Are you selling a house of horrors in New Milford, CT? What's buried in YOUR basement?
Or elsewhere....
Two things that don't go together. Selling your home and mold in your home. Forget it. I was out with clients today, serious buyers, we have to find a house to buy. These are long term clients who I have a great relationship with. I just put their home under deposit, so we have a short time span to find what they want.
As we enter the home they are pleased. This just might be the home they are looking for. I know the owner has to sell, it is a possible short sale. The home is very dated and has wallpaper in places I didn't even know you could put wallpaper! But the floors are hardwood, the rooms work, things are looking like this might be "the one".
Then it happened. I opened the basement door to see the "finished basement". I was first, stepping down about 5 steps when it hit me. The mold smell permeated the air, hanging heavy and swirling around me. My eyes starting stinging, I was having an immediate reaction to the mold. I yelled at them to get back upstairs, there was mold. Taking a glance around as I bounded up the stairs I saw paneled walls, concrete floors looking as if carpet had just been pulled and I saw one more thing. A dehumidifier at the other end of the room. Behind the dehumidifer on the wall was a huge black stain, looking very ominous.
We left the house in a big hurry. My clients have taken the home off the short list, they have taken it off the maybe list and put it in the circular file list.
First of all, this should have been told to me. I am extremely sensitive to mold. I am hoping that the 5 or 10 seconds I was in the lower level won't make me sick. I am also hoping that the mold spores have not migrated to the first and second floors. My clients were not pleased, they felt if the sellers wanted to sell, or needed to sell, they should have either taken care of the mold or warned us.
So, if you really want to sell your house, clean up the mold. I have a great resource for those in the Greater New Milford, CT area, check out my post on mold testing, how to deal with mold and remediation. Don't sell a house of horrors in New Milford, CT. Got mold? Take care of it the right way!
Andrea Swiedler, Realtor® & Liddy Adams, GRI, Broker Associate
Cell: 203.460.1775 Email: andrea@andreaswiedler.com
Swiedler & Adams, we know real estate!
Prudential Connecticut Realty, New Milford & Litchfield, CT
Swiedler & Adams
Call us at 203.460.1775
© Andrea Swiedler, 2009 - 2012
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain
Glad you could smell the mold. I discourage buyers from buying homes which smell of mold.
There is not much worse than the mold smell, it sure ruins the otherwise "perfect" home.
Gita, it was bad, and I am hoping that I don't get sick. Last 2 times I was sick for 6 weeks each time.
Cynthia, it sure does. So does the big black spot on the wall...
Gosh, makes you wonder what the listing agent was thinking and how the sellers could live with the strong smell of mold, black mold at that!
Sue of Robin and Sue
Andrea,
I do not know if it pertains to mold too, but usually people get used to the smells in their homes and do not notice them, while other people do.
They sincerely do not know about some of the smells. We had friends, and they were great people, but the guy was obese, and would sit on the couch without a shirt sweating, and it smelled terribly.
When you walk in the door, it was hitting you. But after 2-3 hours there we were not noticing the smell. Not that the smell disappeared, we just adjusted to it, and no longer were noticing it.
Same thing often with pets. You walk in and smell dogs from the entrance door, but happy owners are sure that their dogs do not smell, because they do not feel it.
It is a serious problem when you are selling, as if you tell them that their condo or home smell, well... for them it does not, and how dare you to insinuate
I can normally walk in to a property and tell if it has a mold problem. I can smell it as soon as I walk in the door...
Since the carpets were up they knew the mold was there. A warning would have been nice. My short sale listing has mold and I tell every agent and buyer where it is since there are some that are highly allergic to it.
Sue, I am not happy, but today am showing no signs of getting sick. If I would have only known...
Jon, you are so right, but mold can be dangerous, depending on what type it is. And I seem to run into the types that I am highly allergic to. You do get used to some smells, and it is hard to explain to people.
Michael, me too, but they must have had some kind of seal around the door to the basement, ghesh.
Jackie, they sure did know it was there. And I was pretty ticked off.
Andrea you problems with mold are so well documented here on the Rain and yet again you are exposed to it. It is sad when not only the sellers, but their agent try to hide that presence of the toxic growth. Makes you wonder.
Ed, I am not a happy camper. We have had mold issues come up with our listings in the office, we make sure they are handled properly and disclosed. I don't know what people are thinking. With the amount of folks that have a sensitivity, one would think they would want to keep from getting.... sued. You know how people are these days.