Before you accept handover or move belongings in, walk the empty property with a fresh nose: check every room, open and smell inside every cabinet and wardrobe, run the AC for ten minutes and note any change, check bathrooms for dry drain traps, and look for water staining. Identify whether any smell is smoke, pet, cooking or damp — each needs different work — and get the source dealt with before you paint or move in. Raise a strong inherited smell with the landlord at handover.
Key points
- Do the odor inspection while the property is empty — it is your best and cheapest chance.
- Open every cupboard, run the AC, check bathrooms and look for water stains.
- Identify the smell type before deciding on treatment.
- Fix the source before repainting or moving furniture in.
The room-by-room walk
Arrive after ten minutes outside so your nose is fresh. Walk every room slowly and note where any smell is strongest and weakest. Get close to the floor, the walls, the ceiling near AC diffusers, and the base of walls where furniture stood. A uniform smell through the home suggests smoke residue or the air supply; a localised one suggests a material or a spot.
The AC test
Turn the AC on and leave it running for ten minutes. If a musty or other smell appears or strengthens, the system is carrying it — coil, drain or ducts — and should be inspected. See AC smell.
Cabinets and wardrobes
Open and smell inside every kitchen cabinet, every wardrobe, and every built-in cupboard. Musty smells concentrate in closed units, and previous-tenant smoke and cooking residue is often strongest inside cabinetry. Check the wall behind any fitted wardrobe if you can — a cool, damp wall behind it is a problem you want to know about before you move in. See wardrobe and cabinet smell.
Bathrooms and moisture
- Run water in each bathroom to fill drain traps — a long-empty property often has a sewage smell from dried-out traps that resolves once refilled.
- Check under the kitchen and bathroom sinks for damp or staining.
- Look at ceilings and the base of walls for water staining, especially on a top floor or below a bathroom.
- Note whether any room smells musty after being closed — that points to a moisture source.
Order of work before you move in
- Correct any moisture source (leak, drainage, condensation).
- Clean hard surfaces top-down.
- Deal with property-owned soft materials — carpet, curtains — and anything the landlord is replacing.
- Seal and repaint walls and ceilings where smoke or cooking residue is heavy.
- Professional odor treatment where needed, after cleaning and before repainting.
- Only then bring in furniture, mattresses and stored fabric.
Ten minutes with the AC on and every cupboard open, before you sign, is the most cost-effective odor inspection there is.