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 be a hard no from me too.

OP, we were in a similar situation (nice area, immaculate house, weed smoking ndn). I worried and worried it would put people off but we were under offer within 5 days of it going on the market. If your house is priced well for the area (rather than priced because of its interior) then you should be okay.

We also had the added complication of said ndn’s house being scruffy looking). Viewers asked questions about neighbours and we answered honestly - they were quiet & friendly with lovely children.

Does YOUR house smell of it? I ask because a flat I rented a room in that was next door to (mainly tobacco) smokers did. It was a victorian terrace, probably lots of little gaps between houses. I’d got used to and didn’t smell it until someone mentioned it.

I must say that it is only the rougher neighbourhoods around here where you can smell weed in the street. So the association alone would put me off.

Its one of the big things that would put me off. An old neighbour was heavy on the weed and he could be in the back garden and me in my livingroom in the front of the house and I’d smell him and know he was out their puffing away.

Having to keep windows and doors closed and not use my garden due to stink makes a nice house with garden pointless.

It would definitely put me off I’m afraid.
Does your neighbour work? Could you book viewings in when he isn’t around

I wouldn't contemplate it.

I’m not buying it either, sorry,

It would put me off. I hate the smell of weed, it makes me feel so sick and after having previous anti social neighbours who stunk our old place out with weed smells it would be a hard no. Sorry not what you wanted to hear, I know.

Yes. I despise smoking, especially weed, and wouldn't knowingly live somewhere I had to smell it:

Knew someone exactly in your position. She asked her neighbour not to smoke weed when they were doing viewings and she sold the house. Felt sorry for the buyers though.

It’s not a “dodgy” area at all and NDNs house is actually very nice looking from the outside. He’s an author/lecturer.

we’ve been here nearly eight years and he’s been here for like 3?

It’s definitely been worse the last few months because he’s been working from home more.

For me it would be a no go unfortunately. It's just a horrible cloying smell and really I wouldn't be living somewhere I could smell it in my garden / house.

Sorry op, it’s a no from me too.

Pretty low down the things that would bother me. But I don't much like people smoking close to the house if it means we can't throw the windows open. I'd be more bothered if I found a pile of fag butts at the roadside. A boozer would bother me more and/or constant BBQs.

If he’s nice could you talk to him about the problem and try to find a way that works for you all? Is there another area of his garden which would cause less smell to drift? Even if you weren’t moving you must hate the smell so near your house.

I suppose there might be a market for the house under the heading of ‘the perfect home for chilled hippy types’.

Weed smoking itself wouldn't bother me, but I might be a bit more concerned about anti-social behaviour than I otherwise would be, just from past experience. If he's generally quiet and no bother tbh I'd address it up front with anyone viewing and reassure people

Ask him not to smoke during viewings.

Whilst many people want to do drive and walk bys outside of the viewing, the reality is that some don't and some can't (ie those moving from outside the area) so I suspect this is not as big a blocker to selling as it might appear.

I think you're getting slightly biased answers here - I don't think many potheads are posting on here! If you went on a forum with a different demographic you'd probably get a different answer!

Just market your house and don't put too much stock on the answers here!

He'll likely keep a low profile at viewings anyway surely.

I've no doubt that there is a higher proportion of weed smokers in the rougher neighbourhoods. However the people I know who smoke it are far removed from rough. I'm assuming (maybe wrongly) that OPs house isn't in a rough area, so wouldn't assume the neighbours were rough, just because they smoke weed. That's the point I was making.

Wouldn’t necessarily put me off if the neighbour’s house looked well-kept. It might prompt me to do an extra night-time recce to make sure there was no loud music playing, etc. Actually, now I’ve thought of that, it might be a reason to put it bottom of the list if I was choosing between a couple of options. But it wouldn’t be an outright dealbreaker.

Have you ever spoke to your neighbour about it? My DH used to smoke outside the door till a neighbour mentioned it came in her window. He moved to having a smoke at the bottom of the garden, she was happy, DH didn't care (thankfully he's quit now).

Honestly even if everything else was absolutely perfect it would still be a no from me.

Why have you never said anything to him about it?

It would completely put me off. I used to have neighbours who constantly smoked weed and when I opened my front door (next to theirs) it smelled like it was coming from my house.

I got used to it and it didn't bother me much after a while, but I would never knowingly choose it.