OY VEY!!! You would think that PRIOR to making the offer and signing a contract, that they would have requested the time in the house.

I think you should report their realtor for allowing her in your house unattended. That is totally unacceptable. I'm also surprised YOUR realtor agreed to that.

WOW!! And I thought our buyer was a cad for sneaking in during a backup open house to measure for her curtains when we had already told her she couldn't come that day!!

There's no end to what some buyers will pull/do/ask for ... *sheesh*

I don't see how she can determine whether or not she's going to have a reaction until after you move out.
Any "smells" are going to be retained in your furniture (especially your couch!), draperies, carpeting, maybe even in the paint.

If she could handle a 2-hour nap on your couch, I'd think she'd be fine in your empty house. A new house would kill her.

Do you get to keep the earnest money in this case? Or was there a contingency on "smelly house approval"?

Bizzare

/T

It was still under the inspection timeframe so she had until tomorrow to back out. Good luck to her realtor finding her a house that passes her nose test.

Sparksals, the visit was arranged between me and her realtor, and he told me he would be with her. My agent didn't know she was alone in the house until I told her.

In that case, you should complain to her realtor's broker and file a complaint with your RE board.

That is unbelievable. And I thought the buyers that backed out on us were nuts. I hope the next one sticks jellyben.

I understand that some people have chemical sensitivities (meaning it is about chemicals, not that she thought your house smelled), but goodness, she had already spent two hours there. And as c9pilot mentioned - she would never know if it was the house or the furniture if she was on your couch, in a house with your drapes, rugs, etc.
Given that she did not have a reaction after that, one would think that the house alone would pass.

I'm really sorry that the sale did not go through - very disappointing- but really nothing to do with you or your house.
I'd hate to be her REA.
Best of luck for another offer quickly!

That's weird. It's usually women with grown children or no children who have these "special needs."

Our buyers backed out

I'm sorry to read this :(

I came home to find her with her baby sleeping on my couch and no agent with her. He just left her alone in the house.

Did you go through your house to make sure she didn't take anything?

I'm so sorry Jellyben. Are you sure she has a house to go home to?LOL She may just go from house to house, using the guise of looking for a house to purchase, maybe a street person, getting her naps when she can. LOL Sheeshhhhhh, buyers!! ;o)

patty_cakes

This seems more like someone in search of an excuse to back out than a motivated buyer... I too have fairly bad allergies, but that didn't stop me from buying a house that was formerly inhabited by a family of five with three dogs and a cat or two. I bought a vaccuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, used it, problem solved. Also replaced the drapes and some of the carpeting, but that is because of the colors, not the allergies.

She could use that excuse on anyone's house, especially if she didn't have any apparent symptoms. I have very obvious symptoms when my allergies are bad. My wife will break out in a rash around mold.

Maybe she's allergic to buyer's remorse.

People with chemical sensitivities can be allergic to formaldehyde in the sub-flooring, in chemicals in the insulation, to the chemicals in the carpets. I cannot have new carpet in my home unless it is the special low-voc kind they sell for health care sites. So I understand some of what she was trying to do. If the inspection period was about to end, I can see why she wanted to do this when she did. What I don't understand is why she was not upfront about it with the offer and tell you she wanted to do this during the inspection period. Sometimes the Multiple
Chemical Sensitivities illness can make a person confused and disoriented - that may account for her bizarre behavior.

One lady I met online had to purchase furniture and then have it sit in the basement at a friend's house until it off-gassed enough for her to stand it. I had a Lazyboy swivel rocker I had to put in a sunny room with the windows open to get the smell out of the fabric. I think I kept it there six months. Kind of "bake and vent" to get the fabric dye smell to disperse. My first mother-in-law lost her voice for six months when her boss installed new carpeting in the office.

Did you know that living in a new manufactured home gives you the same lung cancer risk as smoking does? That was an old statistic I read somewhere several years ago. (I can't back it up, so don't ask.)

Many medical people do not believe that Multiple Chemical Sensitivities even exist, so people who believe they have it may not talk about it freely - they are tired of people saying they are nuts.

Sorry to hear about this. Seems a little odd to me, that she waited so long to test the house. And it's definitely wrong that she was just left alone in your house.

Better luck with your next buyer.

Oh, I do think it was a raw deal for you and I wish you another, more balanced buyer very soon!

I understand there are chemical sensitivities but if they were such that her nap in jellybeans house set them of then what is she doing in the "normal" house market anyway? Its not like your average house is built with materials that vary that much. Your average person buys off the shelf cleaning products.
So pretty much all "average" houses are going to set her off to similar degrees, the only variables being pets, smoking and potentially if jellybean where using some special incredibly extra potent cleaning solvents. All she had to do was ask. Sounds to me like she's a little off. Or ignorant about her condition and what to do about it.
I would be highly upset both to have her there alone and to have her hanging around for an hour after I got there.

Solie: "It's usually women with grown children or no children who have these "special needs."

What does that mean?! I don't have any children and I don't have any "special needs." I don't get your implication.

terrigs - obviously I can't speak for the poster but I noticed the comment too and took it to mean menopausal/horomonal women and empty nestors that have gone a little nuts.

I recently bought an ozone generator (not the Ionic Breeze type) because of the my dogs. It's really amazing how well it works cleaning air and killing stuff. I linked to a page with a lot of information about it, but I bought from the company in the "rental" link. You can also rent these for a weekend or a week and "shock" your whole house. I keep forgetting but I want to shock my car that I use to haul the dogs around, also.

Rentals where I purchased mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ozone Generators

I don't mean menopausal women, I mean women who claim to have multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome (MCS).

It's a disorder not recognized my the AMA and it's usually middle-aged women without young children who claim to have it.

I'm NOT talking about people with allergies or who are simply more sensitive to smells. I'm talking about people who behave like this woman - imposing their imaginary special needs on others. I've read that the typical pattern is that their requests for special accomodation tend to escalate over time (of course this is also consistent with a progressive disease). I don't know if it's true about demands escalating, but that seems to be what happened here - she just kept asking for more when she probably never had any intention of actually purchasing the house. All she really wanted was to put people out and get some attention.

One thing I do know is that people who claim to have MSC are very, very active internet posters and they have been quite successful at obsuring the fact that this is not a recognized disorder. There was recently a case where a couple where putting up some sort of trailer/bubble house in their backyard that did not comply with zoning and was apparently an eyesore. Neighbors complained and local authorities agreed with them and instructed the couple to remove the structure. Then the whole town was vilified in the media (particularly on the internet) for trying to put this woman's life at risk and placing their property values about her health. I have also read about women requesting that their neighbors not treat their lawns and complaining about their neighbors' wireless networks.

Now, who knows. Maybe this is a real disorder and mainstream medicine is wrong. But I would be extremely wary of dealing with anyone who claims to have this.

I was in no way trying to insult anyone with allergies - mild or severe - or normal sensitivities to smells, chemicals, etc. And I wasn't trying to insult anyone menpopausal or without children, or with grown children. I'm not even trying to insult the mentally ill. I was just pointing out that it's unusual for a woman with a young child to exhibit this behavior.

From what I understand about ozone generators they shouldn't be used while you are living in the home. I have heard of people using them to remove odors in a house, but they usually vacate the property during the time period that the generator is running.

That is correct.

Interesting info, solie.

The only person I know with MCS is a woman with small children. When her family was looking for a new house, they purposely looked for vacant houses to avoid pets, furniture, etc. And they did spend a night in the house before buying.

How was the inspection clause worded?
I would lean on them for some money.

Fibromyalgia and Epstein-Barr were thought of as illnesses that people who "needed to be ill" got, in the past. Ulcers were due entirely to stress and worry - plus spicy food. Now we know that some people do have the generalized pain we call fibro (even if we don't understand why) and Epstien Barr is thought to be a virus. Ulcers are caused by bacteria. MCS may someday be understood, as well. When you have no idea why some things make you feel horrid, cannot predict what will do it, have people rolling their eyes at you, and have docs who seem to placate instead of understand you, you end up sounding paranoid and hypochondriacal. The internet becomes a safe place and the only place you can network with others with the same problems.

I cannot imagine how someone with MCS who cannot afford to buy their way into a home with "safe" building materials chooses a house. With my more minor chemical problems, I tend to buy houses that are older and have hardwood of some kind under the carpet - because when the carpet is worn out, I could not get new. Older homes have offgasssed what they are going to offgas. I have always avoided anything too new. I can't imagine how somebody with MCS makes the decision to plunge into a buy, and can see why they might pull out for what seems like odd reasons. It is not easy to undo a house sale and the right choice is more vital for someone with MCS. I can't imagine paying a mortgage on a house I can't live in.

Her requests about your cleaning products really would not be that unreasonable if the sale had gone through. If she is very sensitive, she would not be able to spend time in the home until the smells were gone. I use only vinegar and water for mopping, dishwashing soap without fragrance to clean, and "free and clear" laundry detergent. I have walked out of homes for sale because of candles or sprayed fragrances or stale smoke. I always change out gas stoves for electric after I buy because I get asthma symptoms when I breathe the fumes from burning natural gas. Sometimes I have to have the gas fireplace in a B and B turned off if the pilot light burns and vents into the room. I could never attend Thanksgiving dinner in my Mom's because of the gas, so had it at my house every year instead. I don't have MCS, just strange asthma triggers.

I would shrug off the lady who slept on the couch, maybe report the situation to her realtor's broker because she should never have left the woman in the house alone. No way should the agent and prospective buyer have done this without explaining it to you and getting your permission.

solie, one thing I am sure of through twenty-five years of wierd asthma is that the more I avoid something, the worse my sensitivity to it becomes. So it is fully understandable that these "middle aged women" you cite would become more sensitive to things the more they avoid them.

Unless you are a researcher in the field, your statements about people with chemical sensitivites are judgemental and degrading. How can you know that the symptoms are false, the women only attention-seeking? People who have difficulty breathing always appear anxious or even paranoid. Suffocation tends to do that to you.

The compassionate side of me really feels for this woman and wishes her luck in finding a house she can live with, and the side of me that needs to sell this house because we are moving in 2 weeks is really pissed!

I think it was the carpet that did us in-I knew we were doomed when her agent asked how old the carpet was(it's been in 2 months). We put in new carpet hoping it would be a deal MAKER, and it turned out to be a deal BREAKER-who woulda thunk it?

Solie - what I take exception to is you say only women suffer from this *ailment* which also implies not one single man does. The way you wrote it, the comment and your description of the condition came off as very sexist. Surely you don't believe this condition is one limited to women?

I happen to know a woman who is involved with a man with MCS. So it's not just limited to women. She has to be extremely careful about all products that she buys so that when he visits, they're not harmful to him. AND she's trying to buy a house right now, and having a hell of a time finding something that will be suitable so that he'll be able to visit.

The compassionate side of me really feels for this woman and wishes her luck in finding a house she can live with, and the side of me that needs to sell this house because we are moving in 2 weeks is really pissed!

I can understand your frustration. What are the chances of the one buyer being sensitive to something in your house?

I think it was the carpet that did us in-I knew we were doomed when her agent asked how old the carpet was(it's been in 2 months). We put in new carpet hoping it would be a deal MAKER, and it turned out to be a deal BREAKER-who woulda thunk it?

You had no choice but to replace it after the accident your son had.

If anything I would have thought she'd be allergic to the dog.

This lady should know by now what triggers her allergies from what I'm reading. There also appears to be "safe" cleaning products; which if she did buy the house, she could have given you something she isn't allergic to so that you're kids didn't get sick from not using an antibacterial.

Also from what I was reading, if she did have a reaction, she probably wouldn't have been able to nap as long as she did. From the way it sounds it's like what happens to me when I get near the candle isle at Walmart, my eyes start tearing, my nose starts running. The reaction is almost instant.

I'm sorry Jellybean.
Selling a house is tough.
I developed a slight attitude.
Folks prancing through..."Nooo, this isn't it"
In the last few months, I thought "Yahh well, check the internet, read the specs, and please don't bring your attitude in MY house."
Perhaps your instincts told you that this woman was not the one. But when we really want to sell, we give the benefit of doubt.
Should I sell again, I will adapt my practices to eliminate upfront requests and attitudes that unreasonable.
Hope you find a sane buyer really soon.

We're in the market for a house right now and the houses we've seen with carpet get lower marks in my book. My house has all tile floors and, whenever I shake a rug, I can't believe how much dirt comes out, not to mention what's left under the rug on the floor. So, rugs kind of gross me out. Brand new carpets are no better due to the time it takes them to out-gas chemicals. But I know lots of people like carpeting so the new carpet in question shouldn't be a barrier to a home sale.

Exact opposite here... Bad back, wood / tile floors are really bad for me.

Vac's usually do pretty good to get all that dirt out of the carpet. I have an area rug in one room that I just replaced. When I lifted it out, the wood was pretty clean. We don't have "dirt" here, we have sand which kills hard wood floors.

I don't know how people find the time to care for wood floors. You have to sweep & mop, all I have to do is vac & run my steamer every now and then.