I have borrowers who buy these former grow-op homes in all stages, even with the health hazard still registered. However, I wouldn’t let just anyone try and buy one of these unless they knew exactly what to do and had a solid exit strategy or rental plan. These homes are usually bought as essentially land value. These homes need to be taken back to the shell in most cases, including a specialized and expensive remediation process. There is a video below from a recent 2015 Calgary bust that illustrates why these homes are a challenge to repair. Once remediated and repaired, these homes typically have a ‘stigmatized discount’ attached to them on the open market. In my experience, in a balanced market, this discount is at least 10% and some as much as 20%. That is AFTER it has been repaired! So between re-building the entire house and the stigmatized discount, you can see why these homes are super cheap (not to mention the potential lingering health issues).
Contrary to popular belief, there is financing available to those who know what they are doing with these stigmatized, health hazard properties. Those real estate investors who take on these projects and do them correct are helping put homes and communities back to normal.
Take a look at the video of the recent Calgary Grow-Op Bust:
Contrary to popular belief, there is financing available to those who know what they are doing with these stigmatized, health hazard properties. Those real estate investors who take on these projects and do them correct are helping put homes and communities back to normal.
Take a look at the video of the recent Calgary Grow-Op Bust: