What % does smoking lower house price?

Legacy_user

I can't stand the smell of smoke and would never buy a smoker's house. I am seeing some good houses at good prices but wondering if they all belong to smokers.

pinkteapot

I don't think you can or should assume that a house coming to the market at a reasonable price is owned by a smoker. You'll be missing out on a lot of good buys if you do!

The house we bought was reasonably priced just because the people who owned it were downsizing, didn't need to get top whack and wanted to sell quickly as they had found somewhere to buy. Not because it was a stinky cess-pit.

I have never viewed a house that smelt of cigarettes though if I had, I would have been the same as you and wouldn't have wanted to buy it for fear I wouldn't be able to get rid of the smell.

One other thought - a lot of the really cheap looking houses these days are reposessions. Again, not necessarily smokers.

WelshNic

There isn't a % because some people won't notice the smell - ie smokers.

Have you gone to view these good houses?

While people will sell things as 'coming from a smoke free home', you don't really see it noted in property listings.

System

Thanks teapot.

No Nic, I am still living with parents, trying to save a deposit, just browsing rightmove, nothing more.

puddy

do you mean you are seeing them in the flesh or on rightmove? how can you tell they smoke if you see them on the internet

we viewed a smokers house when we looked. it was a real shame as it was the right size, location, price everything. they had recently re done it up, lovely kitchen, furnishings, decor the lot

as we left i said to the estate agent that as i have an allergy to cigarette smoke and my OH is severely asthmatic there is no way we could have bought that house without serious refurb, putting it way over our budget

whether he had the guts to tell the owners i have no idea. but the place stank

same with when my partner bought his car, it had been owned by a smoker, i could smell it really badly although it had been cleaned and valeted by the dealer. it seemed to take ages to go and was horrible to travel round in for a while

pinkteapot

Maybe when we see all these "Why isn't my house selling?" threads we should be asking the poster if they smoke.

LandyAndy

It would lower the price by exactly 100% for me. I can't stand the smell of smoke.

jonny_power

Probably by the cost to completely re-decorate, maybe stick a new kitchen in and new carpets. I'm sure after a while the smell will go.

celyn90

I don't like the smell of smoke either, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. We viewed an immaculate house when we were looking that had been done up to a really high standard. I noticed that it smelt of smoke (and febreeze lol!) but it would not have occured to me to ask for a discount because of it (had we offered on it - it was was the garage/house the neighbours were builing in the back garden that was the no-no on that one!)

I must admit it is the smell of animals I really hate. Doggy smells make me retch, even faint ones. We did view one house that reeked of cat urine - that would have been no for me as everything, probably down to the floorboards would have had to come out to get rid of it.

cel x

WelshNic

If you hadn't viewed any I wouldn't assume that smoke smell was the cause of the good price

I'm one of those ex-smokers that hates the smell now and also wouldn't buy a place that reeked as it would be hell to get rid of without gutting the place.

puddy

its not a question of asking for a discount or offering lower because you either want to buy it (within the normal asking price ranges) or you dont because you cant stand the smell

if enough people are put off the property then no offers will take place which means the seller will start to lower the price to get rid, thats why the price comes down