Sensory Solutions - Using Your Senses To Locate Problem Areas

When preparing your home for the real estate market, one needs a fresh and honest perspective about the total effect of the house – and not just your own. Prospective buyers notice everything because walking through your house is a totally new experience for them. They feel the air temperature, notice cleanliness and colors, hear noises and smell odors. As a seller, you need to create a similar experience for yourself in order to locate all problem areas that need to be corrected. So, you think your home is ready to show?

Give your house a sensory test by changing your perspective. Walk through and analyze your house twice – once during the day and once at night. You’ll notice those dirty windows more during the day but may miss the debris clouding the overhead kitchen light that’s more noticeable at night. Also, try crawling across a room on your hands and knees – you’re more likely to come across those grimy baseboards or unsightly bare electrical outlets when you’re closer to the ground. Lying on your back will provide a better look at ceiling fans, lighting, spots on the ceiling, cobwebs in corners or cracks at the top of walls. Fix what you find and then give the home one more test: Recruit a trusted friend to put it through the same scrutiny. Be sure that you and your friend each use your senses to analyze the house – sight, smell, hearing, and touch.

Sight is the most obvious sense to use when searching for problem areas. Before analyzing each room, make sure light bulbs are the appropriate wattage and work properly. Then, look closely at the walls for scratches, marks, cobwebs, missing or broken light switch plates, and mold or mildew. Are wall clocks dusted and set properly? Check ceilings for brown spots, water stains, dirt, cob webs and dusty fans. Analyzing the floor may seem ridiculous since you walk on it all the time, but often defects are overlooked during the course of the day. Search for uneven floors, worn or soiled carpet, and water stains. Do area rugs need to be cleaned or replaced? Does the wood floor need refinishing? In the kitchen and bathrooms, test faucets for leaks and replace if necessary. Also check the walls, shower, tub and sink for mold. Scrub with a mixture of bleach and water to eliminate mold and mildew. Everything should look clean and sparkling.

Often odor is a more accurate indicator of a problem than sight. A carpet may look clean but after crawling across it you might detect odors from pets, smoke and ground-in food. A peculiar smell is often caused by mold especially in bathrooms, though unnoticed water damage my cause this problem in other areas of the house, too. Like other odor sources, mold can usually be removed but will return if the cause is not addressed. Do you need better ventilation in the bathroom?