Are you ready to put pen to paper and formally own your first home? Have you done enough to research the history of your home, and finally be confident to move in and settle down with your loved ones? But what if you find out that what you’ve just bought is a former meth house, “cleaned” and staged so that it will look like the perfect buy for first-time homeowners. The price is really nice for its size, too.

Are you going to take your chance and continue with the deal, or will you prioritize the safety of your family and just wait for another opportunity that doesn’t really involve any meth history?

Honestly, you could just be worrying about nothing. Even if there’s a history of meth use, if it isn’t too severe, then there’s really no problem. Plus, you can ask your broker if meth decontamination has been done and it’s truly ready for use.

But all that confidence would go to waste if there was no proper testing and inspection done on the site. You could hold off the purchase now, or you could negotiate for a better deal so that you’ll have enough to get the house tested and cleaned yourself.

Here’s what you need to do to ascertain the condition of your new home:

Review registries

If a complaint has been filed involving your property, there would be a record that you can check on the local government’s registry. The drug agencies usually have a clandestine lab register accessible to the public, so you can check that too. Such databases store records on properties in the area and even the whole country. But again, it all depends on the reports and complaints filed beforehand. It may be a long shot for some, but these registries are great places to start. Now if you’re done searching and it turned up negative, you can also search around the neighbouring areas, just to see if there are any drug activities in the area. You need to consider every angle, so if you found out that most of the houses in your bloc are on the list, the possibility of your house being used as a drug manufacturing site also increases.

Ask around

Once you’re done with your secondary research and you feel that you’ve exhausted all your options, perhaps you would consider strolling around the neighbourhood for leads. Your neighbours can help you with a lot of information. You can be direct with your line of questioning, like “Was my house a previous meth lab?” or “Did you witness any drug deals happening in our area?” If you’re not comfortable speaking about it, you can ask vague questions like, “Is it safe for my kids to play in our yard unsupervised?” or “Are there any crimes reported today?” Asking such questions would help you get an idea of what the area is like — if it’s really safe to live there or if crimes are uncommon. Most importantly, it will help you figure out if you’re about to buy a former meth house.

Let your senses do the checking

If you have access to the property, say for example an open house or a guided visit by the realtor, don’t be afraid to let your senses get down to work. Look for tell-tale signs: an uneven paint job, no matter how small the patch is, could mean a damaged wall has been repaired. Scratches on various surfaces, damaged floors, and — God forbid — bullet holes, could be signs that something was happening in that house. Meth labs are not really the picture of clean and sanitary living. Different kinds of people walk in and out of there. Tables are used as surfaces to do drugs. Drug dependent people usually have bad tempers, so damaged walls are common. As with bullet holes, well, that’s self-explanatory.

Now, if the house passed your eye test, it’s time for your other senses to investigate. Some may frown upon the idea of sniffing someone else’s home, but you’re here for a different reason. You want to make sure that what you’re buying is not a meth house, so sniff away.

Meth labs use and produce chemicals with strong smells. While old homes typically smell musty, meth homes have that strong ammonia smell, close to that of rotten eggs, or even vinegar. Walls can be painted, thus leaving no alarming scent. But wooden furniture, doors, and other surfaces that can absorb the spell will leave a tell-tale hint. You can also try opening and closing closet doors, especially in the kitchen, where meth often gets cooked (or in any other large, open space). The air wafting from the closing doors of closets and cabinets can carry the smell of what was in the area. If meth was cooked there, you’d probably know through the smell.

Ask the police

If there’s someone who can tell you if a house was a meth house, that would probably be the police. Any suspicious dwellings, especially in suburban neighbourhoods, have been under surveillance by the police. Since the house is now in the market, it means there aren’t any classified information that you won’t know. Still, it would be up to the police to entertain your question, but it’s worth a try, especially if you’re about to spend thousands of dollars on it.

If they don’t know, or simply won’t tell you about the history of the property, you can at least ask about the crime-related statistics in the area. Just like what you’ve asked the neighbours, try to know how often crimes happen in your street or the number of arrests they’ve made in the area. You won’t leave the station empty-handed, as this information can prove vital when you’re making the final decision to purchase the property.

If it’s too good to be true

If the price of the property is too low, then there’s a reason behind that. It could be the history of the house or even the entire neighbourhood. But certainly, it can add to a list of reasons to walk away from the deal. Now, if you found out that the house was indeed a former meth house, there’s still hope. You can haggle for a better deal, knowing the history of the property. Whatever you save from the original price, you can use to have it decontaminated professionally. This level of professional cleaning is not something you can DIY, so don’t bother trying. Just have it tested, tap a meth decontamination or p decontamination company like Chemcare to do it for you, and learn if it’s safe to finally move in with your family.