Paul's Appraisal Blog

    I read a scary article on MSN.com about people that have bought houses, only to find out that they were at one time "Meth Labs".  Labs used to make methamphetamine, or meth, are incredibly toxic and more often than not leave behind dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.

    Although one might think that these types of houses are only found in lower income areas, along side "crack houses", the fact of the matter is that they have been found in every conceivable neighborhood, from low end slums to "well off", affluent neighborhoods.

    The toxic residue left behind has caused numerous medical problems for the occupants, some of which are very serious, especially for young children. Additionally, once you discover you have a "Meth House", it is very costly for clean up and you cannot sell it without disclosure.

    One of the scariest things is that you cannot tell by looking if your house was a "Meth Lab".  It could appear very clean and well maintained, yet still have dangerous levels of toxic residue. I, personally, am very concerned, especially knowing that San Diego is the Meth capital of the United States.

    I'm no expert, so don't take my word for it. Go on to Google or some other search engine and look up "Meth Houses" and other similar phrases. You will be shocked at what you find.

    Here is a link to Meth Lab Homes, a website dedicated to the problem.

    I am going to do some research and find out if there are any reasonably priced testing services a person could use before close of escrow so I can post on my site.

    Do you have a comment?  Let me know what you think or if you have any good resources. Thanks!!             

(These are samples of "Meth Labs" and "Meth Houses")