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Al Bundy

(Todd H.) wrote in :

"Lair" writes:

We are looking at purchasing a house (HUD) and a pipe froze and broke
last winter (Jan 2006), the mortgage company had the pipe ffixed, but
my concern is possible mold behind the walls. It's been almost a year
and the house has been vacant this entire time and there is still no
visible mold. Would Mold show up by now? The walls are plaster and
they have the normal yellow stains from water damage. The walls are
all solid too, and it doest smell musty or earthy. I have pictures
for those who are interested.

Doesn't mold require a continuous supply of mositure to remain active?

Active or not, there may well be some ugly staining behind the wall.
If future sellers get any hint of mold and get back there and freak,
you may have a mess on your hands.

I might ask the realtor about adding a contingency to the offer to get
a licensed mold specialist in there to check things out in addition to
the usual home inspection stuff. What I don't know though is how such
a person would inspect, and if they need authorization to tear into
anything to have a look around.

I just saw some show on TV where in CA the guy brings in all kinds of
techno stuff, glass slides to collect samples, machines to read, devices
placed against walls to measure stuff inside. I think what they said was
the amount of mold in the air inside has to be within xx of the mold in
the air outside. He didn't tear into anything and gives you a clear bill
of health.

Such authorization may be very hard to get from the seller since if
you don't go through with the sale based on the results of such an
inspeciton, then they not only have a hole in their wall, they also
have a mold problem they're required to disclose because they now
officially know about it.

HUD jobs are sold as-is. You can have a contingency that you will have
this testing done. It is considered by them as part of the overall
offer. Someone comes in with an equal offer with no contingencies,
that's considered a bettter offer most likely.

And just an FYI, HUD will (or used to) put the home up for bid. The
first period is a 10 day period. This is open only to owner occupied
bidders. You must live in the home for a minimum period of 1 year from
purchase. You sign a doc to this effect. After 10 days, HUD reviewes the
bids. They can accept one or reject them all. If they reject them all
then the next bidding period is opened and is open to everyone including
investors, flippers, etc.

Always keep in mind that things change and locations can have
significant differencs. Local realtor may be your best source of info.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/