[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?

[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.

[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

[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....

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[SheLion]

I can't comment much on this.........this type of article only opens us up to more negative comments by the NON smoking crowd. As you read the posters, their words just turn me off.

Thank God I am not selling my house. It is my cacoon, and I am happy here.

[sauropod]

ping

[sauropod]

"John Banzhaf, executive director for Action on Smoking and Health..."

Isn't this the same ambulance chasing, money grubbing lawyer that is trying to get rich on obesity (suing the fast food industry) lawsuits? Think he is a professor at Georgetown Law School or someplace like that.

[swarthyguy]

Good thing the Osama didn't include smoking in his litany against Civilisation.

He missed a definite wedge issue.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

The problem rests with the silly, brainwashed buyers who think their da*n lives are soooo perfect!Those are the people who create a lot of problems for America politically with all their whining about everything.I JUST HOPE THEIR LIVES BECOME FULL OF DISORDER!