Meth-contaminated house goes for $575K in hot housing market

MILLCREEK, Utah (KUTV) — The real estate market is so hot right now that a $575,000 listing, known to be contaminated with methamphetamine, had no problem finding a buyer, according to the listing agent.

“It's definitely an affluent neighborhood,” said April Davis who lives next door to the property being listed for sale in the Canyon Rim Millcreek neighborhood.

A lot of what makes this area appealing is the location because it's so close to the Wasatch Mountains,” Davis said.

The 1,468 square foot, three-bedroom, one-bathroom home next to Davis is listed for sale for $575,000.

According to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, homes in this zip code have a median sale price of $805,000.

“This area seems to be a really popular area for investors to do quick turnovers with homes,” Davis said.

The listing said it tested positive for meth with a bid to remediate at a cost of $4,500.

The listing agent did not want to do an on-camera interview but said the sale of the home is closing on Monday and the buyer has agreed to pay for the remediation.

“It does shock people to know there's meth in their neighborhood, for sure. A lot of what we see are just lower levels from people using and not necessarily manufacturing,” said Shane Woodworth, owner of Crime Scene Cleaners, a company that cleans up meth-contaminated houses.

Woodworth said most contaminations are discovered during a property transaction when buyers test for meth during the inspection process.

“A lot of people live in them and are just fine but there's a small percentage of people that really do get very sick form these contaminated homes and living there,” Woodworth said.

The time and cost to remediate depend on the size of the home and the potency of the contamination but Woodworth said an average cost is roughly $4,000 and can take a couple of weeks, including the permitting process.

In Salt Lake County, over the last 12 months, 375 properties that tested positive for chemical contamination have been reported to the health department.

Woodworth said he remediates in homes at every level adding, “A lot of them are a little bit lower-income homes that we go into but we see high-end homes as well, we see homes up in Park City, nicer areas of Salt Lake County, Utah County, meth doesn't discriminate, it's everywhere, every neighborhood could have it.”