I want to take a moment to talk about mold. Yes, mold. We have a saying in REI that goes: Mold is Gold. This is true – Mold is Gold – but this is also a double-edged nugget of truth. Mold is gold on the buy side, but mold is a killer on the sell side. Let me explain.
Every Real Estate Investor must try to work the price down into deep discount zone when working the buy. Mold is one way to get a home on clearance. What do I mean? Mold is gold if you can use it to leverage the price down. It’s a little tricky, I’ll admit, because mold doesn’t cost that much to remove. Leveraging the price down more than it might cost to clean it up is an easy way to be sure you’ve made your money on the buy side.
Now, the sell side is a bit more of a rabid weasel. Mold is not Gold when you’re trying to sell! Let’s say you miss a spot of mold under the sheathing in the attic. The appraiser spots this during closing and the buyer pulls out. Why? Retail buyers are scared of mold! Even if its surface mold in a damp place like Portland, OR. They get squirrely and kill the deal within hours. Done. Dead. Nothing.
Here’s the simple truth: Find mold on the buy! Lose mold on the sell!
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