For the first time in a long time, homeowners are having trouble selling.
Delistings surged over the summer: For every 100 new listings that hit the market, 21 were pulled. Rather than accept lower offers, frustrated sellers are opting to pull their homes off the market altogether, in what Realtor.com® senior economist Jake Krimmel is calling a “cruel summer.”
It’s just one sign of the shifting power dynamics, as the housing market transitions from years of seller dominance to conditions that are increasingly buyer-friendly. For sellers, that means the bar is higher than it’s been in years. Some are even turning to more creative tactics to catch buyers’ attention.
A comment on a now-viral New York Times Cooking recipe suggests that a fix may be as simple as whipping up a quick confection. The Original Plum Torte has racked up over 18,000 reviews and a solid five-star rating—not just for taste, but apparently for its real estate magic.
“Alas, my house wasn’t selling,” one commenter wrote about their 1988 home sale. “I’d read that the fragrance of baking helps so I bought a frozen loaf of bread, and warmed it in the oven. No sale. Desperate, I baked this torte for an open house. Ta-dah! With the kitchen infused with the sweet perfume of the Original Plum Torte, the house sold.”
As an avid baker and a real estate reporter, I was intrigued. So I set out to understand the power of the plum torte.
Scent has long been a secret weapon in retail, with a booming $3.6 billion scent marketing industry built around one simple truth: Smell is a powerful trigger for memory and emotion.
The idea gained traction in the early 1990s, when neurologist Alan Hirsch found that the presence of a floral scent boosted Nike customers’ intent to purchase by up to 84%. Today, brands from Cinnabon to Samsung use custom fragrances to spark emotional responses and build deeper associations with their products.
Unlike sight or sound, which are routed through the thalamus, scent connects directly to the amygdala (which processes emotion) and the hippocampus (which stores memory). That connection explains why a familiar smell can instantly bring back a long-forgotten moment, and why scent-triggered memories are often more emotional and vivid than those sparked by other senses.
Scent marketing leverages those connections.
A signature smell “will just create that kind of bonding in your head … so that when you think of that brand, you think of that smell, or when you think of the smell, it elicits very positive emotions,” Tianyi Zhang, a doctoral candidate in experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, explained to Atlas Obscura last year.
It’s something that real estate agents have long known and tapped into.
“We have a proprietary scent, which we created with a local candle maker in Miami,” says Christopher Wands with Douglas Elliman. “Sensory tools like smell are huge influences on buyers, although they may not realize it.”
In other words, a plum torte might not just make a house smell like home—it might also make buyers feel like it’s already theirs.
But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and smell can backfire—especially in real estate.
“Smell can be an immediate deal breaker,” explains Nancy Batchelor, a top real estate agent with Compass. “Mold and pet odors are the biggest turnoffs, and buyers will often walk right out the door.”
In some cases, the reaction is more than just emotional. Batchelor recalls showings where prospective buyers refused to continue the tour due to allergic reactions triggered by pet dander, heavy candles, or artificial air fresheners.
Even pleasant smells can raise red flags.
“I once showed a multimillion-dollar property that had cinnamon-scented candles in every room, and the buyers completely lost interest because they felt the sellers were trying to cover something up,” she says.
Other agents agreed, warning that overpowering scents can signal desperation or cover-ups, even if the intent was simply to create ambiance. Among the most common smell-based deal breakers are cigarette smoke, pet odor, mildew, and mold.
So before filling your house with new scents, focus on ridding it of any lingering ones. Once you have a clean slate, subtle and natural wins. A fresh-smelling home may not leave a lasting impression like a warm torte, but it certainly won’t send buyers sprinting for the exit.
I’m no stranger to the power of smell. I worked as a florist and then front of house in an artisanal bakery for years—two gigs that gave me all the firsthand experience I needed to understand the allure of certain aromas.
Both jobs offered a revolving door of customers with the same greeting, “It smells so good in here.” Sometimes, after shifts, I’d meet friends, and after pulling away from a hug, they’d say, “Oh my, you smell so good.”
All to say, I know a good scent when I smell it. And while I’m not currently selling a home, I had to sniff out what the Original Plum Torte had to offer.
I followed the recipe and put the torte in the oven. Within 30 minutes, the delicious aroma of butter, caramelizing sugar, cinnamon, and sweet plums started filling my kitchen. The combination seemed vaguely seasonal, perhaps holiday-esque, but broad enough that I didn’t have a specific association with it.
By the time the torte finished baking, the smells had reached my apartment building’s hallway, making for a very warm welcome when I returned from taking out the trash.
It was easy to see how the scent could set an open house apart and help buyers picture themselves making the space their own. The agents I spoke with noted that the smell of fresh baking alone wouldn’t secure an offer, but engaging all five senses is always a smart strategy.
“Selling a home is never just about the structure and a price tag,” says Jessica Vance, owner of Jessica Vance Real Estate and Mortgages. “It’s an emotional experience. When buyers walk in and everything looks beautiful, feels welcoming, and smells amazing, that’s when they fall in love with a property. And when people feel passionate, they pay top dollar.”
It even works on apartments you’re halfway through a lease on. As I sat down at my kitchen table with a warm slice of torte, I couldn’t help but fall just a little more in love with where I live.
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