Need advice from those who deleaded in Massachusetts after 2017

[Linda Roberts]

Hi, I need an advice from those who deleaded units in Massachusetts after 2017(after the laws changed). I purchased 2 family in Malden. The house is in a good shape but need some renovations. I was thinking at the same time to get a Deleaded Certificate. For me it looks like I need to encapsulate walls and window trims, cover staircases with a carpet. The windows were recently replaced, but the trims are original. New doors with original door jambs. Hardwood floors, old wooden staircases. It looks like encapsulation should not be very expensive, especially if I do it myself. What am I missing? What are the most expensive jobs that must be done? Can I encapsulate window/door trims or they must be replaced? I'd like to know it before I invite lead inspector in the apartment. Now the status of this apartment is unknown, and after I call the inspector, it's a no return point.

[Jonathan Bombaci]

@Linda Roberts and @Russell Brazil - Yes we get lead certificates on all of our properties in MA. We do pretty much what you’re talking about. We’ll go in and do a standard unit turn with maybe some light renovation. Deep clean the apartment and then invite the lead inspector in to test it. It normally costs $300-$600 per unit for them to inspect it and do dust swipes. If they identify any areas with a lead concentration over 1.0 on the interior or exterior you fail. You then need to bring in a licensed lead contractor, a good inspector should give you a few referrals depending on they type of work needing to be done. Once the contractor finishes you then bring the inspector back for another test, and $300-$600 later you should have a lead certificates. You can claim a $1500 tax credit per lead certificate when you get it in MA which helps offset some of the cost.

We just deleaded a 9 unit in Lowell NA the units passed but the exterior trim failed. It cost us $24,000 to get our 9 certificates including the tests and work performed and we’ll claim a $13,500 tax credit on our 2021 returns. 

Doesn’t seem like a great return however we sleep easier with the lead certificates and from my experience, as an team lead of 26 investor focused agents doing over 100 multi-family transactions through YTD 2021, the certificates are worth an extra $5-10k per unit when you sell the property. There are many investors, and a few banks in the area, that require them. Also in this scenario we found out about the lead in due diligence and negotiated an additional credit per unit on the purchase so we turned out okay.. 

I use John Risko (Google him) for all my multi-family lead testing and I highly recommend him. 

Best,

Jon