Home : Blogs : Scott Montgomery : Keller Williams Arlington; Keller Williams Mclean; Reston Real Estate

Cover up the Smell

Last week I advised my seller to stop smoking in the house. I advised this since the first thing I noticed when doing our final walk thru before the open house this weekend was the pungent smell of lingering stale cigarette smoke. Irony has it that today, when I was opening the house to potential buyers, I found the owner huddled in the back of the garage, smoking. This was a good thing but I still noticed the smell of stale cigarette smoke lingering throughout the house- clearly it had adhered itself to the paint on the walls and sheer curtain hanging on most windows. Before opening I began spraying air freshener all over the place to cover it up when I realized..........

Is there anything worse than the strong smell of ‘Cranberries and roses" covering an underlying smell of stale smoke? I thought better of my spraying and opened up all the windows...

I'm still wondering however; Is it better to cover up the undesirable smells like tobacco and or used kitty litter boxes, musty rooms etc with air fresheners ,candles, cookies baking in the oven or do we let potential buyers experience the moment?

Check out my website. http://www.sellingnva.com/ for more information and if you or your buyers need help with Northern Virginia real estate please dont hesitate to call on me.

Posted by Scott Montgomery on 05/20/2007 07:07 PM

Comments (13)

13 Comments on Cover up the Smell

MAY

2007

I showed a house last night that someone was "watching" for the owner. The place had been beautifully renovated and partially staged. The person watching was smoking some REALLY old school cigarrettes that were FOUL - some Pall Mall's or something ancient like that with his buddies and playing cards! it was just awful. The pollen here is bad right now, so I was already dealing with the stuffy nose, itchy nose, watery eyes, itchy eyes, etc. - I wanted out of there! I know the owner doesn't know that they have stunk up the place like that - it was clearly vacant. I wouldn't show that one again.

Eva

I always try to cover it up. Before you have your next open house I might advise your seller to wipe down the walls with some soapy water and also to pull down all the window coverings and wash them. It doesn't completely get rid of the smell but it helps. They can also shampoo the carpet with a solution of vinegar and water. That is really good for taking out unpleasant odor. Good luck!!

Scott - I have a seller that smokes in her home - we have done a small unscientific experiment - one week we did nothing but empty (hide) ashtrays and let the showings go on.... the second week she smoked outside - we put two candle warmers in the home with candles that were half burned and let the showing go on.... feed back week 2 were much better than week 1 - so she has agreed to smoke outside "most of the time" and have her carpets shampooed and the house deep cleaned. My hope is that when she spends her hard earned money she will not destroy the work of the housekeepers.

The real truth is the property is going to need some serious treatment. This is a material fact here in California and covering up only exposes the person who did that to some serious liability. Paint and some cleaning will only partially restore. I have seen some that required the removal of all flooring, drywall (walls and ceilings and basically a rebuild inside. Gets pretty expensive. Why people do this is anyone's guess but it can devalue a property by many many thousands of dollars. Good luck with air fresheners. Better find out what your statute of limitations and make sure this issue id fully disclosed to any potential Buyer.

1. Disclose if required.

2. Repaint if necessary.

3. Shampoo carpets.

4. I have heard about separate bowls of vinegar, baking soda and charcoal to absorb odors.

5. Open windows for as long as possible.

6. ALWAYS smoke outdoors.

When my sellers keep smoking in the home, I politely tell them they need another agent and that I will be happy to find them one. I work too hard farming buyers to have them go in a home and turn up their nose at the smell of smoke. I refuse to do it. If, and I say if, I go forward with a listing appointment after I smell smoke in the home, I politely tell the homeowner there is no reason to continue our discussion unless they first promise to stop smoking in the home, AND...agree to spend the money to do whatever is necessary to get rid of the smell. It's just that simple...we work too hard for our money!

Good ideas from Roberta. We rehab a lot of properties, some are smoked out beyond belief. If your property is vacant, then oil based "Kilz" will do the job. Everything else has to be scrubbed and cleaned to get rid of the tar build up. For an occupied property, in addition to the above list:

1. Vinegar does help if done well in advance.

2. Air filters.

3. Ionizers (very expensvie).

Covering up odors or anything is not the best method for taking care of the problem, You need to be honest with the owners and tell them that their home has a problem, it stinks! Yes, it is most likely going to upset them and they might even tell you to take a hike, but in the long run it is the best thing to do.

You also need to realize that the smoke has colored the walls as well, so when pictures are removed from the walls you will see their shadow on the wall. The new owners will not be happy about this.

How interesting ........ I agree about the smoking being a problem. Arizona doesn't have a law like California about the smoke, but I do not and will not rent to smokers. It does get into the paint, the walls, carpet, etc. Now that Arizona has "finally" banned smoking in public places as California did in the 1990's, it is much nicer, but with the awareness of damage that second hand smoke can cause, it's a wonder that people still smoke "in" their homes with other family members around. Most buyers - unless they're smokers - do not want to purchase a "smoker's" home. I know there was a HUGE discusson on ePRO about this very subject.

I hate cigarette smoke with a passion. I wouldn't purchase a home that smelled. I've been on inspections where the home owners were present and smoking like chimneys my clients commented on the smoke to me. Smells are not within my standards of practice usually but musty smells point me towards possible moisture problems. A smelly home is definitely a liability whether it is musty, pet or cigarette smoke odors. The libertarian in me says it is their home and they can do what they want but it comes with a price.

MAY

2007

"The libertarian in me says it is their home and they can do what they want but it comes with a price."

Right on! In the end, this is just a pricing issue. Lower the price to the point that the Buyer doesn't care that it is smoke checked. Then you can measure rather accurately the cost of smoking in your house. I would love to see that stat.

I mentioned oil-based Kilz to rid the house of the problem. Smoking is nothing less than a sustained smoldering fire. In some cases it has been so extreme, we have replaced dry-wall.

Kilz was my idea too- seller to offer the buyer a credit towards painting or reducing the costs enough to paint the whole house...

MAY

2007

You can't get rid of the smoke smell, it's just not going to happen. Fabreze does do wonders for the short term so I'd spray that around. But it's not a cure-all.

- Tchaka

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?