All Forum Posts by: Samantha Hiscock

I give proper notice (48 hrs here) and then just go in. You don't need permission because you have given them notice of intent to enter. I do let the police know the situation and they either show up or they dont. If you are concerned for your safety you need to tell them that and that you NEED them there. They should respond, that's their job. 

 Call me. 233-5483

The walls aren't finished, it's just a concrete floor and granite block walls. The mold is on the floor joists. He will definitely be wearing tyvek suits and a respirator. 

The baking soda actually kills the mold, not just removes it. It's a little messy, but totally nontoxic. We will then HEPA vac the basement and so air quality testing through a 3rd party to prove that it's gone. My husband said that even if he hasn't removed all the mold, he would rather spend an extra $1500 to try. If the air quality testing comes back as failing we will pay the pros to come in,  but we will know that we did what we could.

I bought a nasty little duplex this week with a ton of potential, and a ton of mold in the basement. The property has been flooded and not properly dealt with. At this point, the power has been off for over a year and no attempts to manage the moisture (even with a regular dehumidifier) have taken place in atleast 3 years. There is no standing water in the basement right now. I called a mold remediation company to come do an estimate, 11k. It seems outrageous. My husband did some googling and has decided that he wants to buy an abrasive blaster and soda blast the basement. Apparently baking soda kills the mold and cleans the stains. The YouTube videos make it look insanely easy. Obviously we need to deal with the moisture first and have rented a commercial dehumidifier to remove the excess moisture prior to starting any work. 

Does anyone have any experience with soda blasting mold? Is my husband completely crazy? Will this work or are we wasting time and money? 

If your Realtor questioned it you should probably find one that is more knowledgeable about investment properties!! 

Blair is a superstar Realtor and someday I will be as great as her, but I'm sure either one of us could help you find something suitable and provide plenty of info on house hacking and how to make it work for you. We both bought multis as our first homes. 

Nope! It must be your primary for 365 days, after that you can do as you please with it. 

The only change is with your homeowners insurance and your homestead declaration for property taxes. 

Where in VT are you looking at multis? I may be able to tell you why so many in 1 area/street are on the market ("bad neighborhood", flood issues, etc).

I have rentals in Barre, it just depends on the property location amd condition. We live in the town and my husband commutes to Colchester. Its all highway, not a bad drive at all. Waterbury is a decent area, but multis can be hard to find. I have my RE license if you ever want to take a look at a few. 

I also invest in VT. Chittenden County ia prohibitively expensive. Have you expanded your search radius?

Vermont has some funky real estate laws and tax stuff. I would stick to someone in-state. Let me know if you find someone worthy, I need some higher level tax assistance as well!