|
Moldy Home and Building
Appraisals
Q.
I'm an appraiser who is currently appraising a toxic mold infected
home. I have been able to find sales of similarly infected homes, but have
not been able to find any sales after remediation. I am trying to determine
if once infected, that the residence is stigmatized and suffer a diminution
of value after clean-up. Do you know of any re-sales? Do you know of any
appraisers that specialize in this field? Any guidance will be greatly
appreciated
A.
Sorry, but I am not aware of any data you can use. But I can relate
some anecdotal experience: (1) most mold remediators are poorly-trained
and do an inferior job of mold remediation, often leaving more mold
afterwards than before the job; (2) even if a home has been
properly-remediated, sellers must disclose the mold history to prospective
buyers under most state's real estate sales disclosure laws; (3) people do
not want to buy a house with mold problems, or even a mold history. Such
homes are extremely hard to sell. Each remediated home, after
remediation, needs to be inspected by an independent [of the remediator]
Certified Mold Inspector to see if the house passes "clearance
testing." You ought to consider completing the comprehensive
mold training course
yourself [through the Study Mold at Home distance
learning] to be a
Certified Mold Inspector or
Certified Mold
Remediator
and make mold-affected appraisals one of your specialties to do not only
in your own state, but also neighboring states. It would be a much needed
service.
Q.
I am buying a house that had a past mold problem. The people that sold it
were going through a divorce and the wife left the water running and left.
One day the township people drove by and seen the grass was real long
cause no one was living there for a while. They looked in the window and
seen mold and declared the property temporarily unlivable. Someone else
bought the home and fixed everything it has a new kitchen and all new
carpets and paint. They even painted the basement walls and floor. After
that they had air quality test done and that came back good. This was a
year ago. Should I be worried about this? What should I do. [October 23,
2004]
A. You need to
mold test the home yourself to learn the mold truth about the home. Hire a
Certified
Mold Inspector or use do it yourself mold test kits available from a
large hardware or home improvement store. The reason you should be very wary about this allegedly-remediated
home is that most mold contractors lack the proper planning to do safe and
effective mold remediation. In addition, many mold remediators take many
shortcuts to increase their profit but with the result that often mold
contamination is actually worse AFTER mold remediation than before because
of spread mold cross-contamination. Learn the 20 steps required for safe
and effective mold remediation. Test
the air of any attic/basement/crawl space, garage, each room, and the
outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible
presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to your
outdoor mold control test. You should also collect samples of any visible
mold for mold lab analysis and mold lab mold species identification by
using the Scotch tape
lift sampling technique.. Collect a different mold sample from
each different mold growth location.
Mold Cleaning, Remediation, Abatement, and
Removal Tips
Learn the 25 steps for safe and effective
mold remediation.
Western USA
Mold Inspector Websites
Las
Vegas Mold Inspector
Los
Angeles Mold Inspector
Mesa
Mold Inspector
Orange
County Mold Inspector
Phoenix
Mold Inspector
Sacramento
Mold Inspector
San
Diego Mold Inspector
San
Francisco Mold Inspector
San Jose Mold Inspector
Seattle
Mold Inspector
Tucson
Mold Inspector
[Home] [Up] [Rising Damp and Mold] [Mold Testing] [Find-Hidden-Mold] [Washington-State-Mold-Disclosure] [Mold Signs Clues] [Certified-Mold-Inspector] [Mold-Inspection-Clause] [Air-Conditioning-Mold-Test] [Carpet & Mold] [Church-Mold] [Condominium Mold] [Employer Mold] [Fire & Flood] [Hurricane Mold] [Manufactured Home] [Mold Inside Wall] [Mold Photo] [Mold Protocol] [New Home Mold] [Pre-Purchase Mold Test] [Rental Home Apartment] [Wall-Mold-Inspection] [Ceiling-Mold-Problem] [Siding Mold] [Gutter-Mold-Problem] [Toxic Mold Inspector] [Moldy-Home-Appraisal] [Sick-Building-Mold] [Most-Homes-Moldy] [Hot-Tub-Spa-Mold] [Indoor-Plant-Mold] [Kitchen-Mold] [Garage-Stachybotrys-Mold] [Concrete-Slab-Floor-Mold] [Plumbing-Leak-Mold] [Window-Mold] [Retail-Store-Mold] [Furniture-Furnishings-Mold] [Wood-Rot-Mold] [Hidden-Concealed-Mold] [Mold in Water]
|