With the housing downturn in 2008, I got out of the home building industry and pursued jobs in nuclear and chemical project management and engineering management.  

Both with solid jobs, Chemical Engineer and Bank Analyst.

If you need a mortgage loan, look up Shawn Huss with Chemical Bank.

I quit my job at Dow Chemical on July 24th, 2014.

We had a property that had some mold on the basement walls and a company went at it with scrub brushes and mold killing chemicals.

I work full time as a chemical engineer and have become very interested in real estate.

They were manufacturing it in the garage with oxygen and acetylene tanks and dozens of other flammable chemicals.

Sand, or chemicals?

Leaves and debris not being cleaned out jam up pumps, chemical balances are a constant annoyance, possible plumbing issues, extra water costs.

There are many solutions that you can do yourself.There are some that you never want to do yourself.The EPA guidance on mold issues is here:  http://epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htmlThe digital copy of the same information is here: http://epa.gov/mold/pdfs/moldguide.pdfThis document does not help you estimate costs for repairs, but does help you see through the "smoke screen" that many remediation companies will put up when talking about mold in homes.In spite of what John D. recommended in his response above, the use of a chemical or biocide that kills organisms such as mold (chlorine bleach, for example) is not recommended as a routine practice during mold cleanup.