Thoughts on toxic mold remediation

[Sam Schaefer]

Hello, Bigger Pockets! I am a new investor looking for some advice. I currently own a single family home that was originally a duplex but was converted to a single family home in Minneapolis, MN. My fiance and I are working to convert it back to a duplex. This is his primary residence and was mine as well until I moved to NYC. I am now in the process of purchasing another multi-family home in Union, NJ. This house was a single family that was made into a duplex. I have the property under contract and have gone through the inspection, and there were a lot of findings. The biggest ones were the broken asbestos flooring that had been carpeted over in the semi-finished basement and a small spot of mold on the wall in the basement. I had mold testing done, and it turns out that it is toxic mold, and there is also toxic mold present in the air in the basement. In addition, the seller ripped up the flooring (did not have a professional remove it), so now there is asbestos in the air in the basement as well. This home is going to be my primary residence, and I had planned on living in the basement because the space is much better than the other room in that unit. The seller said that he is willing to have the asbestos and mold removed by a licensed professional, but I am still wary of this sale. Because this is my first real step into the world of real estate investing, I don't want to get in over my head. Plus this is going to be my primary residence. Would any of you more experienced investors still go through with the deal if the seller had a licensed professional remove the mold and asbestos? There were several other issues including (but not limited to) severe water and termite damage in the garage and broken or malfunctioning windows to just name a few more. I feel like the seller is just trying to do anything (as cheap as possible) to sell this house because he knows he is not going to get as much as we agreed upon if the house goes back on the market.

Sorry for the long-winded intro/question, but I thought it was important for you to have some background on me and my investing situation to be able to give the best advice possible. Any advice helps! Thanks!!