$30,000 clean up cost and 10-30% reduction in property value

15th April 2013

I’ve just been talking to a business that specialises in reducing Meth risks for rental properties.  We will provide some further information on our website, but thought you might be interested in the following brief summary.

Insurance companies are changing their criteria, and your property might not be covered for Meth damage.

The average cost to clean up a property after a Meth problem is $30,000.  Ouch!
Plus worse still, then no one wants to buy a property that has had Meth issues.  This commonly reduces the value of the rental property by 10-30%.  So if you have a rental worth $300,000, the total real cost in terms of clean up and lost value could amount to over $100,000!  If banks hear about Meth issues they then relook at LVR ratios, which can make the borrowers life difficult.

The Company I was talking to:

- Provides a buying service for $99, where you can check to see if the house has traces of Meth.  Gives a simple Yes/No – I think this is a no brainer and you should be obtaining some kind of report before purchasing to ensure your next rental does not have a Meth issue.  Also you should be asking the vendor and the agent about Meth.

- Provides a monitoring and testing service for around $500 per year to ensure the property is kept Meth Free.  They feel that being Meth free is a bonus, and that if advertised well might get the landlord $10 extra per week which then pays for the monitoring cost.

www.methminder.co.nz contains further information as well!

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