I had a condo in LA. Frequently people would tell me that they never knew I smoked – the answer was ventilation. I also liked the color white and about 6 months before I decided to sell, I had the entire condo painted white – all the walls were cleaned – all bookshelves taken down – etc – a very thorough job was made. When fate handed me an opportunity, I decided to move. Having just recently cleaned the walls, I decided not to bother again. When it came time to remove the bookshelves – I was appalled to see how white some areas where compared to the remaining dark walls – in just 6 months. It was seeing that crud that convinced me that no matter how clean I may think a place may be, being a smoker, I’m unable to judge the effect I’m having in my environment. Seeing that brown gunk, propelled me on my private quest to give up smoking. But, that was my quest. Those who smoke, are welcome to it, without judgment from me. Mr. Peel likes a cigar every now and then. I’m not going to tell him “no”.
It wasn’t too long ago that we decided to shop for a house. A real estate agent was absolutely convinced that she had found the “perfect” place for us. So we took a look. We specified a house with a view, and when we arrived – there was no view. Already I was disappointed. Mr. Peel used to be an architect, is very highly critical of the structure of the house. We hadn’t even stepped a foot inside when he whispered to me: “Roof needs replacing – it won’t even last 2 more years.”. When we walked inside, I don’t know which was worse – the smell of stale cigarette smoke or dog pee on the carpet. I probably gave a look on my face that betrayed my disappointment. “Let me show you ..” the agent began. “No, thanks I’ve seen enough.” And we left.
Now from the agent’s perspective, we were probably turned off by the cigarette smoke. From our perspective, we turned off my the agent: promising a house that met our needs which did nothing of the sort. The cigarette smoke, the dog pee oders were just excuses not to continue. But if the house had any kind of view, I can forgive a lot. I can remodel a kitchen, etc. But I’m not interested if the location doesn’t interest me and if the asking price is, in my opinion too high. Before even setting foot inside the house, I knew we’d have to pay for a new roof. Whose at fault in this case? The agent would blame the smokers. I blame the agent for wasting our time with a house whose location did not interest us. And, yes, we got a new agent.
I would blame the agent as well.
On this thread I've been criticized for blaming the agent for my house not selling and blamed that the reason it didn't sell was because I am a smoker. Sorry, but if the agent makes no effort to market a property no one is gong to know if the sellers smoke or not. I got a new agent and sold my house for the amount I wanted.
Yes, I will admit to expressing my anger on this thread - because my initial reason for posting this article really had nothing to do with smoking, but mor about how "so-called" experts can convince anyone of anything and people that have no dog in the fight about smoking are jumping on the bash the smoker bandwagon in order to make money.
When we started looking for a house here in Virginia we told the agent what we were looking for and our price range. I guess we were very lucky, not once did he show us a house that was above our range, nor did he show us anything that didn't fit the criteria of what we were looking for. Even this house we bought, he warned us that it didn't match what I specifically wanted in the way of a kitchen and that is why he didn't mention it to us. Even my husband was concerned about the size of the kitchen. that was my requirement a big kitchen. I had spent 11 years with a 5'x7' galley kitchen and wanted bigger. I laughed at them both - this kitchen is 10'x16'. I fell inlove with my little 65 year old farmhouse on 2 acres in the country.
In the end, a good agent will make all the difference, whether you are a buyer or a seller.