Staging Tip: Don't Forget to 'Clear the Air' before Showing Your HomeBy Keith Loria As sellers prepare their home for sale, it is important to remember that the quality of air is equally as important as de-cluttering, cleaning and staging, in order to make the home as clean and attractive as possible for potential buyers entering for the first time. Often it is a person's sense of smell that will be triggered first. "Clean or not, houses have odors that are particular to its inhabitants," says Terri Zajac, president of ClearFlite Air Purifiers. "This can be something that the potential buyer or visitor may notice." Often people create ambience to mask odors by burning candles during showings, but that could cause an adverse effect, as it could irritate people who are sensitive to fragrances or smoke. An air purifier that can absorb odors may be a very small financial investment that will pay off significantly in the overall presentation of a home. "A quality air purifier can improve the overall interior atmosphere of a home, reducing airborne dust or particles, and making it simply feel cleaner," says Zajac. "This is certainly a plus. But it is in the realm of odors that an air purifier can make the biggest difference regarding the successful sale of a home." The different cleaning technologies used are HEPA filtration, electrostatic precipitation, and negative ion generation. There are also air cleaners that have technology that removes bacteria, fungi, volatile organic compounds, odors, and gases. "Air purifiers can reduce air-born bacteria from mold, fungi and household chemicals found in many cleaners used in day-to-day house cleaning," says Barry Cohen, the owner of Absolute Air Cleaners and Allergy Products. "These pollutants in your home's air can aggravate asthma, allergies, and sinus problems, especially if your household has children or seniors." According to the Environmental Protection Association, the air inside your home can be up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside the house. Along with reducing airborne bacteria, many air purifiers remove irritants such as pet dander, pollen, smoke, and dust from your home's air and make the air smell cleaner by noticeably reducing odors. Zajac warns that air purifiers aren't used to remove harmful gases such as carbon monoxide or radon from your home's air, and that separate devices that test for these health risks are still necessary. "An air purifier is ideal for general pet odors, cooking odors, odors from cleaning products, and the odors from the humans living in the home," Zajac says. "They can do wonders for setting the tone of someone seeing the house in its best light for the first time." |
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