Smokers' houses harder to sell

Wilmington (DE) News Journal ^ | September 26, 2003 | Maureen Milford

[Gabz]

As tobacco has become less socially acceptable and home buyers are more aware of indoor air quality, houses that reek of cigarette smoke are becoming a harder sell, experts report.

"It definitely is a major turnoff," said Michael Wilson, a real estate agent with Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors in Brandywine Hundred. "Buyers immediately think about what they'll have to do to eliminate the odor. It's a real drawback and a real negative."

[Gabz]

More folks jumping on the bandwagon of lies looking to make a quick buck.

[Gabz]

I read this on Friday and I am still fuming about it.

of course they go to those paragons of virtue for quotes - Banzhalf-wit and Repugnanace!!!!

[TXBubba]

I'm not an anti-smoker nazi but what I read of the article looked factual to me. I had a friend who bought the home of a smoker. They scrubed the doors in the house numerous times to get all the black stuff off. Ended up having to just buy new doors. Obviously they bought the thing with the knowledge it was a smoker's house. They just figured they would be able to wash the stuff off and clean it up. Easier said than done. They didn't realize how much the smoke permeates the wood and drywall. Same can be said for used cars.

[Puppage]

some experts believe sellers will have to disclose on home condition reports if there was smoking in the house

Smokers are joining the ranks of gun owners (of which I am a proud member) as the new hated minority.

[swarthyguy]

And the final nail in the coffin.

Banning in private homes.

John Locke, turn over once more.

[theDentist]

Cool! So when I go house hunting, I can get a better deal?

[DannyTN]

We looked at buying a smokers home because the price was way below what other homes of the same square footage cost.

But we looked at it from the standpoint that we would change all of the carpet and paint all of the walls. By the time we got through adding up the cost the difference wasn't worth the aggravation.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

You are so right. Smoker houses stink. Then your clothes stink when you sit on the furniture.

Bring a suitcase with you. Yep, that will stink too.

I once bought a smoker's car. I thought that the headliner was tan, but I scrubbed it when I got it home. Much to my surprise, it was white after I got all the dripping tar off of it.

[Gabz]

I recently sold a house in Delaware.

The Real Estate business in Delaware is rather corrupt, and considering they rely on 2 of the most corrupt anti-smokers in the US as they're so-called experts, leaves me scratching my head.

My first real estate agent couldn't even bother making any effort to show my house. she has known me for years and always knew I was a smoker. She said it wasn't a problem.

Needless to say she made no effort to even show my house so I found another agent.

This woman did not know that we were smokers until she saw us working in the yard one day while visitng my next door neighbor. She sold the house for us, and rather quickly. and we got exactly what we wanted for it.

It is articles like this that make it an issue and people such as Repace and Banzhaf who earn their living finding more ways to denormalize, demonize, and dehumanize smokers.

[ladtx]

I agree. The lady in the next door apartment smoked like a chimney. It seeped through the walls in my closet, my clothes smelled of cigarette smoke. It wasn't until she moved out that the odor went away.

[Gabz]

Smokers are joining the ranks of gun owners (of which I am a proud member) as the new hated minority.

and drinkers!!!

And I'm all three.

[Bubba_Leroy]

We bought a house a couple of years ago. We looked at lots of houses and I could easily tell which ones were owned by smokers. Some of them really reeked. I am not going to spend thousands of dollars to buy a house that stinks.

I absolutely support smokers' right to smoke in their own homes. But it is a fact that if you smoke in your house there will be less of a market for your house when you decide to sell it.

[CSM]

"In the future, some experts believe sellers will have to disclose on home condition reports if there was smoking in the house. Others in the antismoking camp believe it's only a matter of time before a buyer sues to try to force a seller to cover the cost of a major cleanup."

This is the only part that upsets me. I am sure that a buyer has the knowledge of the condition of the home when they buy it. They also get home inspections and are very knowledgeable concerning the condition of all aspects of the home. To try to come back later because it took to long to clean is pure BS.

Otherwise, if someone wants to by my home they will make an offer. If they don't like the smell, they will try to low ball me. If I accept the low ball offer then we have an agreement! If they want to pay me the value (appraised) minus some premium related to the smoke smell and I accept it is a contractual agreement, don't come back and try to renegotiate the deal through the courts.

Many people have a lot of work when they buy a new home. They have to clean, do landscape, paint, lay carpet, fix roofs, fix furnaces and a/c, etc. Another case of the non smoker's laziness.

[HamiltonJay]

There is no Lie about the stink and filth that a house of a smoker has versus a non smoker. I've had to seal repaint, and cleanup and replace enough carpet in homes and apartments of habitual smokers... I've seen more than my fair share of homes where the walls are a dark cream, except where the pictures were hung and the true white paint the walls were shows through..


Cleanup from smoking is expensive and costly, and frankly no way I'd buy a house that smells like an ashtray regardless of the health issues... anymore than I'd buy a house that stunk of cat or dog urine.

If you smoke in your house, you are driving down your property value on resale, its just a pure and simple fact.

[Gabz]

So when I go house hunting, I can get a better deal?

I doubt it, at least from my experience. We got exactly what we wanted when we sold our house earlier this year, and it was more than the identical mostly recently sold house in the community that was not owned by smokers.

[HamiltonJay]

Home inspections do not investigate or report anything related to cigarette smoking.... I agree rather foolish for a buyer to buy a home and then sue to get it cleaned up... but it happens all the time with buyers suing for all sorts of things... that they should know about or are obvious after they move in.

[TXBubba]

I disagree. I think it is just a fact that it limits who will buy the house. To make yourself a victim out of it is ridiculous.

If you smoke in the house then the house will smell of smoke. That's fine if you don't mind it. This article just points out that as people have become sensitive to the smell they are choosing not to buy the home. It's been true in the used car business for years. That's why a lot of ads say "non-smoker" in them.

[Wright is right!]

If you want something that will de-nic your stuff, there's nothing better than Tri-Sodium Phosphate, which painters use to de-gunk a wall before painting. Works great, and it's cheap. A bottle that makes about 20 gallons of the stuff is in the paint sections of Home Dee-pot and Loweys for about 3.59. Amazing how well it works.

Michael

[jsbankston]

We own rent houses and do not rent to smokers. We used to but the cost of rehabbing a house after a smoker moves is too expensive.

[Wheee The People]

More folks jumping on the bandwagon of lies...

I'm not sure where you see the lie? Is it that you don't believe that smoker's houses stink?

Or that you don't believe they sell for less? In other words people allocating their money based upon a perceived value. It's fair to disagree with ther perception, but frankly I think that they are voting with their dollars....