REALTOR OFFERS TIPS ON AVOIDING GROW OP

Looking to buy a home in the Westwood Plateau or Heritage Mountain
subdivisions?

If so, you're probably wondering how to avoid getting stuck with one that's
been raided by police as part of a marijuana grow-op bust.

Phil Haig, a realtor with the Re/Max Sabre Realty Group in Port Coquitlam,
says there are several things homebuyers can do to safeguard themselves.

With police estimating 20,000 grow ops in the Lower Mainland alone, it's a
problem that concerns realtors, as well.

"It's impossible not to run into a grow op if you sell a fair number of
homes," Haig said, adding that last week, he declined to sell a house on the
Westwood Plateau because it had been used as a grow op.

"I've turned some down because I told them (the owners) that it was a grow
op and they denied it was a grow op, and I said, 'Well, if I'm going to sell
it, I'm going to disclose it's a grow op' ... I just turned one down last
week."

While there's no legal requirement for homeowners to indicate that their
property has been used as a grow op, the Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver is concerned enough about the issue that it's pushing the B.C.
Real Estate Association to amend the property disclosure statement to
clearly indicate whether a property has been used as a grow op.

Haig said buyers can protect themselves by hiring a realtor with a
background in construction and a competent home inspector - and can also ask
the neighbours. He said telltale signs include drywall repairs around the
electrical meter, excess moisture along the windows, mould and rust on the
hot water tank or other metal objects in the basement.

And he added that because police sometimes refuse to disclose the extent of
the damage - citing privacy laws - realtors often don't know whether a home
was the site of a large-scale grow op, or something relatively minor.

Most real estate agents will disclose if a house has been a grow op - if
they know about it - and Haig said potential homebuyers can ask for
information so they can learn about the issue.

"There's information that realtors can get for them and hand out to them,"
he said. "Because I think some (members) of the public think that the
realtors are trying to push these things through and not tell the public,
but in all of the cases that I know of, the realtors are trying their very
best to find out if it is a grow op."