My STBX and I are selling our house. Our 19 year old son lives with us. My husband eats a very strict meat based diet. He cooks his steaks and burgers every night in a cast iron pan that he rarely cleans. The whole operation is VERY smelly. He thinks leaving the exhaust fan on during the cooking phase eliminates the smells (not even close). Our son loves to cook with garlic and onions, he leaves the exhaust fan on for hours but it’s very hard to eliminate the smell and he will cook with onions then cook with them 2 hours later anyway. Neither one of them realizes the house smells. I can ask the realtor to say something but he is very sweet and I’m afraid he won’t be direct enough for them understand how important smell is when selling a house. Any suggestions?
Selling house and food smells
byu/Suitable_Food_2535 inRealEstate
Posted by Suitable_Food_2535
16 Comments
I think opening the windows and airing out the home would definitely help.
What about getting an air purifier for the kitchen? It might help?
….talk to them? Lol. What kind of relationship are you in that your husband and son don’t listen to you
hmmm, i feel like the daily steaks in cast iron pan have played a big role.
but getting back to the point- airing out the house will. help. also, food smells stick around longer because the food splatters and sticks to things. in and around the cooktop/stove top, scrub the surgaces and the walls. also scrub thr exhaust unit itself. if you have floormats and other cloth things around the kitchen, throw them or wash them thoroughly. check. the ceiling of the kitchen too for a sheen of food oil etc.
What about cleaning after cooking? Whenever my mom visits, she loves to cook — usually steaks with garlic and onions on the cast iron. After she’s done, she always makes sure to clean everything really well with dish soap and a bit of Fabuloso. Then she boils water with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and orange peels — it smells amazing and completely gets rid of any leftover food odors!
Ozone air purifier. Clean carpets.
Tell them no more cooking inside. Use a grill if need be.
If you can, open windows for about an hour. Also, take a cup of water and a cup of vinegar and boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. The smell should be gone.
Can you convince hubby and son to grill outside at least a couple of times a week?
Can hubby cook i a dutch over instead of a pan (less splatter onto walls).
Can you buy hubby and son and air fryer and convince them to use that a couple times a week?
We religiously cook with onion, garlic, shallots, etc. house never smells. Get em to clean the damn pots and pans, that’s nasty and most likely what’s causing the issue, not the food itself
Ozone. As a realtor, I always have one on hand for my listings.
Another example of how living in a house you’re trying to sell is going to cost you $20,000 plus!
Expect to sit on market a long time and get low ball offers.
There’s a very simple answer and it’s to get an air purifier for the kitchen and basically running 24 seven if you’re looking to sell the house
Cook outside or in the garage. I have an oven/stovetop in the garage for bacon and whenever I cook fish.
If you really want to sell the house eat out. If you are just hoping that it sells eventually, keep doing what you are doing.
Can they not use a BBQ?
Get a blackstone griddle and have them cook outside. The first time my husband left an unwashed pan on the stove, he would be looking in the garbage for it.