Just FTR, my wife cleaned the whole house the other day with Pine-Sol and I almost vomited the moment I stepped in the door. Apparently the smell isn’t universally pleasing.
Have the vents professionally vaccuumed; you won’t believe the difference. As for scents, there’s pretty much someone who hates almost any scent. Without researching it, my gut instinct is that cinnamon would be the most widely accepted. It’s also long-lasting, inexpensve, and reminds people of food, which is second best to the old “Bake some bread right before the Open House” strategy.
In fact, I’d probably find a good mulling spice combination and just leave the dried spices out, boiling some on the stove any time you do drop in.
Here’s a simple version, you can add or subtract as you wish:
<LI class=ingredient sizset=“186” sizcache=“55”>6 whole cardamom <LI class=ingredient sizset=“187” sizcache=“55”>1 tablespoon whole cloves <LI class=ingredient sizset=“188” sizcache=“55”>1 tablespoon whole allspice <LI class=ingredient sizset=“92” sizcache=“41”>1 teaspoon orange rind <LI class=ingredient sizset=“189” sizcache=“55”>12 whole cinnamon sticks
Good Luck!
Sorry, realized too late to fix the weird formatting notes there.
Another possibility is eucalyptus. Just be careful not to over-do it.
I just remembered something that will lightly scent a house but not be overpowering: they sell little smelly pads you put on your AC filter, so it pumps a light clean smell through the house. I stick one of these in any time I’m changing my filter.
Dryer sheets will do it too.
Things like vanilla, mint, fresh linens, wood.
But really the best scent of all might be no discernable scent at all.
Son. Of. A. Bitch.
I never thought of that. Thank you! (I’m serious).
You are welcome. Sometimes companies like to charge you more money when THEY repurpose something…My mom has dryer sheets in all her vents in the house…not in with the furnace filter.
I just saw an episode of My First Sale on HGTV yesterday and they said not to use air fresheners because it makes people wonder what odors you’re trying to cover up.
I’m not sure that stale = not clean. I’m a renter who moves every couple of years, and I’ve seen plenty of unoccupied properties that have been empty for a couple of months. The “vacant” smell is pretty distinctive, and has never made me think that a place smelled bad/not clean. Even a little bit of dust here and there wouldn’t be a dealbreaker, as long as there were no stains/spills/dead bugs, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but as long as there are no negative odors then simply “stale” is not a bad thing.
I may try the dryer sheets or the Febreze. I like the idea of cookies, but I’m hoping there are lots of showings while I’m at home an hour away!
My wife and I happen to be the first tenants in our current apartment (they recently expanded the property, and we had really good timing). We noticed that there were little piles of sawdust in the corners from the carpentry work that had been done (cabinets, the various trim bits you see along the walls and doors, etc.) and mentioned it to the landlady. She offered to have it vacuumed up for us but we declined - we really liked that smell!
Dunno if it would be a good idea for you to pour sawdust in the corners (heh), but maybe a bowl of wood chips will spruce up the place (pun intentional) a touch. That said, this could fall in the “Air Freshener Hiding Something” category, but I figure wood is a smell someone “expects” in a living place, regardless of what other smells good or bad to them.
Oust smells clean but not overpowering.
Fragrance free or lightly scented dryer sheets are wonderful (as mentioned).
But really, have the place clean and well-lit. My parents are house hunting currently and I tag along, and you would be amazed at the little things people forget. I’d also vacuum every other day (if the viewings are often or during the week).
We just bought an “investment property” (investment being a joke, I expect to loose some money on the deal, but it was a way to help out a relative without dumping cash down a black hole. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll break more or less even…we’ll see). Anyway, the budget was small, and so we were looking at a lot of frankly frightening properties. In our budget, you were a leg up if:
The house was unoccupied during showings. Its hard to evaluate a house where the owners are watching TV in the living room and cooking in the kitchen.
The can of paint and the paper bag used for huffing had been removed from the bed. :dubious:
The dog shit was cleaned out of the basement. :eek:
We made out really well with a very clean house (had been recently painted inside, so it smelled like paint), that was unoccupied and had been for a few months in a fairly good neighborhood (I have friends in the nearby blocks).
Ha, Dangerosa, my mom buys some…questionable properties; they’re in pretty good neighborhoods, but they’re often the homes of people who should have been moved into retirement homes looooong ago.
One house had someone who smoked their hookah indoors and had giant smoke stains on the wall. WTF? I mean, more obvious things like not cleaning the glass cooktop are to be expected, but really? Hookah with giant smoke rings?
Also to the OP, I’d look at some home staging websites to get some ideas. See if you place stacks up; if your place is just a notch above (and it’s as easy as fresh flowers on the table or simply cleaner than all the other places) it’ll go sooner.
Ok, I got a secret.
I cup of salt and one cup of baking soda. Mix it up and add 10 drops of your fav scent of (pure) aromatic oil. I like clove oil but lemon oil is a good clean scent. Spread it on the rugs and sprinkle on your furniture. Let it rest an hour and then vacuum it off. It is non staining and you pick the scent you want. Do not use anything but pure aromatic oil from say a health food store. Many cheap oils have other toxic ingredients that you would smell. I would never use anything like perfume as this would be overpowering and not pleasant.
If you use lemon oil I hear it kills fleas? This may be an old wives tale but the clean smell part works and is all natural.
This is perfect, far as I’m concerned. A drop of fir or balsam oil on a light bulb ring puts out a clean, woodsy odor, too. Fruity or flowery scents smell cheap to me, no matter if the dispensers sing, dance, squirt out fumes every thirty seconds, or come with their very own fans. A cheap apple or lilac smell on top of a bad smell = an extra, extra bad smell.
If I was buying a house, and someone was actually baking cookies or bread??? I’d think, what unoriginal, simple-minded assholes! Am I ten years old coming home from school?? I want a clean, fresh ‘new’ smell (regardless of the age of the house). Not food! Fat Aunt Fannie baking COOKIES? - Get the hell out of my clean, fresh kitchen!
Hahaha, see, I’d think “Ooh, bread/cookies!” and think nothing more about it. 
Well, I’m cranky that way and resistant to cliched manipulation! But really, ‘food’ smells?? Cookies, bread, hot dogs and kapusta, garlic bread - all smell good, yeah, but I’d feel like I was intruding on someone’s dinner.
My mom read in her health magazine that orange oil repels fleas, so we once rubbed orange peel all over our dog’s coat. Poor guy still had fleas but smelled 100% better!
The only way I want the house I’m looking at to smell of fresh baked cookies is if you’re going to offer me one to eat.
If you also have a gluten free cookie for my daughter, I’m *so *buying the place. 
If you’ve got any wooden surfaces rub some linseed oil into them.