I just saw a piece on the news about a woman in Florida who bought a foreclosed home for $90,000 less than the asking price. A lot of mistakes were made that led her to not realize the home was infested with mold and was uninhabitable until after she bought it. This has inspired me to address the most important things a home buyer of a foreclosed home should know. If you live in Florida, where there is both an abundance of foreclosed homes on the real estate market as well as mold, this advice is especially important.
Because of the current recession, there are numerous foreclosures in the real estate market. Many of these homes are left unoccupied for some time before a new buyer purchases them.
1. Expect unoccupied foreclosed buildings to have mold. When leaks occur in unoccupied homes, no one is around to repair them and they end up turning into major mold infestations. Even without leaks, without the normal activity of a home, the house has no chance to circulate fresh air and mold is likely to form anyway. The lack of AC, combined with the humidity of a state like Florida, can turn a home into a breeding ground for mold.
2. A home inspector will not consider mold in their inspection. This is a classic mistake that I have written about many times. But as long as people keep making it and losing thousands of dollars, I will keep reminding you. Home inspectors are not qualified nor under any obligation to report mold in a home. Therefore, a home inspector is not enough to determine if a home is safe before you buy.
3. A visual inspection is not enough, mold is hidden. This woman in Florida said that she didn’t see any mold when she looked inside the home. This is because, as she found out later, most mold grows in unseen places – inside walls, in ceilings, behind baseboards.
4. Beware stucco. Many homes in Florida were built using thin stucco over concrete block. This design became associated with water intrusion during the 2004 hurricanes when many found it badly leaked and created mold. Foreclosed homes with this design may not show obvious signs of water intrusion.
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