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

I'm sorry OP but yes it would put me off. I guess I'm not as liberal about it as I thought I was.

Yes, it would put me off. It's also illegal.

Like others have said, I’d much rather smell weed than have to put up with noisy parties or yappy dogs. Noise disturbance is far worse than any smell; there are three barking dogs next door and I absolutely hate it. It sounds like you have good relations with your neighbour so just let him know when viewings are and ask him not to smoke (while mentioning you can smell it!)

It would be a definite no from me too. My NDNs moved out last month. They were perfectly nice but both smoked (tobacco) a lot outside, to the point where my garden always stank of smoke and my daughter’s back bedroom stank of smoke too when her window was open in the summer. I am so pleased they moved!

We had this problem in our last house. Detached but adjoining gardens, new neighbour arrived a few months before we sold (were already preparing house for sale at that point). Couldn't even have windows open when they were smoking it in the height of summer as it very quickly stunk the house out. Luckily it was winter when we marketed and very quickly sold. We never asked them not to smoke during viewings, but luckily they didn't as it was cold outside, so they must have been smoking indoors instead and viewers never even saw them. Now have a detached with completely detached garden far from nearest neighbours (who are non-smokers anyway) to avoid such issues in future!

What a pain for you.

Don't ask him not to smoke during viewings, or even mention it to him.

You would be obliged to declare it on any sellers form, or at the least, leave yourself open to legal comebacks should the new owners find out and take the position that they wouldn't have bought had they known.

Yes definitely no from me
id be so put off
and that goes for any kind of smoke
weed or cigarettes
I hate passive smoking and I would hate to live with that.
are they likely to ever move? Perhaps you can ask him if he knows of any friends or family that would like to buy it and be his neighbour. At least they would know what to expect and perhaps share his love for smoking

It would put me off but if I were you I wouldn’t say anything to him. Surely if your windows are shut during the viewing (which they are likely to be at this time of year) then you can’t still smell it? If you do viewings yourself I would tell people next door is a chap on his own, he’s a university lecturer. Then that gives them an idea of who they are living next door to. I know it’s really stereotypical and judgey, but I would be fine living next door to a pot smoking uni lecturer with leather elbow patches on his blazer than weed addled squatters.

I’m not sure. Knowing what you’ve said it sounds like his a fine neighbour minus the smell. Weed has become much more acceptable I think recently. People will probably think I’m lying but I’m 100% not, visited my dad in hospital recently and there was a porter in uniform smoking a joint right outside the hospital doors. It absolutely stunk and I stared at him instinctively like ‘wow?’ And he just looked right back at me like ‘what?’ 😂

I'd speak to him and ask him to not smoke in the day.

Would totally put me off.

Yes it would put me off. I'd not like the stink of it, plus I'd be worried about dealing from their house and perhaps parties/noise. Obviously he may be a single bloke that just smokes, but you don't know until you move in, so I'd not risk it.

No you are not the only one!

Yes it would put me off.

Not just the smell but the type of person he is as excessive weed smoking coils mean he is also dealing and I wouldn't want dodgy people turning up at all hours.

You have nothing to lose in giving your neighbour advanced warnings of the viewings.

Sell to one of those 'we buy any house'. We did and only about 5k under our asking price

Yes I'm afraid it would put me off completely .Can't stand the smell of the stuff, and I'd hate my house smelling of it/trying to dry washing on the line and it stinking of it

Unconscious bias but I'd also be concerned neighbour wasn't very nice/dodgy

He’s an author/lecturer. He’s not dealing. But I suppose passers-by wouldn’t know that without sight of his bank statement and work contract, and they may be unwilling to take the risk that he’s some scumbag rather than a middle class professional who thinks it is right-on to smoke weed but causes no bother otherwise.

Is it an area with an artsy/academic/young professionals vibe, where old Coronation Street houses now cost 10x average annual salary? If so, the potential buyers may not mind a bit of weed smell but would be put off by something they deem “chavvy”

Me too! I just asked DP and he says he has no idea what it smells like either.

Noise would bother me more than smells though, unless their garden was full of dog poo. But yeah, noise like loud music, raised voices (now and again, fair enough, but not all the time), dog(s) barking etc.

Would 100% put me off a property and I would likely withdraw from purchase negotiations when I discovered it had been hidden from me by the seller. I say when rather than if, as it's extremely hard to hide.

I'd want to have the full picture so I could decide. For you to be totally honest with me. There are weed smokers and there are weed smokers. If we're talking about a smell in the air every so often but the householders are normal people with normal jobs and perfectly good neighbours not having wild parties then I'd be fine with that, I think. I don't think it's so different to being annoyed about cigarette smoke when you go in the garden (my elderly very polite and quiet NDN smokes and as we have bay windows if we have them open during the summer I can sometimes smell when she's lit up inside, never mind when she goes in the garden to do it).

However, if it's someone who was a total waster dopehead who was really selfish, couldn't hold down a job, let their house go to rack and ruin, held parties with fellow dopeheads all the time, up and awake at all hours not caring about the effect on neighbours then yeah, I'd hate it and be furious if you tried to hide this from me. I guess house-sellers do, though.

It may not be as obvious as you think (and I'm an evangelical non-smoker). I would probably mention to your neighbour when you have viewings booked, particularly if any off-duty police officers are coming!

I second this. We never reported it or mentioned it to our old neighbour mainly for these reasons.

Yes it would stop the sale completely for me.

Wouldn’t bother me , just to add a bit of variety .

I don’t smoke it as it doesn’t agree with me, but the smell reminds me of home 😀.