Properties with Mold - To buy or not to buy?

I recently showed a property that had water damage in the basement with evidence of mold beginnings. I've noticed that most buyers tend to shy away from these properties; however the clients that I accompanied were open to the idea of purchasing this home despite this typically negative feature. These particular clients were not as leery as a 'typical buyer' out shopping for homes when it comes to mold. This visit with said clients has compelled me to write a little 'tid bit' on mold in an effort to help people understand how much work could or could not be needed to remediate.

The State of Minnesota's Seller's Disclosure form dedicates an entire page to discussing evidence of mold spores and water presence throughout the home. While the visible mold is certainly cause for concern, most of the time it can be treated and with minimal disruption to the area infected. Remediation to the infected areas can usually mean cutting out the affected sheetrock in order to get into the walls and correcting what could be the cause of this moisture intrusion at such a rapid pace. Mold is inevitable in every home, most of the time you may not be able to see it!  Finding the cause of the moisture issue is what ends up taking the most time and effort to assess. It's entirely possible that you may not even correct the issue the first time you 'repair' the affected area.  Mold very often originates in basements and most of the time it is caused by the landscaping (or lack thereof) surrounding the exterior of the home. Other causes can be poor construction of the homes walls, leaking windows or a lack of airflow through a bathroom that does not have a fan to keep the moisture from condensing on the walls.


There are indeed homes that are so greatly affected by mold where it is best to redo the entire walls, rooms and even demolishing the home completely. When mold is left untreated for any length of time, it continues to grow and fester throughout the level that it originated in and once there's no more room to grow it quickly moves up/down the different levels of a home. This is why it's always best to get to the bottom of the mold origination sooner rather than later. Mold is one repair that a homeowner cannot procrastinate on fixing.


So, before you make any harsh judgments on a home that has mold, bring a mold remediation contractor out to look at the affected areas and give you a professional bid on what it would take to remove and correct the cause for the moisture leakage.


Please contact me for a referral of a mold contractor if you're having trouble with your current home or are interested in purchasing a home that has evidence of moisture issues.