Is it Possible to Sell a House with Black Mold

Sell House with Black Mold

Finding black mold inside your property is not a great start to your day. Mold and fungi of different shapes, sizes, smells, and colors can infiltrate a home and completely disrupt your life – or your tenant’s life if it’s a rental property. Is it possible to sell a house with black mold? Yes, you can legally sell a house with mold as long as you disclose everything that you know to potential homebuyers. If it’s that simple, can you start selling your house with black mold today? Well, there are several steps you can take to try making the situation before jumping directly into a sale.

Is it Legal to Sell a House with Black Mold

Sell my House with Black Mold

It is completely legal to sell a house with black mold inside. Black and white mold are two of the most common molds found in homes. Regardless of the color of the mold, you are legally allowed to sell your property. The important thing to note is that you MUST disclose this information to potential buyers. In many states, sellers are required to disclose any known defects regarding their property to buyers. This includes black mold.

Disclosing Mold Issues

When selling a house with mold issues, let buyers know. If you are listing your home on the market, you can place this information in the description of the listing or let interested buyers know once you connect with them. You should let them know about the black mold infestation before they make you an offer. Cover and protect yourself by fully disclaiming any known defects within your property, including black mold. Don’t leave out any details. The more information that you can provide, the better off both sides will be in terms of entering into a contract together for the sale of your home.

Who Will Buy My House with Black Mold

Finding the right homebuyer for a property that is suffering from a breakout of black mold isn’t the easiest task. Depending on the severity of the mold issues, it could deter certain buyers from making you an offer. For first-time homebuyers and families simply looking to move into a turnkey home, they may lose interest in yours after learning about the black mold issue. Not everyone wants to get their hands dirty and work on a house that they buy. Many homebuyers prefer to move in directly after closing and have the property in pristine condition. There are certain caveats to this. For example, if your property is located in an area where mold growth is common, buyers may be more willing to make you an offer. It only takes one good offer to sell your moldy home!

It can be worth still putting your property on the market. Listing your home with a realtor can help you blast out your property to the largest pool of potential buyers in your area. Unfortunately, many buyers shopping on the MLS and Zillow are interested in turnkey homes. If your home has a serious black mold issue, you may have issues selling it quickly. Who are the top candidates of home buyers that will buy your moldy house?

House flippers and developers are great real estate professionals to reach out to about buying your property. You can sell your house with black mold to real estate pros that are accustomed to dealing with issues like this. Oftentimes, when flippers purchase homes, they will completely gut and renovate the interior of a property. This means that they will take care of the mold issue themselves. This enables you to sell your house with black mold issues and not have to worry about cleaning or disinfecting anything.

Mold Remediation

Sell a House with Black Mold

Do you want to keep your property that’s suffering from a black mold outbreak? This is an option too! Whether it’s your primary residence or a rental property, there may be multiple reasons why you want to keep it. Mold remediation is almost always an option when trying to recover and save your property instead of selling it.

Here are the initial steps you’ll want to take when starting the mold remediation process:

Start by reaching out to local mold specialists and mold treatment companies. They will schedule someone to come out to your property and test for mold. There are different types of mold tests that they can perform, all with varying prices. If your black mold issue is severe, it’s recommended to do both a swap test and an air test in every room of your home. This way, you test the surfaces within your property that could be infected by mold as well as the air.

Is testing the air for mold really necessary? YES! It is 100% necessary.

Mold isn’t visible until enough of the spores pile up to the point that it’s visible to the human eye. However, even when it’s not visible, mold is harmful to the body. It can still be present on surfaces and in the air before it reaches amounts that we can physically see. Tap into your other senses when investigating where mold could be present. If you smell bad odors in your closet or feel damp surfaces in corners of your home, there could be mold present. Make sure that you are keeping your windows open and allowing airflow to enter your home while mold is present. You want to make sure the property is as safe as possible if people are still inhabiting it. Of course, it’s safest to vacate the property if the black mold is severe.

Once you get the mold test results back, you can determine what remediation strategy you want to implement to treat the issue. Take extra precautions when needed. If you plan to keep the property after taking care of the black mold issue, make sure you remove every last spore! Mold test results oftentimes show multiple types of mold, including white mold and other species. Don’t freak out. Even though mold can make your house feel haunted, the problem is fixable. There is a remedy and treatment for each.

Sell Your House with Black Mold

Every mold situation is different. Certain people would rather keep their property and try treating the issue with local mold specialists. Others would rather get rid of the property. If you want to sell your house with black mold, it’s possible. The hardest part is finding the right buyer. You’re legally allowed to sell a house with mold issues. Don’t give up when attempting to sell if that’s what you want to do! Even if you’re located in areas like San Diego, CA where mold is common, you can still successfully sell your house.