Even though smoking is no where near as "chic" as it used to be, there are still some die hard smokers who eventually decide to sell their home. Their addiction to smoking then becomes an agent's problem as homes with lingering cigarette odors are much harder to sell than clean smelling listings.
There are several steps that home owners can take to eliminate the overwhelming odor. They are listed below.
1. Repaint all offending rooms, possibly the entire interior, depending on where the sellers smoked. Don't overlook the ceilings as they can be dingy, yellowed, and also contribute to the lingering odor.
2. Fabrics especially hold onto the smoke particles and contribute to the odor. Remove fabrics where possible (such as drapes, bedding, and throw rugs) or have them professionally steam cleaned. Definitely get the carpets professionally steam cleaned - hopefully they won't be so bad that they need to be replaced.
3. Replace the furnace filter; sounds easy and cheap but many people overlook this small way to positively affect air quality throughout the home.
4. Air out as much as possible; keep windows open or run a whole house fan after addressing the areas listed above.
Most importantly - make sure that the sellers stop smoking in the house when they go on the market!!! There are too many homes for sale WITHOUT smoke odors for buyers to choose from.
There are companies that advertise devices and services to eliminate the smell, but I have heard that they are costly and don't always work.
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Tori, Thanks for the suggestions. We just listed one and it smells so badly. They have moved out, we are having the house cleaned, painted but I'm not sure that will work. It's a 1983 house and someone has always smoked in the house.
Becky -- good luck! It is completely the sellers responsibility to do what they can to remove this smell. Walls and floors are the biggest culprits, but if addressing those areas doesn't eliminate the odor then you can also have the air ducts professionally cleaned.
Great advice and Tips --- And, the best advice is to quit smoking for your health first, of course, but it also affects the value of your largest financial asset --- your home.
There's also a plug in neutralizer that you can buy that works fairly well on resistant smoke odors and old pet odors too.
Good tips, but sometimes replacing the carpet is the only way to get rid of the smell!
Kim Dillon, Creative Eye Home Staging
Tori, great tips and you are climbing the ladder in Nebraska! Keep going!
Wow This is Super Work out of you! Thanks for listing this info. as I have not seen anyone creative to post this info yet!! Super! I will go back to this post if I get any home like this!! Whew...! Good Luck!
Thanks!
Tom Davis Realtor - Delaware
Pamela - it we all remembered that our home is our largest financial asset then we would probably treat it very differently.
June - thanks for the tip!
A commercial Ionizer is a must in our staging supplies as well as Odor Ban.
The combination will rid the house of smoke.
Great tips, I will keep these on hand...thanks for sharing...