Pubdate: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 Nanaimo Daily News Contact: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608 Author: Derek Spalding POT-GROWING OPERATIONS DECREASE PROPERTY VALUES, MAKE TOUGH SELL Real Estate Experts Discuss Restoration Projects, Explain Depreciation Of Home Resale Selling homes identified as marijuana-growing operations can be a difficult task, according to real estate experts in Nanaimo. Property owners tend to spend anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 on average to bring the property up to code, only to then take another $30,000 to $50,000 hit when they try to sell it, explained Stanley Chong, realtor with Realty Executives. Once the police clean out a grow-op, city bylaw officers secure the home by boarding it up and turning off the water. The home can be sold at any time, but most owners work with city staff to obtain a new residential permit. A grow-op illegally transforms a home into agricultural use and it must be made livable, according to Ralph Topliffe, the city's building inspection supervisor. Construction costs are high, but a key component of the restoration comes from air-quality consultants who ensure the home is free of mould and moisture left behind. Selling a remediated home should not be difficult, but it can be, according to Chong. "There is always going to be that identification on the property statement," he said. Gordon Wedman is the Nanaimo branch manager of Pacific Environmental. The air-quality consultant usually inspects about six grow-op homes a year. His tests measure the amount of mould spores in a home and his inspections can cost up to $3,000. The value of the home should not decrease tremendously after it has been returned to livable condition, according to Vancouver Island Real Estate Board president Jim Stewart, but the negative stigma attached to the home lasts well after it was sold. "When I drive by those houses on Terminal (Avenue), I will always think: 'Remember when there was a bunker under there,'" he said, referring to the RCMP's latest raid. - ------------------------------- BY THE NUMBERS Residential grow-ops closed by police in Nanaimo : 2004: 17 2005: 11 2006: 15 2007: 12 2008: 6 2009: 6 2010: 7 - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart