Is Asbestos a Deal breaker?

[Lauren Crissman]

Hey everyone! Just closing on my HELOC today and naturally I have diving deep into the market looking for my first BRRRR house. I came across a small home in a prime location listed for a good price that needs obvious work based on the photos alone. In viewing the details on the listing, I saw asbestos listed under the building materials. Never having done this before I know certain factors that are considered "scary" can be a plus when negotiating for a great deal but I'm not quite sure if asbestos falls into that category or if I should abort mission and send my search elsewhere?

[Account Closed]

Quote from @Lauren Crissman:

Hey everyone! Just closing on my HELOC today and naturally I have diving deep into the market looking for my first BRRRR house. I came across a small home in a prime location listed for a good price that needs obvious work based on the photos alone. In viewing the details on the listing, I saw asbestos listed under the building materials. Never having done this before I know certain factors that are considered "scary" can be a plus when negotiating for a great deal but I'm not quite sure if asbestos falls into that category or if I should abort mission and send my search elsewhere?

Your options vary by state.
Asbestos appears in some ceiling treatments, wrappings around pipes, insulation, flooring and house siding. It really depends on what is affected. I met with the chief inspector of abatement for the state, years ago. His comment was that if you worked in a shipyard or an asbestos mine for decades, you probably have a medical problem.

Assuming you aren't a miner, or a ship builder and want to proceed, you start by spraying the ceiling with water and keeping the material wet and scraping the ceiling with a flat shovel which removes the popcorn. You wear gloves, mask, and a painter's suit, open the doors and windows to ventilate and put material into heavy duty construction garbage bags. Takes about two hours per room. I've done several. You wear the equipment because you are paranoid, not because you are in imminent danger. But, it doesn't hurt to wear the suit to keep the itchy material off your skin anyway. Shower afterwards, wash clothes as usual or discard.

Same type of thing when it's linoleum or vinyl on the floors.

When it's on pipes, I just leave it alone unless it's loose. If loose, I wrap it with vent tape.

If it's the siding, that is a much bigger and more costly job. If it's in good shape, I put a couple of coats of paint on it to seal it in. If it's in poor shape, I pass of the project.

Here's a pretty good article https://www.hunker.com/1372182...

"If your home was built before 1980, there's a good chance some of the materials used to build it contain asbestos. This doesn't necessarily put you at risk, however. As long as the asbestos is locked into the material and can't become airborne, it may pose little risk to your home's occupants."