Does legalizing marijuana ruin local housing markets? That depends on where you live and how, exactly, your home\u2019s value was impacted by weed.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors released a report<\/u><\/a> where it asked nearly 3,700 real estate agents in cannabis reformed states (medical, recreational, or both) if legalization affected their businesses. <\/p>\n The Chicago Tribune<\/em><\/u><\/a> reported on this study with the headline, \u201cSmells impacting sales, rules against growing: How the real estate market is influenced by legal marijuana,\u201d which suggests that housing markets are taking a hit due to the dank funk of primo skunk. Meanwhile, SFGate\u2019s<\/em><\/u><\/a> reporting on the same survey posed a question: \u201cIs Legal Marijuana Getting Local Real Estate Markets High \u2014 or Is It a Buzzkill?\u201d The truth resides somewhere in between the (head)lines.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that this realtor survey depended entirely on the realtors\u2019 perceptions <\/em>of cannabis law reforms on their businesses and did not include real-world data from the realtors\u2019 locations.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the survey found, in a nutshell. Yes, legal weed can lower an individual property\u2019s<\/em> value if an amateur grew weed on said property. And, if you know anything about growing weed, you also know that screwing up a house is easy to do, especially if you\u2019re trying to grow a lot at once. Novices often end up growing more mold<\/u><\/a> in their homes than they do quality pot, and a janky hydration or electrical system can cause serious water or fire damage. And, yeah, on top of that, the weed smell is difficult to remove<\/u><\/a> from the walls, ceilings, and carpets, too.<\/p>\n According to the survey, 29 percent<\/u><\/a> of realtors said they had a rough time selling homes that a previous tenant turned into a grow op. And the lingering smell of bud was the main reason why.<\/p>\n