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."

[CSM]

"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 more a matter of a person's general cleanliness. If a slob tries to sell their house, it will stink and require a ton of clean up. It will also present a deal to a motivated home buyer.

If a person is clean and properly maintains their homes, the chance of the home needing the cleanup work is much less and the value should be properly reflected.

[Bubba_Leroy]

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

If you don't mind buying a house that smells like cigarette smoke, sure. It is simple supply and demand. If a house does not smell like smoke, then both smokers and non-smokers might buy it. If a house does smell like smoke, then lots of non-smokers will not consider it. If two houses are otherwise identical but one house is automatically rejected by a portion of the market then that house will sell for less.

[CSM]

That is why the buyer needs to personally inspect for cleanliness. It is not difficult to figure out if it is a surface clean only for the home or if it is truly clean. If a home buyer doesn't know how to tell, then they may want to gain the knowledge necessary to do so.

[CFW]

This from Fox & Roach Realtors ?

OH! That is too funny!

[Just another Joe]

The people on this thread are really pathetic.
All you people - Just because someone smokes in a house doesn't mean that it "reeks of cigarette smoke".
Believe it or not, a lot depends on where you smoke in the house and how much you smoke in the house.
Someone that chain smokes, that doesn't leave the house very often, that doesn't keep a clean house by vacuuming, mopping, etc, etc, will probably have a house that smells like stale smoke.
Someone that smokes 3 or four cigarettes a day in their house a day, that has good ventilation or a nice breeze blowing through, vacuums regularly, mops their floors, wipes down their walls on a semi-regular basis, gets their draperies dry cleaned once a year, and in general keeps their house in good condition - you would probably never know the difference.

It's all in how much you smoke and the way you take care of it.

[July 4th]

This article comes from the "No $h!t, Sherlock" department.

[Leisler]

If you lived in an all wood, brand new house, you would be breathing a stew of petrochemicals/hydrocarbons. That is what turpentine-tree pitch is, basically, gasoline. Most people love the smell( pollution ) of new wood. Throw in formaldehyde from carpets, plastic vapors and hundreds of pounds of glue, adhesive, paints and other finishes….and you have the yuppie granola eating wet your pants “new house smell.” Each and every bit is toxic, cancer causing.

Life is chemicals. Get used to it. We are, and everything is the Periodic Table. Of course one could sleep under the stars in the green woods and smell the…the…pollution.

[HamiltonJay]

Agreed, I don't knowingly rent to them either... its a filthy habbit, and my state restricts how much security deposit I can get, so no way I can even think about smokers in my properties.

[CSM]

Prior to purchasing my home I rented an apartment then a house. I received thank you letters concerning the condition of both places at the time of my final inspections. I still see my old landlord, of the house, every now and then. He thanks me for being such a good tenant and states that he wished even a small portion of his renters were as good as I was. Of course, I kept the lawn mowed and house clean. I didn't throw parties and made small improvements to the house. I was considerate that I didn't own the home, but then again I am a smoker so you shouldn't rent to me.

In addition to the thank yous, I received full refunds of both security deposits.

[HamiltonJay]

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah

I'll tell you what, I'll take on that challenge! You can't whipe away the tar and other things that leach into the paint, it doesn't WIPE OFF. Even a 3-4 a day with regular cleaning it is obvious in a year there is a smoker in the house.

You can't get teh smell out of the flooring, particularly carpet because it leaches into the pad, which cleaners can't reach, it leeches into the walls as well.

No way, even a few cigs a day and good routine cleaning you can tell if a smoker lived there, believe me. That house may not be as bad as the 3 pack a day never cleaned their house person, but its still obvious after a year.

[Arrowhead1952]

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

We did the same, and got a very good deal. All it took, was new carpet (the original color was awful) and new paint. I don't know how anyone could stand the colors of the carpet and paint combo in that house. I got the "new house smell" back into a 4 yr old house that had a smoker living in it in less than two weeks.

[CSM]

I should have added that it is your property and it is within your right to invite whomever you want to be tenants. I just was pointing out that there is much more to it than smoking.

[Teacher317]

Why do reporters always ignore simple basic economic principles?

The houses are harder to sell?
That means they'll be sold for less.
That means the smokers have less money to spend. (in addition to the cost of the cigs)
That means that there's yet another financial incentive to stop smoking.
That also means that non-smokers have extra finncial incentive to buy a smoker's house, and manage the damage as they see fit.

In short, there IS NO PROBLEM HERE! The automatic responses of the market already do far more than any dip-stick reporter ever could. The moron writing the story needs to get an education and grow a brain.

[HamiltonJay]

Well that's great really, I am glad you are a good tenant... world definately could use more of them. However I still won't rent to known smokers.

By the time I put a house up for rent I have generally thousands if not 10s of dollars invested fixing it up from the previous owners who did not take care of the property. And I can tell you time and time again, nto only from my own prior experience landlording, but also my work rehabbing properties... cleaning up after smokers costs $$$... and frankly why should I take that risk? I don't rent my house to people with pets for the same reason.

I know there are owners of pets who do take good care, but I know lots that don't. I'll sell my house to a smoker if he wants to buy it from me, but as far as renting, sorry, not going to happen, company policy.

[jsbankston]

Yes it is my property right to rest to whomever I choose. However, I must admit with the current economy here in Austin I almost rented to a couple that smoked.

[Orangedog]

I'm glad I have hardwood floors throughout most of my house. Only carpet in one bedroom.

Personally, I don't know anyone who buys an existing home and doesn't repaint the inside as soon as they move in.

Let the non-smokers have their fun now. Before long the FDA will get full regulatory control over tobacco and completely outlaw it...then there will be 50 states looking to the non-smokers to make up the billions in lost tax revenue. Maybe then they will think about how stupid it was to demonize people who were carrying a good part of the load for so long.

[HamiltonJay]

Oh agreed, I don't rent to every non-smoker that comes along either.

I don't rent to people with pets... And I love animals...

For me the property is a 60-100k asset that I intend to hold onto for 10-30 years... anything that I feel will subject the property to undo costs, or risk, I am likely not to rent to a person. Margins are slim enough, and regulations tough enough that last thing I need is to have to come out of pocket to fix things after the tenant leaves... and as I said, in my state my security deposit is legally limited to 1 months rent, period. And my typical tenant requires most of his Sec Dep just to cover the regular clean up.. if I add a pet or smoke issue on top of it, its out of my pocket.

You certainly have the right to smoke, and I am not suggesting that every smoker is bad news... but due to the intrinsic statitical costs I know going in I am likely to have to eat with a smoker... I just don't rent to them.

I also know first hand smoking definately affects purchase price more often than not.

[mrsmith]

Bah!

What brings down the price is that many people feel intimidated by the idea of a macho manly independent smoker!

Living in the house of a smoker would remind them that they are just little girly men.

Cough, cough.

[CSM]

Your situation got me to wondering about something. Is there any insurance policy available to help with the cost of repairs for damages caused by tenants? If the law only allows for $x then is there any policy available for anything above x?

I would venture a guess that your state legislature would gladly allow a second security deposit to be allowed for a known smoker. Since they villify smokers, the potential added cost would make the legislatures happy. At the same time you would be able to open yourself up to that market and be assured that you could perform the cleaning.

Would either of these be something you could support?

[Texan5]

This is nonsense, unless the sellers these people are talking about don't want a good return on their investment, smokers or not. No one wants to buy a house where the former owner was obviously a pig who never cleaned up, be it smoke, trash, dirt or dog s**t.

Since we have built a new home and are not independently wealthy, we are going to sell our house in the city. Why in the hell would I not re-paint, re-carpet, and even remodel the kitchen to bring the house up to date so I can get more for it? Everyone I know does that if they have lived there for more than five or six years. You do it before you even begin showing the property. A newly painted, carpeted, tiled house smells just like a brand new house-like chemicals, glue, paint, etc. I'm in the construction business, and believe me, I have done a lot of remodels on homes about to be sold. The owner does it because he wants top dollar, not because he is a smoker, drinker, gun owner or pet owner. It is just good business. This is just more whining from the people who want to control every aspect of everyone's life.