All Forum Posts by: Mark L.

You have literally disagreed with every person here, who has tried to give well meaning advice.

The true issue is that you cannot sell the agents here because they gave you no guarantee that the smell was going to go away.

When you were given the opportunity to tour the house, you base your offer on everything that is immediately obvious. The home inspection covers the items that are not so obvious, which is why buyers usually ask for concessions. If the smell was obvious, that's your opportunity to do due diligence, before offering or during your inspection period (as the buyer, the buck stops with you).

Your agent is not responsible for digging through the entire house to bring to light any minor issue that may or may not be a problem for you. That's your job as the buyer. Your agent could only be responsible in this situation if they intentionally mislead you by telling you not to worry about the smell, or promising it would go away. (Even then, that's an uphill battle)

My best advice is to spend your time/energy/money on fixing this problem instead of looking for someone to blame.

Look at it this way. would you expect a doctor to tell you that smoking is bad and can kill you if you've never brought up the topic? Can you turn around and sue him because he didn't inform you of the dangers? of course not. Now, if you explicitly asked him if smoking was dangerous and he told you it was not, then you have a case. You did not ask your agent about removing the smell, so he had no reason to bring it up. 

Yeah I feel your pain and I've been there. I'd save yourself the money going after her, chalk it up to a learning experience and put the money saved into getting it back to where you want the house at. Get rid of any carpet still there. Remove baseboards. And without knowing the type of flooring, I'd start pulling that up. I can't imagine that the AC ducts are contaminated, but possible if they're floor mounted. Refocus your energy into getting it fixed. 

All this is easy to say from a keyboard, right? Good luck. Keep posting if you need help.

Dude this is not your agents fault or your home inspectors.  Home inspections are to help you find problems with the property that might not be as easy to see or know.  Example the electrical, plumbing or sewer lines may need updating.  The windows will need replacing in the near future etc.  You did walk through the property so you were well aware of the smell.  Presumably you could have put a contingency in the offer to have the smell rectified before closing.  There may have been reasons why you didn’t, fear of getting outbid etc. but now you are looking to find a scapegoat for having buyers remorse.  Your best bet is to move forward and have the flooring replaced and the walls primed and painted among other suggestions you have been given by others.  I don’t mean to be harsh, but the first step in not repeating our mistakes is to acknowledge them so you can move forward.  I sympathize where you are at, but you need to figure out a way to move forward and looking to lawyers for a case you will not win will not help you and no that isn’t because the system is unfair.

As seems to happen every time I sell a house, the buyer gets pissed for some reason or other then starts making noises about getting a lawyer. There was one that wondered why, if the bath tub overflowed on the second story, that water would pour through the floor and ceiling of the kitchen directly below. I had to explain what happens when water gets on the floor and where it goes from there. 

A house I bought in 2016, the seller's disclosure said they had no pets. Apparently the 3 large dogs and 1 cat are not considered pets to some. They urinated everywhere. Cost me $4000 to replace the carpet. Then another couple of grand tearing up tiles, baseboards, etc and replacing the same. 

You'll find the baseboards will retain the smell because when they pee against the wall, it trickles down behind the baseboard and gets soaked into the unpainted wood. 

Your agent is not responsible. If anything, revisit the sellers disclosure or try expressing your outrage toward the seller. 

I understand your frustration, but smells are one of those things that are a matter of opinion ... and for an agent to voice their opinion - when not asked - could be offensive.  The pet smell for example .. there are plenty of people who live in these homes and have no adverse reaction to the smell.  Now, you walked through the house with the agent and if you didn't say anything, why would the agent risk offending you by bringing up the odor?  

The only time I will comment on an odor is when I am point-blank asked or if I am made aware of a medical condition that could be affected by an odor.  For example, I have had people tell me that there is a member of their family with severe asthma and if I can detect any odors ... I will absolutely tell them everything I smell and give them my opinion ... BUT ONLY WHEN ASKED!!!  To add, if a person voices a concern about a smell, I will then also recommend and special air quality test because I am no expert and I make it clear they should seek an expert's advice as my opinion should carry no weight.

You have very unrealistic expectations of an agent then. 

I flip houses and I don't know why, but I get all the stinky ones (I jokingly tell people that is my specialty).  

Animal urine will go through carpet and soak the padding underneath - this will likely all need to be ripped out and replaced.  When the carpet is out, it doesn't hurt to pour some cleaner on the floor (if its concrete).  

The walls will likely need to be painted will Kilz primer and then you can paint over that with the color of your choice.  Don't forget the ceilings.

You need to have all the a/c ducts professionally cleaned - super deep cleaned! Seriously, don't skimp on this step - it's critical.

As for the agent's responsibility ... unless they remodel houses themselves, how could they have known - it's not their profession.  I know it sucks to hear, but this is 100% NOT your agent's fault.  

You have buyers remorse, its ok. Buyers get that all the time.  Whats not cool is trying to sue the agents/sellers over your buyers remorse. You are literally making a mountain out of a mole hill. Of the range of possible issues with a house,  pet odor is really at the bottom of that list as far as severity goes.

Remember, its just as much if not more your responsibility to do your own due diligence when purchasing a property.  After all, the buck stops with you.

How was everyone supposed to know that pet odor was a no go for you? In the future, if you feel that strongly about something,  dont close!

Good Luck in the future. 

@Mark L. Don't waste your money on a lawyer. I don't see how you could have any valid claim that would hold up in court. All real estate carries the same old saying buyer be aware. was there furniture in the house when you saw it or was it empty? if it was empty you should have said you were worried about the smell and factored it into your offer. If there was furniture in the house there is no way a realtor would know it would be so hard to remove the smell. For all they know the smell is stuck in the couches and will leave with them. I am really sorry this happened to you. Many markets in the country are a sellers market which means that sellers win in these deals and buyers often overpay. Don't spend the money on the lawyer use it on the smell. 

@Mark Lane

Then you need to have clearly have stated to your agent, Im not buying the house if it smells like that. Did you state that to them?

I know that youve come here with the intention that someone was going to give you confirmation of what you felt. But its pretty evident that no one has. The responsibility here unfortunately lies with you.

If you cant have forseen the smell was going to be this big of an issue for you, how in the world do you think other people were going to?

If you cant move in, rent it out or sell it.