Talking property: Meth contamination.

James and Kylie are in the market to purchase their first home.

They have obtained pre-approval from a bank of their choice and have been looking at properties for months with no luck. During their property hunt they met an agent who was eager to help them find their first home and get ahead on other purchasers in the same market.

On a Friday night the agent called James and Kylie to let them know that a newly renovated home had just been listed and the first open home was the following Sunday. James and Kylie were well aware that in the current Auckland market you need to move quickly to a secure property.

The 'perfect house'?

The agent arranged for James and Kylie to view the house on Saturday and suggested that if they were keen on the property that they should consider making a conditional offer. They viewed the house and loved it. The house had new kitchen, bathroom and carpets throughout and smelled of fresh paint. The landscaping appealed with perfect ready-made lawn and new large deck off the lounge for entertaining in the summer months. The house felt like a perfect fit and James and Kylie were eager to make an offer.

On Sunday afternoon James and Kylie were advised by the agent that the property had been viewed by a lot of interested parties and that the owner had already received three conditional offers. The owner was intending to review all offers on Monday afternoon.

All is not what it seems

On Sunday evening James and Kylie spoke to friends who lived in the same street. Those friends knew the property and mentioned that it had been on the market two months earlier in a totally different state. The house had been run down and all the grass and gardens were dead. The friends mentioned having seen an usually high amount of visitors coming and going from the property and on at least one occasion they had seen police attend. They mentioned neighbourhood concerns at the time that the house was being used to sell drugs and were relieved when the property was vacated and placed on the market.

On Monday morning James and Kylie discussed their concerns with their solicitor. An offer was submitted conditional on a negative meth test. The offer was not accepted. James and Kylie may well have “dodged a bullet”.