How to improve smell of vacant house that is for sale?

[littlecrystal]

I am going for holidays abroad and leaving the keys with my agency for them to market my house. Not sure how to maintain a smell of freshness as the house is old, rain and cold from outside, closed windows and heating down to minimum.

I can only think of socket air freshener. Any other ideas, please?

Thanks!

Reed diffusers are good. Do not buy cheap as chips. Go for a slightly musky pong, and make sure it's the same one in each room. Put one on any mantlepiece. If a windowsill catches any sun, put one there.

I did this when I had to prep my house for sale in the UK when I was in Australia.

Plug-ins, irrationally, look as if you've something to hide, whereas reed diffusers look a bit classier.

Don't do socket fresheners...they can be a fire hazard, and especially as you're not going to be there....

can you leave the windows in a bedroom and lounge open but locked on the latch iykwim?

Crystal dehumidifiers will help keep any damp smells down. Put a few round the house in unobtrusive places.

We have a holiday house and do this - really makes a difference

Can you set the heating to come on low daily ? Keeping it warmer will stop it feeling cold and damp. Also getting someone to go in every few days and open the windows for an while to let fresh air in.

No easy way to keep an empty house feeling loved in, especially in the winter. We had this when we sold my mother's house. Hopefully buyers are at least aware of that (vain hope maybe).

You can encourage ventilation even with the windows shut by leaving the loft hatch open a bit. I do this in hot weather but it may not suit in winter.

If the house is unoccupied and heating is on low (say 12C) it should be dry because the usual sources of excess moisture will not be present (wet washing, steamy showers, breathing).

If there is damp due to construction defects or leaks, it will be noticeable without good ventilation. Turn off the water main stopcock and if you have a cold water tank in the loft, run both bath taps until they stop. Tape the WCs lids shut.

Thanks. I have just bought a new plug-in which I was going to "hide" in the socket under the stairs and leave it there, but read enough about fire hazard so throwing this away. Will look into other options.