7 Keys to Buying a House in 2025 When Mold is your Concern
Without using fear-mongering and snake oil. Updated January 22, 2025.
How do I know this home I want to buy is “safe” from mold and water damage?
So, it’s now January 2025 and everything has changed! Or has it?
Maybe not when you’re looking for a home to buy and you’re asking yourself the question,
How do I know this home I want to buy is “safe” for my family?
The simple short answer (from a professional experience point-of-view),
"You can't be sure." Period.
AND - you will "never" really find that "perfect" home you've defined.
You can do due diligence. You can be reasonable. You can do things that work.
1st - The Real Estate disclosure
The first step - what has the seller decided to tell the truth about? Usually, most are trying to be honest. But sadly, for those that lie there's nothing we can do. BUT - this is something to look at.
REMEMBER just because there WAS a problem, does not mean it is STILL a problem.
2nd - VISUAL
But this comes with a caveat- home inspectors do NOT look (and will not report) the "clues" that tell us about past damage, repairs, etc. They also do not move a thing - so someone can put a box or cabinet in front of water stains, mold growth, patches, etc. - BUT your "environmental" inspector CAN and SHOULD move stuff out of the way to see concealed stuff.
3rd - VISUAL
Yes! I say this twice. Why? Because no two people will see all the same things. The home inspector, the mold and water inspector, and you might find 75% of the same things. But that other 25% that maybe only one of you sees is what might be most important.
4th - FEEL
How YOU "feel" in the home when you tour it. IF you like the place, take more than one tour. OFTEN you are under time constraints, and are permitted only one or two visits. If so, when you are at the home, take a moment to go outside for 4 or 5 minutes, take deep breaths of outdoor air - no odors, no irritants - and then, "hold your breath" for a bit, walk inside to the room you suspect, and then begin to breath thru your nose - paying attention to odors - all of them. Good odor (apple pie, perfume, candle) "might" be there to hide the bad! Or not.
5th - Visual.
OMG not again! Go back to those places you have funny feeling about - or were "obvious" old repair OR new paint, patchwork signs, etc. Look and try to figure out - or ASK - they they are there. You are permitted to ask owner ANYTHING. They might not like it- but that's to bad. Listen carefully, read between the lines. You might learn something about the history.
IF there is mold remediation or repairs on the disclosure- pay attention to what they did, line items, cost. Timing, dates, etc.
IF there is a dehumidifier in basement or anywhere - ask WHY?
6th - HVAC
Try to look at the inside and outside of the HVAC - remove the filter, look inside with a flashlight. Sometimes, we can remove the humidifier panel. Sometimes remove the electronic cabinet or blower panel. Lots to see!
AND FINALLY,
7th- To Test or Not to Test
Follow the BASIC most important rules of assessment - the first of which is:
“SAMPLING is NOT going to tell you what is happening or what the past was.”
Period. Most sampling is just repeating to you what you already should have seen, figured out, been told.
I understand the “tests” appear to provide some sort of satisfaction. Some kind of tangible information. However, they rarely are straightforward like you hope. To make matters worse, that “IEP” you hired because your friend really like him will rarely interpret the labs with the knowledge of data collection methodology skills and statistics. They simply GUESS… literally - they hope they are correct - they ignore the confounding variables that complicate the results. And they ignore that there is little to no research on those numbers and species they are telling you to be afraid of! Wow - that’s a mouthful…
Sample results almost always create unfounded fear and confusion.
I don’t care what kind of sampling you choose - it's going to be more confusing or frightening than helpful.
Do NOT waste money on ERMI. Period. It is neither reliable nor valid. The MISinformation you hear from non-specialists and MANY "doctors" is simply that - MISinformed people telling others who have no clue. Do. Not. Use. ERMI. (or HERSTMI).
SCIENCE Matters
The REAL science-based professionals understand why ERMI (or HERTSMI) will NEVER be accurate. (there is a few out there who have loads of followers and are heavily promoting ERMI - NONE of them have had a statistics and data class, and NONE even had a graduate class in methodology. You trust them? I do not.
CIRS
The umbrella generic term CIRS (chronic inflammation) is NOT related to geographic location. It is not even been consistently shown to be related to type of home or building. Even the type of "toxic" trigger has never NEVER been validated (i.e., proven).
SUMMARY
Do NOT worry about state, region, city, climate, environment, weather. All regions of the country have homes with mold! No area or city is worse, or better, than another. The climate might be cold or hot and humid, but the way the building responds is key. Some work. Some do not. Some are built great. Some are built with shortcuts, bad design, and poor quality. There are 100 ways your home can have mold and water problems that have NOTHING to do with the region, city, climate, mountain, valley, ocean or swamp nextoor.
Concern yourself with a well built house.
Concern yourself with buying a house that you can AFFORD to do regular repairs and improvements and maintain to prevent bigger problems.
Concern yourself with being PREPARED for just about anything!
Concern yourself with accepting the fact that EVERY house has "something" you won't like or prefer to get rid of. Every. Single. One.
From the professional experience point-of-view, moving out of a "bad" place is just buying a different set of someone else's problems. At least the place you’re in YOU know what is wrong and what has been fixed.
BUT - if moving is necessary (job, family, etc), concern yourself with INSPECTING the proper, careful way - do NOT trust the "mold guy" who comes in, takes 3 samples (air or ERMI - none will reveal the problems), and is onsite about 45 mins. IF they don’t tell you about "clues" that help them deduce the history, construction, errors, risks, etc, they are simply taking your hard-earned money by selling you those cheap, easy "tests".
Do this - always - and don’t concern yourself with lab results...
See also this short article - https://moldlogic.substack.com/p/hma-the-four-home-mold-assessment