Abestos in a rental property buy or walk away ?

[Zach Scott]

I looked at a duplex several months ago that seemed on paper to be a good buy. I was very interested but scared off when a knowledgeable friend of mine told me it likely had abestos on the kitchen floor (one side of duplex) and siding.

The property still hasn't sold, I think mostly because it is being advertised poorly and the owner doesn't care much and I saw that he recently dropped the price so it peaked my interest again.

How big of a deal is the possibility of abestos really ? I am a newbie, so this scares me but I don't want to be so paranoid that I lose what might be a good start as well.

Does the presence of abestos mean it needs to removed ? Or could I just continue to rent it as is ? I've read enough to understand that it generally isn't a problem if undisturbed. Would you be willing to rent a property with abestos flooring indoors ? I've been told I can just cover it up with new flooring. I really don't know what the best idea is, to run away, buy it and use it as is, or fix it and if so either just cover it or pay to have it professionally and properly removed.

how expensive is this sort of project ? A quick google search says $5-15 per sq feet for removal on the floor.

My main concern would be the liability of owning such a property if someone down the road wanted to sue me if they got sick. Is this a reasonable concern ? Would an LLC protect the owner ?

I don't know if it is present anywhere else such as the insulation, and I don't know for sure about the floors/siding, but I suspect so.

Any experience or advice would be appreciated.