Homebuying Tip: Check for Cigarette Smoke
Many people are sickened or get headaches from secondhand smoke. If you're one, remember to check when buying a home!
Sellers' realtors advise smokers on how to mask the scent -- leave the windows open before buyers drop by, scatter scented candles around the place, wash and repaint. It's a big issue, and some realtors say it's the biggest "dealbreaker" when selling. So sellers are motivated to mask it on the advice of experts.
You can't blame them for that -- they're in a bind and need to sell a house. But if you are sensitive to smoke, check -- don't rely on the "oh, I had a guest visit the day you were there... I told him not to smoke! Naughty naughty!" excuse which I was fed today. Uh-hunh, that explains the well-used ashtray on the patio that she forgot to hide.
Cigarette smoke will be on the walls and surfaces, yellowing them. It will be in bathrooms, where the oils are released into the air by steam. It will be in the grout and stuccoed ceiling. It will be in furniture, drapes, and rugs. It will be on and in the cabinets. And it will be in air and heating ducts.
It's possible to clean and/or replace all of them by a specialist whose expertise is in clearing smoke of various kinds. It just costs money. If you like a place enough, you may want to do that, but keep it in mind.
Two easy ways to detect more than casual smoking has happened in a house: 1) sniff the closets, since smoke clings to smokers' clothes and 2) move a wall hanging or picture; if the wall is white behind it and yellow elsewhere, you can bet there was a cigrattew smoker and/or dirty furnace.
