< By Chris Seepe - reprinted from Real Estate Marketing Magazine >

Smoking in the home may significantly affect property values.

Pfizer Canada, a leading biopharmaceutical company, recently sponsored a survey of realtors conducted by Leger Marketing, which concluded that 87 per cent of real estate brokers surveyed said smoking in the home lowers resale value. Eighty-nine per cent said smoked-in homes are more difficult to sell.

Thirty-one per cent said smoking may lower a property’s value by 20 to 29 per cent, and 21 per cent said the value could drop 30 per cent or more. That’s $120,000 on a $400,000 home!

Fifty-six per cent said most buyers are less likely to buy a home where people have smoked and 27 per cent said most buyers are actually unwilling to buy a home where people have smoked.

The number one reason given was smell; number two was health (second- and third-hand smoke).

Unless the new owner of a house is a smoker too, he will invariably require the unit to be “detoxified.” This may cost hundreds of dollars in paint, more money to steam clean any carpets, and still more money to wipe down and clean all other surfaces (windows, mirrors, balcony doors, closet doors, kitchen cabinets & appliances). Countertops, appliances and other surfaces that have been marred by cigarette burns will need to be replaced or repaired. In a heavily smoked-in home, stain killer primer or extra paint may be required, carpets may need to be replaced, and vents, ducts and ceiling fans may need to be cleaned. Even electrical sockets may need attention, where tar and nicotine have accumulated. Promising to deliver a detoxified home that still aggravates the new owner could lead to further costs or claims of latent defect.

The Council of Canadian Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners report that smokers’ materials and open flame (cigarettes, lighters and matches) remain the No. 1 ignition source in fatal residential fires. Between 1993 and 2002 (most recent figures available) there were 9,414 fires, more than $231 million in losses, 688 injuries and 94 deaths caused by lit smokers’ materials.