Do ashtrays put you off viewing a property?

[teejwood]

{disclaimer - this is a genuine question, not to wind anyone up the wrong way!!!}

I was having a nosey at a property on Rightmove and thinking about arranging a viewing (crossing fingers for lotto numbers to come up at the same time) - then realised every room has numerous ashtrays.

The thought of living somewhere where I have to spend ages trying to get rid of that musty tobacco smell has put me off. But maybe am being a bit precious?

Have you as a non-smoker bought a smoker's house? And if so did you notice the smell for a long time afterwards?

[Indaba]

no gomand view....like dog smells....puts a lot of people off but that means you can get it cheaper!

[FootballFriendSays]

I don't think I'd discount it for that. I think in quite a few cases other people's houses don't smell as you'd like them to. You can always get a few cans of room spray and get your DCs to squirt them empty them, bet they'd love that.

[Erebus]

Mm, it would take rather more than a few aerosols to decontaminate a smoker's house.

My mum smokes. Her living room was redecorated a year ago. She recently removed a picture from the wall and there was a distinct pale oblong where it'd been. So you need to scrub and sugar soap every wall to remove the nicotine tar before you can redecorate, you'll need new curtains and almost certainly new carpets- even if they have escaped fag burns!

You have to ask yourself if the price reflects the additional work needed.

[tyler80]

A smoker used to live in our house, it is the first thing you smell when you walk in the back door (think they only used to smoke in the kitchen). It didn't put us off only because we're redoing the whole place, new plastering etc.

I wouldn't view/buy somewhere that didn't need work as the smoke smell gets into everything. I guess I might view if something was perfect in every other way, but if the interior decoration looked good but the house smelled of smoke I'd make an offer based on if the internal decoration was a mess, because I'd want to redo everything.

[Bamaluz]

My mum didn't buy a lovely house she'd viewed because it stank of smoke.
I bought a flat off a smoker and had to totally redecorate and even change the ceiling roses because everything was stained with nicotene. Even the blind cords were orange.

[TrillianAstra]

Visible ashtrays wouldn't make a difference - if the house was going to be yellow-stained and stinky I'd be able to see/smell that even if you hid the ashtrays.

[TrillianAstra]

Ah right, you mean even before you've looked.

Depends if there are lots of possible houses or only a few. If there are loads then it owuld push that house further down on my list.

[FootballFriendSays]

In fact maybe you're all right about the whole redecoration. The only heavy smoker's house I visit is my ILs and that's rare, I'd forgotten. OTOH just having ashtrays around the house in the photos may not mean they're heavy smokers, maybe they just like their bibelots.

[moondog]

Peopel with ashtrays in the house are surely a dying breed thoguh (no pun intended)?
Lots of people who are smokers resrict themselves to outdoors now don't they?

When I was a kid ,so many houses had an overflowing ashtray on a spindly pedestal.

[HansieMom]

I would not buy a house where people smoked. It gets in everything. Recently we redid a closet and I bought a dresser to have drawers. Perfect in that it was mid century and I like the style a lot--but it smells of smoke! I washed out each drawer and the exterior. Still smells.

[Indaba]

but you could get it cheap!

mates parents couldn't sell theirs cos it smelt of dogs.......someone eventually bought it at half going price, ripped everything out and made massive profit

[teejwood]

ohhh thanks everyone for your comments.

the house is in london so blardy extortinate price and i think they have already dropped the price as it hasn't moved - so don't know that they would drop again to account for work needing to be done.

the interior is not really to my taste so it would be a rip out and start again job - but that isn't reflected in the current price imho. i live nearby so went round to have a nosey at the exterior; to an untrained eye it looks like the house might have some structural ishooos so that has also put me off; i simply don't have the funds to sink into a moneypit

point is moot, though - the link isn't up any more on the estate agent's website, there was never a board outside the house itself, so looks like they may have decided to pull out of the market for the time being