Buying a home sometimes can be a roller coaster ride. You now have to watch out for meth labs when buying any home. Not only the production, but also casual smoking of tenants or seller will contaminate the house,

as published study shows in the Journal of Chemical Health and Safety from 2008 (PDF) (Editor’s note: This story as originally published included only Connell’s expert opinion that one smoke could leave a home uninhabitable.) and insurance companies will not pay for the clean –up of a meth contaminated house. Just because a home is in a nice, well to-do, or rural area does not mean it could not be an issue. Businesses are also not immune as discovered by a Wal-Mark Janitor.

In many cases you will not be able to spot a meth lab by just looking at the house. Some states have a registry where you can look up a list of known meth lab properties through the DEA’s National Clandestine Laboratory Register. Another way to find out what is going on with the house is to speak with the neighbors, or contact the local police department. Both are ways you will get a good indication on what has happened in and around the house.

Many states now mandated the seller to disclose through the sellers disclosure if their property was a meth lab. To find out what your specific states disclosure regulation is, here is the website, from the Meth Lab Cleanup Company. they have assembled that information for you.

This does come with a catch 22.

When a house was a meth lab in the past, and the current owner bought it unknowingly, they might not have a clue that the house was a past meth lab, or a tenant produced or smoked meth and cleansed up the property before moving out. Maybe the seller did not test the house or the seller knowingly did not disclose on the sellers disclosure form that this property was a meth lab.

When you are looking at homes keep your eyes open for unusual issues with the house, especially in foreclosed homes where the price seems too good to be true. Personally I ran into one just recently that was a beautiful historic home with a great price and a great area. I wondered why it was still on the market. As I looked at it personally from the outside one of the neighbors cornered me and told me that there was a huge meth bust 3 years ago in this house. The house eventually sold for $1 to an investor who knew how to deal with the clean-up of meth labs.

When inspecting the house check for dust masks, propane tanks, coolers, and camp stoves. Also bottles or packages of substances like acetone, muriatic acid, brake cleaner, drain cleaner, iodine, paint thinner, phosphorus, or ether. When a house has been trashed out and cleaned up the one for sure way to know if the property is contaminated is to test the house through a professional testing company. There is professional testing that can be performed that could cost up to $2,000. There are also home test kits that can be purchased.

Even when you use a real estate agent to help you to purchase your home, they are expected to abide by an industry code of ethics, which requires them to reveal all known material factors, according to National Association of Realtors’ spokesman Walter Molony. The key word there is “known,” however. Agents can’t be held responsible if the home is later found to be contaminated.

When a house is found to be contaminated it is usually up to the current owner to de-contaminate and clean up the house. The cost of clean-up can run up to $10,000 or even more.

When you need real state advice or help with your sale or purchase feel free to contact the Settles Team.