Toronto Fire says that chemicals used to make illicit drugs were found inside a Liberty Village residence that was the scene of an explosion

— CP24 (@CP24) November 18, 2014

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the explosion that occurred at 85 East Liberty Street in Liberty Village. Early reports claimed it was caused by a faulty propane tank but now we have confirmation from various news sources that it was indeed a Meth Lab that caused the explosion that blew out an entire wall of a condo unit and damaged one of the elevators.The big question now is. What happens to all the other condos in the building?

We asked our source at CMHC, Canada’s top mortgage insurer. Here’s what they had to say:

… it should be disclosed and a new status certificate obtained in order to determine if there are any bigger concerns with the building post-explosion.  Assuming there aren’t, and the lender is okay with the deal, then file should be able to proceed as per usual.

We also had a quick exchange with Toronto’s top stigma expert, Barry Lebow. here’s what he had to say:

What are your neighbours doing! The stigma factor, now is in place

Usually when a house is gutted by fire, or if there is a murder or something tragic occurs, this needs to be disclosed to potential buyers so they can make an informed decision. Now do the other condo owners need to disclose that there was a meth lab in the building that blew up? I don’t know about you but many end user buyers would run as far away from this building as possible after the disclosure but you may get some opportunistic investors who may buy in if there was enough of a deal. That’s the problem:

Today, your condo is worth less than it was yesterday. Fact…sorry. 

We’re just waiting on comments from our lawyers, stigma experts and will report once we get that info. For now you can follow the conversation below but here’s what we think you should do:

Do not flood the market with your condos now. Let the dust settle and see how the buyer pool is reacting to the building. Making decisions to sell when news is so fresh will not do anyone any good. You won’t get the money you want for your place…if you can find a buyer that is. Just stay put, keep your renter and ride out the storm. You may have to disclose this in the future but if you can say that it’s been years since the last incident buyers might be more flexible.

Written by Ara Mamourian @AraMammo 416-434-1511 or ara@property.ca

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