resell house with mold?

I just heard rumor that if I am selling a house that has mold or legal issues, r3egardless of price or as is status, that a bank will not fund a loan- need to find contractor or investor. I have a gorgeous home in so. ca- orange county ( fmv- 850-900- without official appraisal) but has a mold problem that has forever been a legal fight. looking to sell the property to break even or get enough money to get us out but was told needed special buyer funding even if as is? anyone have advice on this ? most investors wouldn’t want it for rental property because we have a 5,000 gall koi pond- waterfall in yard that takes maintenance, care, and money! house shows beautiful.

That’s correct… and mold remediation will cost you an arm and a leg. I’m remodeling my bathroom and found mold in the flooring. This is NOT an ad for any kind of air purifier, in fact I hate the company, but my Ecoquest air purifier has an ozone sanitizer feature that I have run for three days. It has killed nearly all the black mold and will have gotten it all in another day or two. Saving me a bundle.

I suggest you find your local Ecoquest dealer and say you want a free trial in your home. They do this regularly as a marketing tactic. Just don’t fall for the MLM hype and you’ll be fine. Use it to kill the mold, then return it. Good luck.

at my reia meeting this month we had a speaker that did mold. he did an extremely comprehensive lecture on what mold is, how it is formed, where to find it, how to get rid of it, and the health effects. his name is Matt Bezanson of Sherlock Holmes Home Inspection. he, however, is located here in michigan. call him and maybe he can refer you to someone in your area. 248-585-8584

My problem with the mold issue is that now that it went into litigation, all documents on mold must be released and unless I have the mold removed and retested to prove it’s gone, I am going to have a heck of a time selling. I don’t want to invest the time or money to fix, and I was hoping to sell as is. Now the complication is loan issue. How can it be done? how can someone purchase as is and get a loan? It is a great investment for someone who wants to fix, just not us.

You should consider ozone shock to rid the house of mold. It’s done with huge ozone generators and will kill every living thing in the house including people, pets and plants so best to remove anything you want to survive.

I had a house listed several years ago that had mold growing out of every a/c vent and I suggested to the homeowner that she have the place shocked and all the duct work cleaned out. It was amazing how the air in the house improved. The house brought the highest price the neighborhood had ever seen

The price is much less for ozone shock than for traditional remediation and takes far less time, typically only one day. Once the excess ozone is aired out from the house it smells like the air does after a thunderstorm. It won’t permanently remove mold though. To do that you must remove the cause(s). Good luck!

dead mold is still a serious allergen. if you are going to invest in a home with air quality issues, you better be willing to bring in a qualified individual to assess and verify and remediation has been done properly.

I don’t know about wholesaling.
But Rehabbing ;D Mold is gold. I have a mold guy that comes in and rips out all the mold. fixes the problem and does the ozone treatment.
When you are buying, mold is great to use in negation.
Find a good mold guy that is certified in Microbial Remediation: Design and Abatement and Indoor Air Quality Investigations. Have him give you a quote. Just like any other contractor.

Bruce

Okay Bruce- so your saying take the market value of the house minus rebuild and then list price? who and where do I target for an interested buyer- through the regular MLS? or some other avenue? The house is gorgeous in a desireable area and shows stunning- besides the mold- also a very large koi pond and waterfall in the yard- not good for investors looking for rental properties. any suggestions?

First, get some comps to find out what the property will be worth after it is fixed up. ARV {after repair value}
Take the ARV and multiply it by .70 = X
Now take X and subtract the rehab cost + 5%, holding cost, insurance cost, the cost to buy, the cost to sell, the cost of the money you will use. = this is the most you can pay for the house. MAYO {maximum allowable offer}
Be sure to start low so you can go up if need be.

This is a simplified version of an industry standard formula.

A hard money lender friend of mine likes to see .65

:slight_smile:

You can do the project your self or if you belong to a REI club and have a list of buyers. You could wholesale deal to one of those rehabbers.

You make your money when you buy.

I hope this is of some benefit to you.
Bruce

I am currently buying a house with mold. I had an inspection done and it was never discovered what the source of the moisture that caused the mold. There is absolutely no moisture present in the home not to mention I am in dry dry Colorado. I was too anxious and think that I could have purchased the property for less but paid about 74% of ARV. But anyway in the future I will be looking for these properties because people are extremely scared of this problem and it is very easily mitigated in most cases especially in climates like Colorado.

Another little tid bit that I found even when mold is present only about 8% of people have any allergic reaction to mold.