Would this put you off buying a house? (And what can I do about it)

[Cucucachu]

We are trying to sell our house. I think it has a lot going for it, we’ve worked really hard on it and it’s marketed as “immaculately presented”. There’s new extension, new boiler, new bathroom, new kitchen, in a desirable location. End of terrace.

Our neighbour is nice enough but smokes weed pretty constantly. Its stinks. He smokes mostly on his terrace behind so if any of the back windows are open, or being in the garden/on the street you can smell it a lot of the time.

if you came to a viewing and the neighbour was obviously smoking weed would it put you off in this case?

and WIBU for us to give him a heads up about when viewings are , maybe ask if he would mind not smoking it outside during that time?

he is generally very nice and we have no issues apart from this - I don’t want to piss him off by insinuating he stinks and might hold us back selling our house

It would put me off.. I have a grown man as a neighbour who smokes weed day and night in his man shed. It means a lot of summer our garden is not usable.

Sorry we’re not so oh so right on about drugs whose supply chain involves exploitation and abuse including children.

smoking weed where anyone else can be affected is disgusting and anti social.

No from me too. Generally people who take illegal drugs don't think twice about other low level anti social behaviour... and some won't think twice about out and out criminality..

It would 💯 put me off buying the house. I’d also report the current neighbour who smokes to the police.

Yeah I’d ask him nicely to go for a walk around the block when you’ve got a viewing. I’m sure he’ll need munchies at some point

If you lived in a city, this would be the norm. Lots of snobbery on here about weed, I don't smoke it but everyone I know who does are professionals, highly educated and not the dregs of society.

I hate the smell of it and it would definitely put me off

Same here. It would put me off a bit, but not a deal-breaker.

Report neighbour to Police. He's probably dealing too. You may break up a local drugs cartel. Problem solved.

100% it would put me off. I’d rather have noisy neighbours than my house smelling of drugs

Who TF are these highly educated people professionals smoking drugs?! I only know scumbags. Being highly educated and having a job doesn’t mean you can’t be a scumbag.

Also re’Ooh snobbery about weed’ - does nobody give a shit that buying drugs funds the sex trafficking of women and children?

I agree with this, and it’s not just about the smell it’s about them being selfish and inconsiderate.

Great. I used to and I fitted that category. Then I grew up and learned about county lines.

Viewers will still be able to smell if even if he’s ’more considerate.’ Your curtains will stink of it. So will your sofas.

I viewed a house that seemed fine but when I looked out an upstairs window the curtains stunk of weed. The smell lingers for days.

Ultimately, I think you’ll need to lower your price if you want a sale

Have you ever actually mentioned to the neighbour how much this bothers you? OP you said you are worried about pissing him off if you mention it - shouldn’t he equally be worried about pissing you off by smoking illegal drugs? Perhaps he isn’t aware of how much the smell wafts over to your side? Do you have kids?

We’re in a first floor flat with a small shared balcony outside the kitchen door. Our neighbours smoke weed most days in the summer and the smell drives me mad - especially when I’m home with the kids (3yo and 6mo). I have had words with the (also perfectly nice and friendly) neighbour, and while this hasn’t stopped him stopping altogether, he will stop in the moment and reduce/change where he smokes for a few days

Yes, it would put me off. How annoying for you!

I think there’s no harm in asking if he can avoid it during viewing times (as long as these are reasonable). Hopefully he will understand (and maybe stick to smoking at greater distance from your house in future…).

Just to add as well that we weren’t aware of this issue before we bought the flat but we love our flat so much that I’m not sure it would have put us off. It’s only in summer that the smell is an issue, we notice it more because we both WFH and it mostly happens in the daytime. I’d say it’s a minor irritation rather than a dealbreaker for us but it depends on the extent of the problem I suppose

I don’t think pot smokers are ‘the dregs of society’ but I do think it smells absolutely awful. A smoker of cigarettes would put me off just as much.

An ethical consumer... I take it you abhor fast fashion, never use Amazon, stopped Airbnbing when you realised the impact on local communities? Or do your ethics only conveniently come into play for some products, but not others.

Incredible hysteria!

Do Amazon and AirBNB find children being sex trafficked? I never knew! Does buying from Amazon lead to people having significant MH issues and addiction problems that impact themselves, their families and their community?

If you price your house appropriately it will almost certainly sell, regardless of neighbour. You may need to think about reducing your asking price and being willing to consider lower offers.

airbnbs and their proliferation leave people
homeless, and as for your second question, are you aware of the average experience of an Amazon warehouse worker? People fired for being ill, underpaid and having to sell personal possessions, working rights ignored… which yes, has a pretty big effect on mental health https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/10/25/a-hard-hitting-investigative-report-into-amazon-shows-that-workers-needs-were-neglected-in-favor-of-getting-goods-delivered-quickly/?sh=1834cf9c51f5

I suppose everyone who uses legal cannabis products in Canada is a scumbag to you then? Legality of drugs is arbitrary and much more about unwillingness to tackle and fund help for the societal issues that lead to addiction (or drug dealing) than it is about danger of the drug.

Depends how you define "dregs". They are willingly supporting a criminal sub culture that frequently murders and maims... many innocent victims have been murdered by feuding drug gangs including children shot and killed here in the UK.

So yes they are dregs, their habit is behind all these deaths. Just because they have a good job doesn't stop them from being criminal dregs supporting other criminals killing innocents throughout the supply chain.

Oh FFS! People in all areas of society take illegal drugs. Cocaine is very common in the business world, banking, politics etc. Cannabis has been used recreationally since the 60s, again, in all areas of society. It’s extremely commonly used way beyond the criminal class. The Police are not interested in people having an amount for personal use. Did you read up the thread about the Police Officer whose neighbour was sometimes smoking it in the garden. He simply asked them not to smoke it outside.