A couple of months ago we listed our first meth house.
We got a call from a long time client investor and friend with whom we have done many deals over the years - let's call him Lloyd. Lloyd wanted to sell a rental home he had purchased with us 12 years ago, one that had had a very long-term tenant. The house was pretty beat up and was going to need a bunch of work before listing, and while Lloyd was meeting with a contractor, one of the neighbors came by to chat.
During that conversation, the neighbor mentioned that the tenant was a "tweaker". Lloyd had no idea what that meant, but soon learned that his tenant was a methamphetamine addict. Lloyd's reaction to that just reinforced all the reasons he was already one of our favorite all-time clients.
He immediately called us and told us the news, and wanted to have the home tested for meth. No hesitation, no question - it was the right thing to do. And we have all heard the stories about home owners in similar situations who just covered up the evidence, but that never occurred to Lloyd.
The test results were better than they could have been. The tenant was a user, not a manufacturer, and the use had apparently been confined to just one room. Lloyd hired a remediation company and had the property remediated to EPA standards. The whole process - testing and remediation - cost $8,000. And following that, there was the work that needed to be done to make the home ready for the market.
Once that was completed, Lloyd faced, and passed with flying colors, an interesting challenge. Colorado has what we believe is a bad meth law - once a property has been fully remediated, there is no requirement for disclosure. Mary and I strongly disagree with this and knew we'd never list a home for a seller who refused to disclose meth presence. Lloyd didn't test our resolve - he insisted on full disclosure. It was the right thing to do.
(And right now, we know of two homes on the market that have been remediated and are being marketed without disclosure - imagine that you're the buyer of one of those homes, getting the inevitable news at some point after you have closed and moved in.)
We got the home ready, listed it and got it under contract quickly. We'll be closing it next week, and everyone is happy. And Lloyd is pretty much #1 in our book of favorite clients.
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