If you're thinking of selling your home, then like most everyone else, you will rightfully want top dollar for it. Before you call that realtor looking for an appraisal, you may want to take some time to consider, if perhaps, you may be driving down the value of your home. Many bad habits and personal quirks can easily decrease the value of your home to a potential buyer. Here is a list of the top five habits that assessors feel quickly devalue your home:

The first on the list is smoking. It is, by far, one of the most damaging and difficult odours to eliminate from a home, especially if the home has been filled with consistent smokers for many years. It is also very expensive to hire the needed professionals it will take to come through and remove all traces of cigarette smoke from the walls, ceiling, floors and flooring, including any carpeted areas. That is considering, there are no burn holes or other damage due to cigarette smoking. If so, there will be additional expenses in repairing or replacing things such as counter tops and flooring.

A full elimination of cigarette smoke from a home will require a thorough cleansing of all surfaces, especially the walls. Once all the nicotine has been removed, your walls will then have to be sealed and repainted. Aside from cleaning all carpets, you can also expect to hire a professional to clean your furnace, change the filters and flush out all the air ducts. For an average size home, removing all traces of cigarette smoke will run approximately $1,500. To seal and repaint, you can expect to pay another $6,000. If a home has belonged to a heavy smoker who has pets that urinate inside the home, realtors warn home sellers to expect a cleaning and replacement bill of around $25,000. They also warn that most home buyers will not even consider putting in an offer on such a home, regardless of the clean up efforts or how low the cost of the home.

A distant second for home depreciation are pet odours, particularly the smell of cat urine. It is very difficult to remove the smell and generally requires replacing the carpets, and sometimes, even the sub-flooring. This bill can run a homeowner up to $15,000.

Too many plants are also an eyesore for potential homebuyers. Not only does it give the overwhelming feel of a jungle, too many plants can overload a home with humidity, which can cause mould problems. To rectify injection mould issues in a home can run up a $10,000 bill by the time all the insulation has been replaced, which is the only way to ensure a complete eradication of the problem.

Additional devaluation issues are obvious things such as too much clutter. A potential home buyer's first impression of your home is very important and you only get that chance once. Having a home that is even somewhat up to date with environmentally friendly things like windows, furnace or on-demand hot water tanks are also an additional selling feature. If your home is furnished with leaking windows, leaking water tanks and an insufficient furnace, these are not a great selling points to any potential buyer.