Hello,
I’m still working on this deal, but not sure how far I should dive into this mold issue. If I buy a house that has ample evidence of mold everywhere, especially in the basement, is there any disclosure that I must make at the time of sale in Michigan? I had a home inspector examine it and he said there is no way of really telling unless we do sampeling. Any thoughts?
If you are selling, and the buyer gets an inspection, he will probably get it sampled, and then either run, or renegotiate the contract. Mold is bad.
I am not familiar with your laws in Michigan… However I would err on the side of caution and over-disclosure. For my own peace of mind and because I think this is the right thing to do… Good luck!
Mold is very fixable and only about 10% or so is considered “toxic”. That being said, you won’t know the difference until it is tested. And, until it is tested you won’t know how much it will be to remediate.
You don’t say if you are wholesaling/retailing etc. Either way if you are not going to test it ahead of time you should buy low enough that you can fix whatever type of mold it is.
Then you disclose the PAST mold issue with your receipt that it has been remediated.
Of course you also have to find the source of the water so you can stop the mold from continuing.
Chris
I’m in Mi.
It’s simply unethical not to disclose something that exists.
Although tested and repaired by a professional then I may lend to the idea of not disclosing. Fix the problem that got it that way also.
I had a similar problem with my own home about a hidden water in basement cover up. I didn’t pursue it though because my Lawyer said it would probably cost more for him than the actual fix.
On another note do you want to get known as the investor that hides problems?
herbster
I’m sorry that it came across that I was not going to fix the problem and hide it. I will fix the leaks and eliminate the mold. I just didn’t know, after everything has been remediated, if I need to disclose that there was a mold issue at one time.
If you do it right - hire a professional to fix the problem - and he confirms that mold will not come back then I am not sure if I would disclose it… Are you going to disclose every single thing that you did to fix the house up? Having said that - I would check with a good broker or the Real Estate Commissioner because you may be still required to disclose. Good luck!
I am currently checking it out with a broker, because if I need to disclose it after it has been cleared…I don’t want the house. It would be a major negative selling point especially with the mass inventory on the market now. As you guys have said, there are many good buys out there.
I’ll let you know what I find out.
My understanding of this situation is that you don’t have to disclose it if you don’t have it tested and remediated. If you test it and it is mold, then you’re required to disclose it. If I saw where a problem had been professionally remediated and the problem causing the mold was fixed too, I’d be ok with it. The only problem now is that buyers are spooked by mold because of the media and as was stated…there are tons of houses on the market. If they get spooked, they’ll just go down the street instead.