Investment Property Turned into Drug Den

Investors can’t hide that sometimes they are really rubbed the wrong way by tenants who do all the damage and then go into hiding. Rented investment properties turning into secret drug laboratories are not unheard of. It is odd that investors always feel it is something that “happens to others, not us”. Sharon Fox-Slater writes an article for the website Street News wherein she talks about an investment home in Geelong turned into a cannabis farm.

Cannabis farming in Victorian property

A Victorian investor taking a routine look at his Geelong property was up for a nasty surprise when he found cannabis farmed in his property. As expected, the tenants were nowhere to be found.

Tenants duped despite thorough screening

It is not that the tenants were not screened properly. The property manager had done his duty only too well but the tenants exhibited themselves in the best light by furnishing fake ID proofs and dressing themselves really well.

It was disheartening to see that the ex-tenants had also played with the doors to make extra room for growing cannabis in the bedroom.

You can read the original article here.

It is an age of technology, age of businessmen, age of wisdom but also an age marked by caution. You lower your guard and something untoward may happen, sometimes right under your nose. This may have happened in Victoria, but it could have been right here in Sydney, or anywhere else for that matter.

Property managers need to exercise more caution

Property managers need to be doubly careful. Thorough screening may not solve the problem altogether. Regular checks on the properties and keenly asking questions about anything that seems out of place should be very much on the cards. It will certainly prevent a property from turning into a drug den.

Landlords can’t afford aloofness

Landlords (investors) should find time out from their busy lives and ensure that every bit of the burden does not fall on the property managers. Without being intrusive, the landlords can give an impression to the tenants that they care about their properties. Properties which pass through bi-layered inspections (landlords as well as property managers) are less likely to be tampered with.