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Updated over 2 years ago,
Do you avoid buying properties with known drug history?
A town I like in Vermont, Springfield, has good prices in the otherwise insane Vermont real estate market, in part because it has a fair amount of crime, although the amount of crime is still well under than the U.S. average. I was interested in a vacant foreclosure (the owner is deceased) but found out his son has major drug history, including selling heroin, and was arrested at the house last year, well after his father's death. (Gotta love Google.) I was going to run up there tomorrow to go see a different house that was just listed. Well, the owner is in custody without bail as an alleged armed robber. He also served time for dealing cocaine. A small amount of heroin and empty fentanyl wrappers and live ammo were found in the house after his arrest. Would you let history like this deter you from purchasing a house a. for tenants b. to fix and flip c. for yourself? Would you write a contingency that the house be tested for drugs? Any thoughts on what tests to order and the cost of that testing? What about a foreclosure that you can't enter before buying? I'm new and think it is wise to skip these places but maybe instead I am missing some opportunities.