Didn't know Idaho had this........ (Boise, Spirit Lake: for sale, 2013, renters)

[oldafretired]

A Clandestine Meth Lab Site Property List.

http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Po...tylist2013.pdf

There's one on the list for sale now at/near the Treeport Airport in Spirit Lake. I wonder how much it hurts the value to be on this list?

It's not too far from where my house will be.

[banjomike]

I don't think it will hurt your new house's value much, if at all, but the question bears a frank session with a realtor or someone who really knows about this.

While I would never buy a house that was used for a meth lab- I know just enough about some of the chemicals used to make me too leery of one ever being de-contaminated thoroughly enough to cease being a potential health hazard, at least from what I know at present- I think a user's home may be different.

Of course, I may be wrong about that, as most homes heavy meth users occupy often need hazmat de-contamination before they can become eligible for a lot of home loans.

My brother bought a former user's home on a very good deal. The owner moved to the east coast and rented the place out to a friend, another user, and then was busted and went to prison back east. The bank was stuck with a very complicated and prolonged process of first clearing the 'renters' out; they had ceased paying rent long before, and were squatters.

It turns out squatters have more legal rights than renters when it comes to eviction in some cases, but the bank prevailed. Then there was another huge problem with clearing the property's title. It took the bank about 4 years to clear up the legal messes.

My bro just happened to drive by at the very moment the bank's realtor was putting up a for sale sign. The location and size of the property- house, medium sized repair shop w/ heater and overhead door & 3 acres- appealed to him a lot, as it was right in the middle between two of his winter locations where he cares for his livestock. A good central place for him.

He walked in, looked the place over, and went straight to the bank. After some serious negotiation, he got the place for what the bank had in it plus their closing costs. The bank broke even, and they took his offer. He saved about $50,000 over a similar property just down the road.

But he wasn't able to live in the house all that summer. With the help of a homebuilder buddy, he stripped all the floors, sealed all the walls and ceilings with shellac primer, and refinished all the floors and put a new paint job in the entire house. He also tore out the bathroom and replaced all the fixtures, vinyl, painted, and tiled what was originally a 1-piece tub surround. He also dumped all the old kitchen appliances and replaced them.

His pal cost him about $2,000 for his labor, but everything except for the appliances were purchased from the local Habitat For Humanity store. The store sells leftovers donated by contractors, old or odd stock from related businesses and leftovers and tear-outs from individuals, and specializes in building products.

He was able to buy enough white paint to do the interior, and an old friend of mine who runs a great paint store agreed to tint the white for him at very low cost, so he ended up with a pretty good color pallet throughout all the rooms.

I don't know what his final expenses were, but I think he bought everything at half price or more. He has always been an excellent scrounge. Another friend of his gave him 3 nice old Persian rugs he uses in place of carpeting in the living room and one bedroom.

While I don't know if he's ever had his work tested, if such a test exists, I don't think there is much potential hazard left in his place. Whatever may have been in the basement was sealed up last year when he did a full remodel down there. There was only one finished room in it before, but it now has another bathroom, family room, utility/furnace room and a room used for storage, but could be a spare bedroom.

A whale of a lot of labor, but well worth it. If he can do it, others can too. The price was right, for sure, and he loves his place.

[chevpu1967]

Originally Posted by oldafretired

A Clandestine Meth Lab Site Property List.

http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Po...tylist2013.pdf

There's one on the list for sale now at/near the Treeport Airport in Spirit Lake. I wonder how much it hurts the value to be on this list?

It's not too far from where my house will be.

That's it? For the entire state? WOW! I know that some states don't even bother listing houses where meth labs used to be for fear of bringing the entire state housing value down substantially. The only way I figure to truly be rid of a meth house is to have it incinerated completely and start over.

[oldafretired]

Come to think of it, the list does seem pretty short.

Sure sounds like a whole lot of work to get one of those houses safe to live in like Banjomike described. You might be right in that it's easier to tear it down and rebuild from scratch.

[Shaner]

That list is not complete, there was one 3 doors down from me from 5 years ago, and it's not listed on there.
On the flip side, they gutted it and had it re-mediated in 3 weeks, and it was a awesome show to watch ATF break the door down from my back porch =)

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by oldafretired

Come to think of it, the list does seem pretty short.

Sure sounds like a whole lot of work to get one of those houses safe to live in like Banjomike described. You might be right in that it's easier to tear it down and rebuild from scratch.

I generally agree. Most meth houses get pretty torn up; meth makes a lot of users hyper and repetitive. They will pull apart appliances, mess with the plumbing, or anything when they're high, and have no idea of how it goes back together when they come down.

My bro's house had already been stripped out and cleaned by a company hired by the bank, but when I first walked in, it still smelled faintly like cat urine. That's the giveaway odor of smoking meth.

I first discovered that when an old family friend recovered an inherited house that had a similar situation. He loaned me the place's big garage for a brief time, back around 1990. He was a fireman and had some experience with the drug early on. He told me what the smell actually was- I thought the squatters he kicked out were cat hoarders.

In most cases, I think it would be better to burn it and rebuild. His place may have been a rare exception, as the walls and floors weren't damaged. It also may have sat empty for a long time, too, if that could make a difference.

[mistyriver]

Well, Jesse Pinkman certainly got a good deal on his house after cooking meth in the basement.

[Para]

I was thinking the same thing mistyriver.

[mistyriver]

It's worth noting that Jesse Pinkman actor Aaron Paul is an Idahoan from Boise married to a girl whose mom is from Walla Walla (one of my new favorite NW cities).

[banjomike]

Yup.
I saw an interview with Aaron Paul, and he said he liked working in Albuquerque because it reminded him of Boise. I think he's a great young actor.