chemicals in use (or recent use). People just don’t realize what they’re doing to themselves and their children. Bravo for you!
February 28th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Thank you for being willing to discuss fragrances, given that many people become so defensive when asked to stop exposing others to second hand fragrance.
Ten years ago when we bought our home, we were focused on one desirable neighborhood where homes sell relatively quickly, yet found we had to pass on house after house because of contaminants we were having trouble with in the air. One in particular was a home I think we would have done well in, but the kitchen cabinets gave off something we reacted to, probably from something the sellers had used to try to make them look newer. We declined to even look at any fragranced houses, given our sensitivities.
A couple of years later, one of my son’s elementary school teachers used scented candles in her room both before school and during breaks, “for relaxation”. She became very defensive when we pointed out that his reaction to those fumes was affecting his ability to learn and his attendance, and made no changes despite our perception of an agreement to the contrary. Although there were also problems in the other classroom he spent a lot of time in, he missed more than half of instructional hours that winter. While the teacher had moved on, the classroom still stank and we refused to allow our daughter to set foot in it 4 years later. A long term impact, indeed.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
i deeply appreciate your publishing this article! a few years ago, i travelled 5 hours to look at a home that i was very interested in based on photos, maps, neighbors, etc., only to discover that the smell of scented laundry products was so overwhelming that i could not complete looking at the house. i could not even consider buying the place with the concern that those smells would never dissolve.
now my next-door neighbor uses scented laundry products, and the dryer vents to outdoors. i love spending time outdoors, but i have to go indoors whenever she washes because the air in my entire yard smells so strong. now i’m determined to also canvas neighbors of any house that i buy to find out if they use scented products.
as my chronic illness progresses, my sensitivity to chemical smells increases. for the sake of everyone’s health, i hope this issue of the damage triggered by scented products becomes quickly and widely known.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:52 am
[…] I asked John Hill of Lynne Lake Home Inspections to contribute an article on radon and he was kind enough to oblige. John has first-hand experience with radon in Wasilla and the Mat-Su Valley. This article is the second in the “healthy home” series. The first was about fragrances. […]
August 4th, 2007 at 10:17 am
[…] Back in February a guest author wrote Why Scents May Not Make Cents When Selling Your Home. This point driven home as I was showing houses in Palmer yesterday. […]
October 6th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
[…] In a previous post a guest author discussed why artificial scents don’t make cents when selling your home. While cigarette smoke or pet smells are also marketing killers as I mentioned in August, covering these odors up is the wrong solution. […]
October 6th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
[…] In a previous post a guest author discussed why artificial scents don’t make cents when selling your home. While cigarette smoke or pet smells are also marketing killers as I mentioned in August, covering these odors up is the wrong solution. […]