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Buyers should be told about marijuana, realtors say

cbc.ca

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Dec 22 -– Add marijuana grow operations to the list of things real estate agents have to learn about.

Recently the topic of grow ops was added to the new training that agents in Saskatchewan have to take every year.

According to Bill Madder of the Saskatchewan Real Estate Association, sellers and their agents must disclose any defects in a house that they know about.

And that can include "defects" caused by retrofitting a house for growing pot.

Saskatoon police recently made a number of seizures at local grow ops.

From one home alone they seized more than 200 marijuana plants.

Having previously had a grow op in a house can leave behind moisture and mold for the new owners to deal with.

There's also the potential for old customers to show up on the doorstep, Madder said.

"Certainly not everybody gets a memo when a place is no longer being used as a grow op," he said.

"The people might just be showing up at all hours of the night expecting to do business."

Madder said there can be physical alterations to grow op houses, including false walls and changes to wiring. This kind of information should be disclosed, he said.