The presence of mold in your house doesn’t mean you should put a stop to the forthcoming lucrative deal. The key to selling a house with mold is ensuring that the potential buyer is aware of mold presence and repairs taken or required to restore the house. Though often overlooked, mold significantly affects residential properties and can cause severe health issues.
Therefore, mold-related issues in a property should be handled before the new buyer moves in. As the seller, you should hire professional remediation experts to get rid of mold before listing your house for sale.
Why Is Mold An Issue?
Americans stay in their homes more than 90% of their time. As such, indoor air quality has a significant impact on their overall health and wellness. Mold spores released into the air substantially degrade indoor air quality. With time, sensitive occupants will start experiencing;
- Unexplained fatigue
- Brain fog
- Anxiety and depression
If left untreated, mold causes significant structural damage to the building. Despite being a fungus, mold eats through housing materials, such as the drywall, causing visible cosmetic issues and depreciation of property value. Therefore, the presence of mold in a building should be a concern for property owners/sellers, potential buyers, home insurance companies, and mortgage lenders.
Is It Legal To Sell A House With Mold?
No federal legal restrictions prevent homeowners from selling their mold-infested homes. However, legal provisions require homeowners to disclose any past or present mold issue to potential buyers.
While different states have varying regulations guiding disclosures, especially what should be disclosed and how, common regulations include;
- Sellers should denote all known defects in their properties when selling
- Sellers shouldn’t lie about the known defects
- Buyers have the primary responsibility of investigating and identifying any problems in the house
- Buyers can take legal action against property sellers if they misrepresent the property during the selling process.
How Does Mold Affect Property Value?
The presence of mold in your property certainly affects property value. Mold growth on exterior parts of the house, especially the siding, may not affect the property value substantially. Mold growth in such areas also isn’t a health concern. However, mold remediation should be done to reduce the interior and exterior spore count.
Nonetheless, even if mold growth on your home’s exterior isn’t a safety concern, it affects the curb appeal, reducing the property value. Mold growth inside your home is an entirely different story. The presence of dark patches in condensed areas with high moisture content, such as the bathroom, shouldn’t be a big deal.
However, mold growth on your floors, walls, ceiling, or areas, which should otherwise be dry, indicates a serious fungal problem. In such situations, you should prioritize mold remediation before listing your home for sale.
Sellers Checklist For A Home With Mold
Preparing your mold-infested home for sale is challenging. Besides, the necessary repairs are costly and lengthen the selling process. Dealing with mold isn’t easy. However, with adequate preparation, homeowners can prepare their homes for sale. Below are a few things sellers should do before selling their homes;
Start The Process Immediately
mold can grow and spread quickly if left unchecked. Homeowners should conduct an inspection and start the remediation process immediately to mitigate further structural damage.
Conduct A Thorough Inspection
mold grows in areas with high humidity or limited air circulation. Therefore, a visual inspection should begin in these areas. After checking these spots, proceed to the basement and other rooms in your home.
Schedule Repairs Immediately
once mold presence is identified, you should begin the process of mold removal and restoration immediately. This prevents the further spread and decline of air quality. You should also identify and eliminate the cause of mold growth to prevent regrowth.
Hire A Professional To Inspect Your Home For Mold
frequent health issues and quality of life might signify declining indoor air quality. Professional mold experts have the necessary tools and equipment to locate the presence of mold on your property.
Keep Records
homeowners should keep records of mold-related remediation. You should keep all the certificates, invoices, and documentation to prove to buyers.
Options For Selling A House With Mold
Like the normal selling process, homeowners have three options for selling their properties with mold.
Selling To Investors
Selling to real estate investors, otherwise known as cash buyers, is increasingly becoming a common option for most homeowners. Investors help property sellers faced with difficult situations dispose of their properties faster. Cash buyers purchase the property as-is, repair it, and resell it for profit.
This means sellers don’t have to undergo the hassle of repairing or making changes to the house to attract buyers. Selling to investors is also straightforward and takes a maximum of two weeks. Since investors pay for the house by cash at closing, a lot of processes involved in selling a house are avoided.
Selling a house in good condition is difficult. Therefore, selling a house with mold might seem impossible. However, the biggest advantage of selling to investors is they buy the house regardless of its condition. Sellers shouldn’t be worried about mold or mildew issues.
Unfortunately, selling your house as-is means settling for a low price. Since investors buy the property as is, you won’t sell your house at its market value. They deduct the cost of rehabilitating the property before giving their cash offers.
Traditional Selling With Real Estate Agents
Since selling a house with mold isn’t illegal, you can enlist the help of real estate agents to find prospective buyers. Working with real estate agents is beneficial in many ways. For starters, with their knowledge of the real estate market, they can suggest the best possible price for your house. Real estate agents can also suggest minor updates that can help you get better offers.
Real estate agents come in handy when staging your home for sale. However, to enjoy these benefits, you should enlist the services of real estate agents with experience in selling properties with mold. A good real estate agent will help you find the best mold remediation companies and point out important remediation and repairs that can satisfy prospective buyers.
Good real estate agents also proactively market your house, giving it extensive exposure. Marketing strategies, such as social media platforms and listing the property on Multiple Listing Service, places your home in front of potential buyers. On the downside, by working with real estate agents, you will be responsible for mold inspection and remediation costs. You should also be ready to make the requested updates, such as HVAC replacements.
Selling It Yourself
Popularly known as “For Sale by Owner,” you can decide to sell your property yourself. This is different from the two options mentioned above, as you will be solely responsible during the entire process. Selling your property is an excellent way to maximize the value, as you won’t incur any agent fees.
However, you should set the price yourself, stage the property, market, and negotiate with potential buyers. This may prove tedious for homeowners with other engagements.
Endnote
Preparing to sell a home with mold or mildew issues comes with many challenges. Apart from the legality of the process, you may be uncertain about how mold infestation devalues the property and the state requirements for selling such properties. You should do due diligence to ensure that you sell the property legally according to the applicable state laws.
