"I'm sick, my kids are sick and my dog died." -- typical homeowner's complaint

Evelyn Johnson felt something was off from the get-go. For starters, the Elkhart, Indiana, real estate agent tried to schedule an appointment three times before she and her clients were actually able to get inside the house listed for sale.

But that wasn't all. The place "had a big handmade sign in the yard listing five or six people's names, saying to stay off the property or they would be prosecuted," Johnson recalls. Turns out, they were the names of the ex-wife and children, who "had repeatedly broken in and taken things that did not belong to them."

Still, her buyers loved the place and wrote an offer that was above the asking price. But the seller refused to respond. So a few weeks later, Johnson and the listing agent went to the owners' divorce proceedings, where the judge ordered the sale as part of the couple's breakup.

There were other clues that something wasn't right. At the hearing, Johnson says, the husband was visibly shaking. "There was no part of him that was still. His head, his arms, his voice. Everything." Then there was a conversation with a neighbor, who reported that the wife and her kids were into drugs. "They were very bad children," Johnson was told. The neighbor said they were "always in trouble" and had been to "kid-prison."

Johnson recommended that her clients test the house for methamphetamine, or meth: an illegal, highly addictive synthetic stimulant that affects the brain and central nervous system. If it is present in a house, it can leach into practically everything. The contaminants found in meth can result in numerous health problems, including respiratory irritation, skin and eye irritation, headaches, nausea and dizziness, according to authorities in Oklahoma. The state's Department of Environmental Quality says that "high exposures, even for a short time, can cause death or severe lung damage."

When the test on the Indiana house came back positive, the offer was withdrawn.

It's a good thing the deal failed to go through, too, because cleaning up a meth-tainted house can cost thousands. Even though the drug wasn't manufactured in the house, "just" smoked in both the boys' bedrooms, the next owners will face a monumental task.

Though the preponderance of houses where meth has been manufactured or smoked are in the Midwest, they can be found everywhere. Worse, some law enforcement agents believe they only find about one in 10 labs. And even though a house may have been continually cleaned, that doesn't get rid of the contamination, which will affect every corner of the property.

Under some circumstances, the house may have to be stripped to its bones. Walls will have to be removed down to the studs, flooring will have to come up, ceilings will have to come down, the HVAC system and its vents must be cleaned, and insulation and light fixtures must go. There's also a chance that at least part of the plumbing will have to be replaced, because waste products poured down the drain or into toilets can collect in the traps and give off fumes.

Despite the devastating impact of meth contamination, only about half the states require owners and their agents to disclose known meth exposure in homes for sale.

Law or not, though, agents have a duty to disclose this information, according to Lesley Walker, an associate counsel with the National Association of Realtors. "If (agents) are aware that a property has been used for a meth lab or that marijuana has been grown in the house," Walker says, "that would be considered a material fact and they would need to disclose."

Once disclosed, moreover, it would have to be disclosed every time the house is resold. So if you buy a meth house, clean it and live in it for a few years, then go to re-sell, the presence of meth would have to be revealed to your potential buyers -- even though it had been removed and you had no problems.

But not all agents play by the rules. Nick Ratliff of the Cypress Residential Group in Lexington, Kentucky, ran into that problem recently. He represented an investor who wanted to purchase a rental property where a previous tenant had been busted for selling meth. Even though his state has rules requiring disclosure, the listing agent felt no such duty because the unit had been cleaned and the seller had never lived in the property.

Sometimes, though, the seller is the one who refuses to disclose. In that case, it's up to realty professionals to step up. Prabhjit Singh with NAAAM Real Estate in Rockville, Maryland, did just that recently, by refusing to list a meth house because the seller balked at disclosing -- even though the cops had raided the place and the seller's teenage son was arrested.

"It was very clear to me that this was a material fact, as there would be health issues for whomever would own the home," the Maryland agent says.

Next week: How to find out if the house you are considering is contaminated with methamphetamine.

In most cases, lenders will allow borrowers to come to the table with money that came to them in the form of gifts. But be careful how you accept the money and where you stash it.

Sean Young, a loan officer with FirstCal Colorado in Greenwood Village, says that if you fail to accept the gift in a "lender-friendly" way, the underwriter could just as easily not allow it.

The wrong way is to deposit the cash directly into your bank account. Rather, open a new account and follow a series of steps, keeping detailed records of each move.

Here are Young's six steps to success with down-payment gift funds:

1. Provide an acceptable gift letter signed by all parties. Typically, your loan officer will provide the proper letter. You just have to get it signed. But if not, the letter should read like this:

"I am the (relationship to recipient) of (name of recipient) and this letter serves as evidence that I am gifting (name of recipient) (amount of gift) to be used for the purchase of the home at (complete address of property). This is a gift, not a loan, and there is no expectation of repayment. Signed, (signature of gifter)"

2. Provide a bank statement from the gifter's account to show proof of funds.

3. Provide documentation of the gifter's withdrawal of funds via teller receipts in the exact amount of the gift, stamped and signed by the teller.

If the gifter is wiring you the money, provide a copy of the wire transaction. If the gift is in the form of a check or money order, provide a copy of it and then an updated statement after the check has cleared the account.

4. Provide documentation of your deposit of the funds into your new account via teller receipts in the exact amount of the gift, again stamped and signed by the teller.

Make sure that gifted funds are not commingled with other funds at the time of deposit. For example, if the gift is for $10,000, the bank's deposit slip should indicate that a $10,000 deposit was made, nothing more, nothing less. Don't add a random deposit to the transaction. So if you are depositing an additional $100, it should be in a separate deposit.

5. Provide a new bank statement showing the deposit and updated balance, making sure the statement goes back to the date of the last statement you provided the lender to cover any gaps.

6. Be certain all your statements show your name, at least the last four digits of the account number, the bank's name and balance.

Any time you get a statement from a bank teller, be sure it is stamped by the teller and dated.  If you print statements online, make sure the statement shows the URL.

Detailed? Yes. Cumbersome? You bet. But absolutely necessary, Young says.

Lenders want to make sure of two things, the Colorado loan officer explains. First, they want to make sure that the cash gift is "clean," rather than laundered, money. And second, they want to make sure the gift is really a gift, and not a loan in disguise.

The Housing Scene erred in a recent column on the VA loan program. Anywhere in the country, a veteran can borrow up to $417,000 without any money out of his or her own pocket -- much more than the $144,000 we mistakenly reported earlier. But there are 46 counties, largely on the east and west coasts, where the maximum is considerably higher. For every $4 borrowed above the max, however, the vet must put up $1.

You tip everyone else, so why not your real estate agent?

A great gesture for a job well done, perhaps. But tipping goes against the National Association of Realtors' Code of Ethics.

An agent should never accept money directly from a client, even if he's gone above and beyond on their behalf. All monies should pass through the agent's broker, and be reported on the HUD-1 settlement sheet.

Here's how Ranee Bray of TCP Real Estate in Austin, Texas, handled it recently when she was handed a substantial tip from a client who was more than satisfied with her work: She gave the money back and sat down with the client to come up with an alternative way to show her gratitude.

Their answer, or as Bray calls it, "an alternative blessing they could bestow upon me," was a generous donation to the agent's favorite charity in the agent's name. "What a beautiful gift of gratitude," the agent says. The donation "is a true blessing that I am proud to accept."

Starting next January, lenders will be required to collect escrow funds from borrowers who have flood insurance, just like they do for property taxes and hazard insurance.

Though the proposed rules won't take effect until almost a year from now, it won't hurt borrowers to start getting familiar with them so they won't be shocked when their house payments go up come Jan. 1.

Under the rule, which is still subject to a few changes, regulated lending institutions must escrow premiums and fees for flood coverage on loans secured by residential properties starting next year. Besides new mortgages made after that date, the rule also would apply to older loans that are increased, extended or renewed.

Also, come the first of the year, borrowers already on the books must be given the option of escrowing their flood insurance premiums if they so desire.

In a key change from previous proposals, the rule would eliminate the requirement that would have forced borrowers to obtain coverage for a structure that is a part of a residential property located in a special flood hazard area if that structure is detached from the house and does not also serve as a residence. But lenders can require insurance on the detached structures if they determine that it is necessary to protect the collateral securing the mortgage.

After several false starts, the latest federal edict on escrowing for flood coverage was issued late last year by five regulatory agencies: the Federal Reserve Board, Farm Credit Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., National Credit Union Administration and the Comptroller of the Currency.

The rules implement changes required by last year's Homeowner Flood Insurance Act, which itself amended the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012.

What's the optimal number of photographs of your property that should accompany your listing? The answer is 10-15, according to Point2, an online marketing service for real estate professionals.

While too few photos are not likely to pique the interest of buyers, too many won't necessarily kill their curiosity. But too many might be just enough to allow people to move on to the next property without ever contacting your agent, the company says.

"Too many photos may answer a potential buyer's questions, meaning there's less incentive to contact the listing agent," according to Point2. "Like any good sales pitch, you want to give enough information to interest people, but not so much that they don't need to contact you."

Too many sellers unwittingly put their homes at risk when they buy combination lockboxes at their local hardware stores so agents can gain access to their properties. That's the warning from super agent Rhonda Duffy, Georgia's No. 1 realty sales professional for 10 consecutive years.

Duffy says using store-bought lockboxes is akin to using weak online passwords. They're not secure at all, the Atlanta agent says, about as dangerous as broadcasting your passwords on national television.

The solution? "Always use a real estate agent's lockbox," she advises. "It has accountability, security and no combination dials to turn. Only actively licensed real estate agents can gain entry."

Another benefit: Agents can run "showing reports" telling sellers exactly how many agents came into their home, when and who they were."