Smell in the air

[Alexander Zurn]

BP, I am on the verge of my first purchase and have an important question. I'll get right to it. When the wind blows, it picks up the smell from a waste management location about 3-4 miles away. How big of an issue is this? The house is good in all other facets. Needs work but will get a great price (well below asking price and most recent appraised value) and in the market I have been looking for for months. It's a duplex that if I get this at the right price could be great to hold down the road. What are your thoughts? Perhaps this is the reason it's been on the market over 250 days? FYI: the smell is strong enough (when the wind blows) that you will pick up the scent even if you're not paying attention

[Mindy Jensen]

@Alexander Zurn, you have already said you aren't going to buy this deal. Let me throw my two cents on top as well to hopefully cement your decision.

This house is a bad investment. It will be vacant longer, rent for less, and turn over every year. A bad smell that you can control - such as the delicate aroma of an indoor cat who misses the cat box, isn't a deal breaker. 

A bad smell you have no control over absolutely is a deal breaker. I have a friend who is a dog walker in my city. She knows all the neighborhoods that smell bad - but not all the time. You can be very unlucky and buy into a neighborhood that smells, if you go on a day when the wind is favorable. You have to try to sell on that same day. If you have a rented who comes in on a favorable wind day, you can bet they will leave the first chance they get.

Not all low-priced properties are a good deal. I'm glad to read you have chosen to move on.