Mold is one of the worst enemies a homeowner faces. It’s subtle, dangerous, unexpected, and fierce. What may have started with a small black dot on the wall could turn into serious health problems and structural issues. Is it even possible to sell a home with mold damage?
Fighting mold can be costly and time-consuming. But what if you want to sell your home? Should you start the battle if you want to get rid of the house? Is selling a home with mold damage possible? Let’s dig deeper into the subject.
To Tell or Not to Tell: Mold Disclosure Laws
Is it illegal to sell a home with mold damage? If the mold damage isn’t too visible yet, you may decide that covering it is sufficient for selling a home. However, doing this could be against the law. In many states, you must share information about the toxic elements in the house you are about to sell, including asbestos, radon, urea-formaldehyde, and mold.
In Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, sellers of residential properties must disclose known conditions within the house, especially if they are a health hazard. That’s why hiding mold is out of the question. What are your choices?
- Remove the mold
- Disclose mold’s existence and drop the price severely
- Sell to a home-buying company
Let’s go over the above options in detail to help you make the right decision when wondering if you should sell a home with mold damage.
Mold Remediation: What Needs to be Done
How should you go about removing mold from your home?
DIY Solutions
Removing mold on your own could seem like a cheap way out. You can find plenty of DIY mold removal videos online. However, if the mold is toxic, such DIY attempts could lead to serious consequences.
If mold isn’t removed properly, it sends spores flying through the air. They settle on other surfaces in your home. Eventually, a small mold problem could turn into a huge issue.
Unless you are a professional, you are likely to miss areas where mold grows, only to have them discovered by the buyer during an inspection. Meanwhile, a lack of proper protective gear during mold removal could be hazardous to your health.
Professional Mold Remediation
A certified mold remediation specialist will start by evaluating the mold problem in your home. Most likely, it will turn out to be more serious than you initially thought. Some mold can hide in walls and inside carpets. If experts suspect that toxic mold species are present in your home, they will take samples for further study.
Remediation professionals find the source of mold intrusion and isolate contaminated areas. While removing the mold, they will use air purifiers with HEPA filters that can catch mold spores and prevent them from spreading.
Getting rid of the mold usually involves removing materials completely. It could be drywall, insulation, wood trim, carpets, and even some furniture.
The cost of remediation coupled with material replacement could be rather high, often exceeding $5,000.
Once you are done removing the mold, you have to deal with its source. Most likely, it has something to do with the moisture seeping into your home through a leaky roof or faulty plumbing. Fixing a major moisture problem is likely to be costly.
Coming Clean: Dropping the Price
So what happens when you do decide to sell a home with mold damage? When you disclose mold damage to the potential buyers, you have to be ready to drop the price. Logically, you would need to drop it by the cost of mold remediation. However, in reality, the decrease is much more substantial.
Once the buyers learn about mold damage, they will initiate a professional inspection. In case the problem is severe, the costs of repair could go up to $30,000. For example, if the mold-infested the HVAC system, the price of removal is steep.
Meanwhile, a house damaged by the mold could reduce the number of potential buyers substantially. The majority of future homeowners dream about moving into a perfect home. Whose dream home is mold-infested?
While selling a home with disclosed mold damage is possible, finding a buyer is likely to take much longer. Negotiations with potential buyers could be tedious and time-consuming. These people are likely to expect a severe price drop to make up for the hassle they’ll face with a mold-infested home.
Selling a house in good condition usually takes several months. It could take you more than a year to find the right buyer for a mold-damaged property. Coupled with the time spent on fruitless negotiations, such a sale could turn out to be more taxing than you’ve hoped for.
Quick-Fix: Selling to Cash Buyers
If you aren’t ready to spend months looking for the right buyer to accept your low-priced mold-damaged home or pay thousands of dollars for mold remediation, there is a third way. You can sell your house to a home-buying company.
These companies are ready to buy homes “as-is”. The price may be somewhat lower than what you’d get for a mold-free home. However, it’s likely to be higher than what you’d receive after disclosing mold damage and waiting for years for the right buyer to come by.
Selling your house to a company speeds up the process tremendously. You don’t need to worry about fixing mold damage, listing your home, negotiating with buyers, and dealing with all the other nuances that come with selling a house.
Once you decide to sell, the company evaluates the home and makes you an offer. You can negotiate the cost and finalize the deal within days.
This could be an excellent decision for selling a home with severe mold damage, especially if you are pressed for time.
Can You Sell A Home with Mold Damage?
Selling a home with mold damage is possible. However, you have to be ready to invest time and money in the process. From mold remediation and removal to price drops and lengthy negotiations, a sale could turn into a nerve-racking ordeal.
The fastest way to sell a home with mold damage is to work with a house-buying company. You can get cash for your house regardless of its condition.
Does your house have mold damage? Sell it faster! Please contact us to discuss your options today.
