Is 'smoking outside only' ok? Interested in your thoughts

[Christian Wathne]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm pre-screening before I do showings and one person who's interested in the house said this....

"I like to get it out of the way, would you have any concerns about smoking in the backyard only? (Haven't kicked the bad habit yet. We have a 2 yr old, so we're obsessively conscious about smells and washing). Thanks"

They have 100k+ income and good job history at large tech companies. My 4br/2ba single family house in a premium area is newly renovated and this would be the first tenant. Would you turn this applicant away or not?

[JD Martin]

Based just on a request to smoke outside? No. My leases explicitly state no inside smoking of any kind. Policing the outside would be nearly impossible. And I have found most decent people smoke outside anyway because they can't stand the stink in their own house. Bums will lie and smoke inside anyway.