Hi All, I’m considering starting a side business that would buy houses contaminted with mold, decontaminating them using a proprietary technology, and then re-selling them. I’m now putting together a direct mail and telephone campaign to hit the usual targets: real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, bankers dealing with REO property and builders. Who am I missing that may also have initimate knowledge of such properties?
Thanks in advance!
– Rob
Replies
The EPA? ummm... the local hospitals who might have treated people sick from mold? (although I doubt they will release that kind of info)
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
Wont those homes be difficult to sell? What I mean is that even of you get every bit of mold out of those houses, you're still supposed to disclose any known problems at the point of sale, including mold,asbestos, etc.
Most people are so afraid black mold that any mold they hear about may cause them to run.
What is your technology? Did you develop it or can you share?
The environmental consultants and mold remediators. A friend of mine is owner of an environmental consulting company that has been booming with mold calls- he is looking for guys that want to do the remediation work. Unfortunately for you though, most of the calls are either renters that don't keep a clean house or homeowners who have purchased a house that needs alot of work to remedy the poor techniques that were used in constuction. Example- foundations set to low where the grade all runs toward the house; cathedral ceilings that need to be torn out and vented because they're stuffed full of insulation (NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU HAVE TO GET SOFFIT AND RIDGE VENTS IN FIRST); one house I saw that was actually sold because of mold started with a dispute with a roofer that left the job, it was leveled off by a builder who put up a spec house, but everyone new about it's impending sale and it sold for what it was worth as a lot.
I think the bottom line is the money in mold is in it's remediation.
Hopefully, you have data that shows that your proprietary technology actually eliminates mold. I doubt that many people would buy a house without pretty strong evidence that the mold problem has been eliminated.
any house in the south
I did a bit of research on this very thing.... seems that a lot of insurance companies are starting to share databases of information about homes/people etc.... so its a very real possibility that if a home shows up once as a "mold" home, it will be blackballed by the insurance companies.....
I asked a couple of insurance agents about "mold" homes, and they all said basically the same thing... "I doubt we will sell you insurance for it if you buy it!" and in Indiana I would have to disclose the mold clean-up when I went to sell it, so again the red flags fly....
One of the homes in my neighborhood had to be torn down because it was a "mold" home.... Personally, I just thought it had been closed up to long without ventilation.. A family had relocated and kept the home for a while..... all sealed up with no ventilation... sounds like a good candidate for mold to me.. hehehe
I am sure its possible to make money on these houses, but its gonna be VERY risky...
Edited 3/24/2005 3:06 pm ET by Grouchie
I agree with all of you, it's risky. However: 1) there are a fair number of homes out there that have "mold" issues (and I won't even into delve into the hysteria that surrounds the word "mold") that are not classified as such and 2) the ones that officially have mold, and are subsequently cleaned up and approved by an industrial hygenist, can be offered on the market for a substantial savings under retail yet still allowing for a healthy profit on our side. The company I'm working with has literally cleaned up homes that have mushrooms growing out of the carpet and ceiling.
- Rob
nobody shoot me please
and the answer is..................
anyhome built of lumber in Washington, Montana, Oregon,Idaho, northern Florida,Virginia, New York, Hawaii
why those places, they are where I have built and where I have seen it on materils coming stright from the mills let alone the job site with high mositure or high humididty
and the final jepordy answer...............................
anyplace you can find a hungry lawyer
the wood you buy in north fla at lowes is so wet its dripping. weighs a ton. They keep it outside flat on the ground. beside it rain every day here