Smoking impacts home prices

Hi Roy,

Fresh paint a a lot of Fabreeze. problem solved. But many owners don't even do that.

Have a great day in Gaithersburg my friend.

Best, Clint McKie

It is amazing how bad a home can smell that has pets or smokers in it. The occupants become accustomed to the sell whiel everyone else gags when entering.

Roy,

I think odors of any are possibly detrimental to home sales. No one wants to sell the odors left behind by someone else. Having said that though, I do think people are becoming more concerning with second and third hand smoke than they were before. The shift to anti-smoking or controlled smoking areas is happening and it's only going to get worse.

Every buyer I have ever worked with has refused to tour a home that smells like smoke.

And with the number of people with allergies, there's an issue both for smoky homes and homes with pets.  A great closing gift would be duct cleaning, though!

I've been in homes where the smoke smell is so bad that the walls had to be removed.  No amount of paint could get the smell out.  Certain ethnic food smells are almost as bad.  Basically it comes down to living clean and keeping the smells to a minimum.

Roy, We had tenants that smoked and we repainted and cleaned and steamed and deodorized the carpets and have run an ozone machine for two months. It is a turn off even to renters. Next step is to change out the carpet.

Roy, 

Congrats on the feature and I find bad odors in any home brings down the market value. Smoking in Katy will most likely kill interest immediately. I have been told there is no fool proff way to get rid of all the bad odor. Thanks for excellent blog. 

Congrats on the feature.

Anyone that thinks smoking doesn't kill is lying through the hole in their Trachea!

I wouldn't doubt that 20% reduction in value at all!  I will say that in recent years, I'm finding fewer and fewer homes that have that horrible embedded stale smoke smell.  As a whole, we are getting better at winning this battle.  

Roy, I have had buyers request right up front to not be taken to a house that had smokers. I've explained to them that most of the time we won't know until we get in the front door. It's been at that point in time the buyers have simply turned around and walked out without viewing the property. 

Hi Roy, You can definitely tell if the onwers are smokers, but haven't visited a home with the smoke smell for a while. We do have a new agent and I knew right away that she smokes...the smell was definitely in her hair, clothes. WHen I walked into the duty office where she was sitting to introduce myself...the room reeked of smoke.

I haven't ran into that issue much, because most sellers who do smoke, don't smoke in the house. If they do smoke, it does take time, effort and money to get the smell and other evidence out of the house.

I hope people will read this post and stop smoking.

I know that when I walked into my current house, the smokey smell was really present and it took us a while to get rid of it-and it was a negotiating point! Good post Roy!

Odor remediation is a must, and I agree with some of the other posts that a coat of paint doesn't always solve the problem.

Hi Roy,

I'm over from Kathy's post on Sunday..well deserved featured post. No question in my mind that a smokers house brings less money..didn't know it was 20% but am not surprised!