HELP! Ceiling replacement... Asbestos?

[James Little]

I am working on an off market deal in Memphis and everything is looking good. House only needs minor repairs (pull out carpet and some painting). But in the living room the Sheetrock was laid the direction of the ceiling joists and it is sagging pretty bad with a nice crack running through it. Wouldn't be that hard to demo out the existing Sheetrock, replace it, and paint it. But I am worried about asbestos in the popcorn covering and also in the insulation above it. The house was built in 1954 and really is in great condition for the age (it was a little old lady house).  

Would a remediation crew fix just this? Can I wet everything and demo myself? 

I feel like the best way is demo the Sheetrock and replace it but not sure if it's a great idea.

I could screw in new sheet rock threw existing and into the joists but I'm worried I might cause some issues with that and it would look crappy. Plus the heating vents run through the ceiling.

What are my options here? This is my first rental and the numbers look really good and it's not in a war zone. 

[Aaron McGinnis]

Originally posted by @Alex Craig:

@Aaron McGinnis ok, stand corrected. We have not run up against it, that is why I said it.  We have probably stripped 25 or so homes off popcorn for flips and "A" class properties. 

 How many of those did you perform formal testing on the interiors of?