Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We had a house for sale in our neighborhood that had black mold (only 4-5 year old house that had been a rental). EVERYONE in the neighborhood knew about thevery mold. It was like a juicy bit of gossip.
It took a long time to sell and when it finally did, it was well below comps.
I'd be inclined to believe the realtor, but I'd certainly verify. Then get the costs of remediation.
ETA: Just out of curiousity, a question for our realtors. Let's say the house has mold, the OP buys it, and gets it fully remediated. Five years from now, OP goes to sell the house. Is the prior existence of mold a required disclosure item? (If so, I'd be less inclined to buy it because of people's overreaction to mold.)
In AZ, you really need to disclose everything - I agree, there are buyers who will freak out and run, that's certainly their choice, but a house with a "clean" disclosure isn't necessarily any "better" than one without. Foreclosures and bank-owned properties, former rentals, estate sales, or even widows & divorcees might not be able to give a complete and full disclosure on a property - my wife might not realize I added a 50amp plug to the garage for my welder without a permit, so if I'm dead, and she sells, you'll get an incomplete disclosure even with a sincere seller who isn't trying to hide anything.
As a buyer, you'ld be much better off with a disclosure that said "the roof leaked in 2015, and jim's reliable roofing fixed it, and gave a warranty", "there was mold in the ceiling, and servicemaster cut it out", etc.. I'd agree it's more of a "buyer education" issue - someone who's notifying you of a past problem and *willing* to disclose it is a much better person to deal with than one who claims to "know nothing"..
Thank you all. Yesterday I was skeptical, this morning I'm fearing she was being honest.
This neighborhood is a tricky. In the 90s, someone built a road connecting two dead end streets and built a neighborhood of around 40-50 houses. So this one street has newer houses and the surrounding streets are all 1950s small ranches. I'm not a real estate professional, but I feel the only accurate comps come from this street of newer homes.
It is located in a desirable township, zoned in the desirable school district, but has the mailing address of a very undesirable city. If these homes had a mailing address matching the township they are in, they would likely sell in the $180-200k range.
I've pulled the information I can find on the comps within the last year.
11/16- a 3/3 sold for $139,000. 1220 square feet. Finished basement, fireplace, better condition than the foreclosure
9/16- a 3/2 sold for $135,000. 1200 square feet. Finished basement, new roof, new windows
7/16- a 3/3 sold for $139,000. 1220 square feet. Finished basement with wet bar, fenced yard
2/16- identical to foreclosure- sold for $121,000. Ceramic tile, remodeled master bathroom.
$120,000 was probably too high for the foreclosure. Unfinished basement, no fence, no upgrades of any kind, linoleum and dirty carpet, cheap light fixtures, etc... $120,000 would have been a good price if it was a traditional sale, without the risk of foreclosure.
There was a short sale in the neighborhood in October 2015. The house (1200 square feet) sold for $90,000. While really too old to be a comp, it does show that a distressed sale will cause homes in the neighborhood to sell for significantly less.
Based on the cosmetic repairs needed, I feel it is priced pretty accurately for the neighborhood. If there is indeed a mold issue, $97,000 will be way too high for me to consider it. For the risk, it'd really have to be at $80,000 or less to for me to go for it.
FWIW, Sheriff's Deed was about $85,000. Not sure how that factors into things.
ETA: Just out of curiousity, a question for our realtors. Let's say the house has mold, the OP buys it, and gets it fully remediated. Five years from now, OP goes to sell the house. Is the prior existence of mold a required disclosure item? (If so, I'd be less inclined to buy it because of people's overreaction to mold.)
You'd need to look at the specific requirements of the state disclosure form. In Michigan, it wouldn't be a clear-cut item to disclose. However, we do have one question which might be construed as being related: "Has there been evidence of water?"
Of course, IMO this is something YOUR agent should be on top of. They can contact the Listing Agent and ask specifically if this situation exists. Just because it is a foreclosure does not remove the obligation to disclose such things. This will tell you right up front whether you want to proceed or not.
Even if you decide to proceed it will be prudent to have the property tested for mold. remediation can be expensive and reselling a house with a history of mold, even after remediation can be difficult.
Of course, IMO this is something YOUR agent should be on top of. They can contact the Listing Agent and ask specifically if this situation exists. Just because it is a foreclosure does not remove the obligation to disclose such things. This will tell you right up front whether you want to proceed or not.
Even if you decide to proceed it will be prudent to have the property tested for mold. remediation can be expensive and reselling a house with a history of mold, even after remediation can be difficult.
I haven't run it by him yet. I was waiting until tomorrow when I see him. I have to work a 12 hour shift today so I can't call and would rather not go back and forth via text or email.
This all started with my nosy father, lol. I didn't even know until about 9 or 10 last night.
You can be skeptical... but as for how she might *know* if it has a mold problem... she may have been in it. She's a realtor. She can get in it and it wouldn't surprise me if she did check it out, given that she's listing a similar house in the neighborhood. Why wouldn't she? It's what we do.
Might have mold... might not. Maybe she's seeing dirt and thinking it's mold. Maybe you're seeing mold and thinking it's dirt. Maybe there's moisture issues inside because the power's been shut off, or it has a leak somewhere. Too soon to tell. Check it out. You don't have to trust her.
I'm sure she has been in it! Plus, in our state mold has to be disclosed which means she would already know that and your realtor should too!
Telling you it has a mold problem, is something that had to be revealed to you is she was aware of the existence of the problem. It is not something, that a Realtor would tell you if there was no mold problem. If the mold problem is in walls, etc., and not just a surface problem, it can be a very expensive problem to take care of. It can involve tearing open walls, and may even require some of the studs in the wall be replaced, etc.
As she told about the problem up front before even considering looking at the property is is obviously a serious enough problem she was giving you notice you would want a mold specialist with the right equipment to evaluate it before making any offer on the property. And eliminating the cause of the mold can be another expensive problem. It may be a simple drip at a pipe connection or can be much worse.
Telling you it has a mold problem, is something that had to be revealed to you is she was aware of the existence of the problem. It is not something, that a Realtor would tell you if there was no mold problem. If the mold problem is in walls, etc., and not just a surface problem, it can be a very expensive problem to take care of. It can involve tearing open walls, and may even require some of the studs in the wall be replaced, etc.
As she told about the problem up front before even considering looking at the property is is obviously a serious enough problem she was giving you notice you would want a mold specialist with the right equipment to evaluate it before making any offer on the property. And eliminating the cause of the mold can be another expensive problem. It may be a simple drip at a pipe connection or can be much worse.
oldtrader, the agent telling OP about the purported mold problem is neither his agent nor the listing agent, it is the agent who has a similar listing that is priced higher and is competing with the listing that he is interested in.
We had a house for sale in our neighborhood that had black mold (only 4-5 year old house that had been a rental). EVERYONE in the neighborhood knew about thevery mold. It was like a juicy bit of gossip.
It took a long time to sell and when it finally did, it was well below comps.
I'd be inclined to believe the realtor, but I'd certainly verify. Then get the costs of remediation.
ETA: Just out of curiousity, a question for our realtors. Let's say the house has mold, the OP buys it, and gets it fully remediated. Five years from now, OP goes to sell the house. Is the prior existence of mold a required disclosure item? (If so, I'd be less inclined to buy it because of people's overreaction to mold.)
In MN, mold remediation is not a required disclosure. There is no special permit or inspection required for remediation. The cause of the mold could very well require disclosure i.e. roof leaked, basement flooded etc..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
