What about MOLD? - Posted by TRandle

Real Estate Investing
#1

Posted by Bud Branstetter on December 15, 2000 at 14:48:55:

There is a house down the block that they have had to deal with a mold problem. The lady had to move out while all the floors(pier and beam) were ripped out and replaced. Moved back in a shortly had a problem again. Don’t know when she will move back in or how much it all costs.

Usually, you can kill the mold(or potential) from a flooded floor(were the water wicks up the sheetrock) with clorox. Heat or cold will also do it. Mold likes warm humid air. A number of schools around here and the new Denton county court house have come up with mold problems. While I may not be bothered a a level of mold others may be severly affected. Depending on how long and where the mold has infiltrated is what determines the cost. If it is like the neighbors I can see 30K.

#2

What about MOLD? - Posted by TRandle

Posted by TRandle on December 15, 2000 at 14:14:22:

I’m off to look at a house where rumor has it that it will take around 30k to clean up a mold problem. This can’t be right, can it? I’ve never dealt with this issue and am looking for some guidance, please.

Apparently, this was so bad the occupants moved out after getting sick. The parts of the house that had the initial water damage have been removed. The seller mentioned the need to use a Hepavac and antimicrobial spray.

What procedures do you take to rid a house of mold? Will all the duct work have to be replaced? Will I have to get some sort of certification (from whom?) that the house is safe to live in? I plan on making some calls, but figure there might be some folks here with experience. Thanks in advance for all responses.

#3

Re: What about MOLD? - Posted by Eric C

Posted by Eric C on December 17, 2000 at 16:05:52:

Hi Tim -

I have to say that I agree with Steph and I am VERY familiar with the houses she mentioned in her post.

Did she also tell you how many (expensive)lawsuits are currently pending?

Austin is a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want be on the wrong end of an environmental problem there.

Do yourself a favor, call around to some of the local schools (they really have problems where you live)and pull some recent articles off the Internet.

The main problem is probably not the cleanup cost, but rather the fact the you have to disclose (fully)the environmental concerns and the remediation efforts.

That’s going to really hurt your marketing efforts, don’t you think? Or, would you rather SELL or LEASE to someone who doesn’t care (at this moment) about that “small” mold problem?

Comes down to your analysis of the risk/reward ratio as always. Is it worth it?

Probably not (to me), but maybe you can make the numbers work.

Yours,

Eric C

#4

If it’s BLACK MOLD watch out! - Posted by steph in tex

Posted by steph in tex on December 15, 2000 at 23:00:18:

Randle~
Do you remember that case in Kyle or Dripping with the million dollar house? The “black mold” is a severe problem that may not be cost effective to get rid of.
In the million dollar house case, they left everything, and the house will probably be demoed.
You may need to have someone do some sort of an analysis. If the people got sick, you may have real reason to look really closely at this one.
I’ll ask around and see what I can find out about where to start.
Good luck.

steph in tex

#5

Very serious and very expensive to correct (NT) - Posted by David Krulac

Posted by David Krulac on December 15, 2000 at 18:11:54:

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