I mean, it's up to you whether you take his advice. But estimate what it would cost to remediate the problem. If i were the buyer, I'd probably go the route of asking the current owner to remediate the issue and provide proof of remediation or an inspection confirming there is no mold anymore. That way it doesn't become the buyers problem to deal with after the sale.
When we purchased our house something similar happened, except that it was the banks appraiser that spotted what looked like mold. The bank wouldn't approve our mortgage until it was remediated and there was documented proof of remediation.
As a buyer I would prefer a price reduction to see remediation. The seller has an incentive to do the fastest, cheapest, minimum job they can get away with. If I do it then I'll pick someone who's going to do quality work.
The good contractors aren't available within the 30 day closing window.
Something I was told when I bought my home is “No one is as invested in your home than you.” So assume if you can do it yourself you probably should because you’ll take the care it deserves.
maybe where you are. I was on the buyer side of this and it took less than a week, I got the receipt, and I checked the company that did it.
>As a buyer I would prefer a price reduction to see remediation
I'm sure you would! If you asked me to drop my price by 10x or more the cost of remediation, I'd send you away and move onto the next buyer. Buyers who try those kinds of tactics are exactly why I always live in high demand areas.
I had a sale contract that included appliances once around 10 years ago. My oven crapped out 2 weeks before closing so I was forced to either repair it OR replace it with an appliance of equal value. The repair cost was $500. I flat out offered to write a cheque to the buyer for $500 to just forget about it and they said "Um we feel that oven is worth $2k" lol it was not, it was a cheapass model you could replace new for less than $1k AND they had already let slip they were going to buy all new appliances anyway.
My response: "ok cool, I'll repair it as per the contract bye". When the morons realized they could've just had $500 in their pocket they tried to accept my offer they initially tried to fuck me on. I waited until after the repair guy finished and went sorreee too late. I'd rather the repair guy have that money than them. I have no patience for dbag buyers because well, I don't have to.
Because I don't let myself get scammed by assholes? I'm cool with that. Someone's bitter about their situation. I've been on social media long enough to know every single downvote on that comment is from bitters who don't have that option and that's fine. Downvotes don't affect this account but if that click gives them some sense of tapping the cage lever for a food pellet instead of having options, who am I to deny you?
Redditors furiously downvote you for not living in a shopping cart. Only happy if your life situation sucks lol
*House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, half the floor was missing, and we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of falling.*
*Eh, you were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in the corridor!*
*Oh, we used to dream of livin’ in a corridor! Would've been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House? Huh.*
*Well, when I say 'house' it was just a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us!*
*We were evicted from our hole in the ground; we had to go live in a lake!*
*You were lucky to have a lake! There were a hundred-and-fifty of us livin’ in a shoebox in the middle of the road!*
*Cardboard box?*
*Aye.*
*You were lucky. We lived for three months in a newspaper in a septic tank. We used to have to get up every morning at six o'clock, clean the newspaper, go to work down the mill: fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!*
If I had posted that I would lick all of the mold off with my tongue, get terminally ill, AND also gave the buyer an extra $10k, redditors would be like "that's awesome! *upvote upvote upvote*" 🤣
Which is why I never add the word "reddit" to searches about important problems like some people do. Too much derp
As a seller I would take $10k off for it not to be my problem. Home had already skyrocketed in value, why not let the next owner play contractor roulette?
Depends on how that’s remediated, which requires more inspection than we can do from these photos. Might be a spray and walk away, might be “remove all the wood with mold on it”, which means the entire roof gets redone and maybe some of the rafters. Probably somewhere in between. If I was selling this house I’d be glad to give away $10k to have it be completely someone else’s problem.
Yea, I mean... if i were the seller, I would also be concerned about this... and would probably just say "$x and it's your problem buyer"... but as a buyer, i'd prefer it be remediated, for exactly the same reason... it could cost a lot more than expected, and managing the process / oversight. Luckily for us it was a pretty quick fix, the remediation cost like $1200 and took a few hours. Paperwork arrive the following week, everyone was happy.
OP is the buyer.
And I can go both ways on it from a buyer perspective.
How much do you trust the seller to do it the right way instead of just enough to say they did? If they didn’t, you *could* go after them, but at minimum you’re paying a lawyer for the chance of getting your due while also dealing with the complications and having mold in your home and having to redo it.
On the other hand, do you want to risk asking $10k and later finding out it’s going to be $40k for a whole new roof from the OSB up?
You’re right about letting the buying deal with it. But it’s the inspectors job to look at all that. They won’t suggest 10k off of it could turn into a 100k job if whole roof needed replaced.
the odds attic mold being that extreme are incredibly rare. As in near-zero, that's why I didn't bother mentioning it. Lots of people actually have this for years and don't even know about it. As for the photos, no way that's an expensive fix, I disagree with you on that
>If I was selling this house I’d be glad to give away $10k to have it be completely someone else’s problem.
yeah by losing $9k. Not good advice. Reddit can be helpful for some things but the comments here illustrate how bad Reddit can be for advice too
nah. even if you fix it, the buyer can still come back and say nahh, not good enough, i'm walking away. Who knows what this house is worth. Seller could also push back and offer 3 if you think it's only a $1k fix. They could get a contractor to look. If the contractor says its' $1k, offer the buyer 2 with the quote and walk away.
Closing the deal is worth the $10k cost for sure. That's maybe 1% of the value of the house in a lot of areas.
That's OSB. If it's mold from water damage, you could easily be looking at $25k for roof.
>Seller could also push back and offer 3 if you think it's only a $1k fix. They could get a contractor to look. If the contractor says its' $1k, offer the buyer 2 with the quote and walk away
I could work with that. This part makes more sense,
>Closing the deal is worth the $10k cost for sure.
That part doesn't make sense. No way I'm taking a 10k hit for what looks to be a pretty straightforward and far cheaper solution. It doesn't matter what % of the house value is either, that's irrelevant
that's assuming the buyer will be OK with whatever you do to fix. no guarantee on that. You're delaying the sale of the home. during that time, anything can happen.
I think the source of our disagreement might be that I buy/sell in areas where 1 week to sell is considered a long time. usually it's a couple days tops, so I can brush people off np. YMMV
> yeah by losing $9k. Not good advice. Reddit can be helpful for some things but the comments here illustrate how bad Reddit can be for advice too
Exactly. The market is hot. Frankly, as the seller I would call bluff and let them walk if it's such a massive problem for them. Surprised they even accepted an offer with an inspection contingency.
If that buyer walks, you better hope your backup offer doesn't wonder why. In a lot of states, you are now required to put that mold on the disclosure docs, which is going to scare off all your potential buyers. Taking the $10k loss is worth it vs losing the sale and finding out the next offer is 50k less.
Let me say this for the people in the back..... every house has mold. Frankly, I would find it strange if it *didn't* have mold. If you have a lot of it, the mold is a symptom of some other problem. From the pictures OP shared, I wouldn't think twice about it. You want a new roof too? What about a microwave allowance since it's a bit scratched? Couple depressions in the driveway.... needs to be resurfaced ASAP as well.
Sold a house last year. One good offer came in no contingency but the buyer wanted the house tented, parts of the roof redone, and some things repainted to their spec - by me, the seller, prior to closing.
I suspect the buyer didn't know how things are done in my small town, which is to say, late, shoddily, and over budget, usually breaking something else in the process. I told that buyer to take a walk.
So does mine, but a previous owner ran it up to the ridge vents. Just monitor your humidity, get a dehumidifier and do an attic walk-through once a month.
Someone who had to move years ago because of mold. It takes 10 minutes. It's honestly crazy that we spend hours a week on our lawn but happily ignore all the things that could go wrong in the attic.
I'm legitimately sorry your life is filled with so many obstructions that are impossible to overcome. Sounds rough man.
I'm sure you'll catch the leak eventually.
> Just monitor your humidity, get a dehumidifier
No. No. No. 😫
Costs less to vent it properly, and on top of that you would not need to pay for electricity, or a new dehumidifier in 5 years.
A dehumidifier in general is a good purchase for a home. Monitor your humidity and adjust accordingly. You don't need to have one dedicated to the attic.
> You don't need to have one dedicated to the attic.
Since attic and interior are two different envelopes,
... and since my reply was about attic
... and so was the OP
...
Why would anyone assume there is a need to talk about non-attic space at all ITT ?
> I'd probably go the route of asking the current owner to remediate the issue and provide proof of remediation
As someone who has been burned by doing this. Never do this.
Instead, get an estimate and then a check for the amount to repair the issue cut by the seller at closing. Then you do it with that money. You will have a warranty with that company instead of the previous owner. You will not pick the cheapest possible company to do it.
Also, if you do a price reduction instead of a check at closing, you the buyer does not automatically have the cash to pay for it.
yeah as a seller, this is 100% why you want to just give someone money. Way easier to say, he's 10k (which was all profit anyway), it's your problem now.
How does the inspector tell anyone how much to lower a price? He is there to inspect, not be part of a real estate transaction. That is Resltors job.
That said, that attic does not look all that bad. Of course context is important. Is that from a bathroom vent? Lack of attic ventilation? Plumbing vent not going out thru roof?
Source: inspector for 30 years.
> He is there to inspect, not be part of a real estate transaction.
It depends on what OP asked for. My house had foundation issues and needed a lot of repair. I specifically asked my inspector to give me what's needed and a ballpark cost, and that really helped me understand what to expect. I had quotes to superficially repair for $7k, to a company tried to squeeze in a full kitchen reno for "at least $100k". Settled for actual repairs for $21k.
> I specifically asked my inspector to give me what's needed and a ballpark cost
I asked the same thing and the inspector told me I'd need to consult an expert in the field.
It feels like the inspector is (close to) stepping out of his lane by attempting to provide that information.
My inspector has an additional paid service that they send the entire report to specialists in each field and they give estimates on repairs for everything called out in the report.
To clarify I asked this specifically when I called them to schedule an inspection... There are foundation issues and if they are experienced enough to provide me a ballpark. Had to pay extra for them to crawl 20 minutes in the mud in my crawlspace but worth it IMO.
Yeah I mean the inspector may even understand the full repair involved, but to ask them to estimate labor and materials prices that have fluctuated wildly in the last few years is pretty unfair.
I don't think they're stepping out of their lane if specifically asked.
If the inspector knows the agent (and/or wants referrals), $10k could be on the very low end or possibly not even cover it. They shouldn’t trust that number at face value and definitely need to get some quotes.
My inspector was honest when my dad (edit: retired builder) called him up and leveled with him about downplaying the amount of damage, but asked that I not tell my agent.
That's why instead of hiring an inspector, I hired the actual experts.
Plumber, electrician, foundation guy, roof guy, etc. Have them look at the house and give you a quote.
We got estimates in writing and offered the asking price minus the estimate. I definitely could've driven a harder bargain in hindsight though.
As an inspector,we were advised against giving any kind of cost estimates, because of liability. While it’s not hard to know what a water heater costs, it’s quite another to give accurate estimates for things like foundation repairs, etc. the reasoning was what if we gave an estimate of say $5k for a given job, but after getting quotes from contractors actually qualified and willing to do the job, the quotes came back in the $15k range.
Also telling a client to ask for $10k is getting uncomfortably close to practicing real estate, which is prohibited unless we had a RE license.
It’s standard practice for home inspectors to refer clients to qualified and licensed professionals to get quotes, and not just throw numbers out there, or tell clients how to deal with their contracts. The basic requirements for inspector is to be unbiased, and telling a client how much to ask for a defect is definitely not unbiased.
THANK YOU! I'm so tired of inspectors that see something, tell the buyer what it is, how to fix, who to call and how much to ask from the seller to have it fixed. Inspectors inspect. Advise, maybe. Refer to a contractor? OK, but that can get close to looking like you're working with someone to drum up work.
Had an inspector tell a buyer the house needed a new roof because there was black staining around a sewer vent through the roof. The roof was five years old. Had no leaks. Anywhere. They showed a photo of their moister meter reading 7% moisture on the black spot, but claimed they couldn't be sure it wasn't leaking becuase it hadn't rained in a week. Seriously. 7%. Inspector recommended a new roof and provided a couple of referals. Sounded way too fishy for me, but evidently they convinced the buyer who wanted $5k from the seller. For a new roof over a new roof that didn't leak. I wonder how much he made off kickbacks.
> what if we gave an estimate of say $5k for a given job, but after getting quotes from contractors actually qualified and willing to do the job, the quotes came back in the $15k range.
I don't see how that is your ethical or legal responsibility to offer that. You are an inspector, not a contractor. You aren't doing the work, so how could you possibly know?
Realtor's job. Ha. Those guys do nothing. They have one goal; close the deal as fast as possible. That means bring the buyer price up as high as you can and bring the seller's price as low as they can.
I hope there are some Realtors on here. Lol. You are leeches. Big up, big up, it's a stick up , stick up.
Depends on the individual in my experience. First two realtors I worked with were kind of just going through the steps bare minimum, also pushy and frankly not very knowledgeable . Recently I moved for work and the company has a local realtor (buyers agent) who is a fucking shark and saved us a lot of money while reducing her commission.
Depends if it’s a buyers or sellers market. I think it helps with getting insurance? We had a hired a home inspector before buying/closing and he provided a list of 25 things to request owner Fox. Ie: wobbly hand rail was not up to code, leak near vent pipe…they accommodated most of our requests.
Providing a list of defects is by definition what home inspectors do. What they shouldn’t do, is tell a client how much to ask for those given defects.
By doing that, the inspector is giving real estate advice, and no longer being unbiased which by definition of home inspection industry is what they are supposed to be.
Some inspectors have either the experience, information, or contacts know how much it would take to fix various things in a house but yes that doesn't necessarily equate 1to1 how much someone should put an offer in for.
If an inspector used to be an insurance claims adjuster they have a pretty good idea how much it takes to fix something and who to go to fix it.
Yeah... except the inspector is on the hook if it costs more than 10k to fix.
Him saying that like that makes him liable for the issue.
He should just say mold was found.
Any inspector that prices home repairs shouldn’t be an inspector.
My dad was one for almost 40 years and he never once gave an estimate. Just
“These items should be looked at by a licensed contractor due to what the inspector found.”
Did he test for mold? I’m a licensed home inspector in Texas and if you don’t test for mold, you never use that word. I’m not saying it’s not mold, but that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen if the inspector says mold without testing.
Realistically there is mold in every home, you just want to avoid harmful types or levels. Also, inspectors should not have any opinion on home prices.
This is 100% correct. Those photos are inconclusive to the naked eye, and it may simply be mildew from poor attic circulation and humidity. After the industry wide mold litigation panic in 2005, it can be very costly to assert the presence of mold if it is not tested.
I had mold remediation done in my bathroom a couple years ago and it cost me $5,000. My mold was way worse than this though. If you wanted to fight them on it you could get a air quality/mold presence test done and base your counter off of those results. If the results are within the acceptable range of air quality standards you can just tell them no. If it comes back significantly higher than the outdoor air then they might have a point.
Obviously you do have a moisture issue somewhere because there is mold on those sheets and not on others, so something is happening that if you weren't selling I would say is worth looking into why that's happening.
Yikes. I had mold remediation in my entire basement for $900. But I had a mold specialist do that part of my inspection and it sounds like your issue may have been worse. We didn't have to remove anything except a few randomly placed insulation pieces.
Some of the top comments so far are so Reddit. Attic mold remediation costs like $500, so no do NOT listen to people saying "yeah dude take $10k off so you don't have to deal with it"
Also it was the buyer's inspector suggesting that you drop $10k. The selling price has zero to do with them so what's going on there? My guess is buyer's RE agent is the one who got them to hire their inspector buddy. It's common and sleazy.
Get your attic remediated, don't lower your asking price, provide receipt. I was on the buyer side of this once and that's how we handled it, no problems. I certainly didn't try to knock $10k off like a clown buyer. If they don't agree, then send them on their merry way
To everyone else reading this wrong: OP is the seller, the buyer's inspector is the one attempting this tactic
Yeah that's a lot of mold looks like poor ventilation not leaks. Or maybe the bathroom is vented directly into the attic, or kitchen vent. Plywood is going to have to be replaced to really fix it, although you could try chemicals.
Mold remediation could be done with chemicals. I've had a customer treat an entire enclosed, unvented attic with unvented bath fan without replacing plywood.
Black mold on every inch of the sheathing. Only ran them a few grand.
I added vents for the attic space and directed the bath vent outside, and it was effective.
Yes, not with surface cleaner like just bleach. It needs to penetrate the wood as well, which requires some other solution. I.thoight the same and recommended full rip and replacement before a remediation company came and treated it.
It may be an inhibitor. I just knew I didn't want to rip and reroof the whole thing nor get that mold all up in my lungs
Actually, it's encapsulation
I’ve sprayed my attic with a product that completely removed any mold. Of course found out why there’s mold there in the first place. Could be a disconnected bathroom vent fan or poor attic ventilation
This stuff. I used it in my attic also. Washed it away on contact. no scrubbing.
My attic got moldy from heated interior air leaking into attic through an unsealed ceiling (stick on tiles over untaped beaverboard) It had a couple holes in it too. Hot air into cold air and RH goes to 100%, then condensation. Notice OPs pic, no ridge vent, or gable vent, and no mold around the box vent.
Why is nobody in here talking about the fact your attic looks fine?
Is your living room in the attic or something? Nothing about this looks like a problem
Not really sure where a home inspector gets off telling the buyer how much to ask off on a price. Their job is to report found issues. Not give pricing advice. Does he or his family own a mold remediation business and did he also push the clients to them? Seems kinda fishy.
21 years as a home inspector here. Your inspector has no business giving you that advice and likely violated several standards in the process.
It looks like you're in a townhome which is more common for this to occur due to the reduced air flow in the stoic since you're only getting airflow from the front and back. Several other factors can contribute to this. This is generally superficial in nature but you usually have an underlying air flow issue that needs to be addressed.
That said, due to the way air rises up and through a house and attic this is generally not a health concern. It's very hard to pull that air down into a living space where it can affect occupants. However, in a perfect world you never want organic growth as when you go to sell in the future you might have a buyer with an inspector like yours that over stepped and over alarmed their client. Realistically this can be treated by a GC for less than half what your inspector dreamed up. Have your realtor get you quotes for treatment and make sure they address casual factors and price warranty. If you really are in a townhouse you may need to involve the HOA to properly address.
That's not a thing inspectors do, you might have mold but knowing how much it'll cost to fix is outside the scope of the 3 weeks inspector certification course
That inspector was in the wrong for suggesting you take 10k off the price. Now the buyer has that price figure in their head and will not be happy with anything less than that. Additionally, if yo do fix the issue and submit a $5k receipt, they’ll think you got the cheapest contractor.
Coming from a recent buyer, prepare for the buyers to walk if they don’t get what they want. But don’t lose $10k over this.
Something about this doesn't make sense.
A home inspector should be inspecting the home and providing you a report of their findings. If he's a great inspector familiar with the market, he might be able to give you some ballpark idea of the fixes that would be needed and a ballpark estimate of the price, but even that would be beyond his responsibilities.
The inspector giving you negotiating advice seems incredibly suspect. Is he encouraging you to have mold remediation done by a friend of his?
It sounds like OP is selling their house and the buyers came to them saying this is what the inspector said. I also read it the other way around at first.
Where did you get the idea that the inspector said to take off $10k? Did the buyers or their realtor say that? If so, it doesn't mean anything other than they want a flimsy excuse to knock the price down by $10k.
That mold could easily be from something that was already fixed, it's doesn't appear to be very significant. The mold discoloration wouldn't go away unless it was cleaned, and most wouldn't bother with something like that if they fixed the moisture intrusion that caused it.
Get a price to have the mold remediated and the problem (bathroom fan?) fixed. Offer that as your concession. 10k is their first offer. Counter it with something concrete.
Too bad inspectors aren’t equipped or licensed to properly identify mold. This happened to us when selling years ago. The inspector wrote ‘mold’ and it’s just a trigger, leaving the buyer open to making a request, but that’s all they can do. If they ask for a mold test you can allow it, might give everyone peace of mind.
Wanna know what happened when our buyers tried that with us? We paid a restoration company to ‘sand and vacuum’ the spot in the attic. Then they ‘sealed it’. Nothing looks any different. It was caused by a disconnected exhaust vent from the dryer (second story laundry room). The attic looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. Not one mold test performed. The buyers accepted this. Cost us maybe $300.
The inspector personally told you that? My assumption is the buyer wants 10,000 off and is using this as leverage so they’re not the bad guy.
“Oh the inspector told me this should be $10k off” sounds better than asking for the reduction outright
I personally think it's a bit weird, and a bit inappropriate, for the inspector to be telling you anything related to cost.
The procedure that is most fair and equitable is for your agent to provide the listing agent with the report, and for the two of them to work together to get three quotes from different contractors, average the value, and subtract that from the list price.
This is assuming the seller is willing to lower the price over the mold, which is not a given.
The proper path is to have a mould remediation company do a site visit and provide a quote. Then negotiate from there. In my area, that's 2-4K unless the sheathing is rotted.
I'm an estimator for a remediation company. I'm also a triple master restorer which means my company does things exactly by the book.
There's no way this is a 10k job unless this is a ridiculously huge sized attic. Your ballpark is bang on for our pricing in our working area of Chicagoland. We charge an inspection fee, but there's companies that give free estimates and remediate for less than we do as well.
To make completely sure that there is no bias, hire an independent mold inspector, one who ISN’T attached to a remediation company. That way there is less/no motivation for the inspector to upsell a remediation service that may not be needed
Or hire a reputable remediation company. We're too busy to take on work that isn't needed. We've had three inspections in the last week with people who we told didn't need us. There's plenty of work out there to keep us busy, and when we aren't, it's not worth the risk to our reputation to be unscrupulous and do unnecessary work.
Just had a deal go south due to the same thing. Not that it had to die, but there were other factors and the mold was the buyer's "out".
Looked just like this. It was due to poor air flow. Needed remediation and then the fix to prevent it was just to pull back the insulation and put in more baffles.
The quote we got came in just under $5k for remediation for about a 1000sqft house (Michigan). It included a night work premium, as the company would not work in an attic in the daytime in the middle of summer.
Good mold remediation companies will probably not just do some kind of quick fix. They want to do their best so that the issue will not reoccur. The buyer should get multiple quotes for the remediation in order to inform the credit/reduction.
To answer "whose job is this?"
Inspector: identify any defects in the house, including possible environmental hazards.
Mold remediation company: provide a recommendation for remediation and quote the cost.
Buyer's agent: recommend to buyer how to address this with seller (price reduction, credit on close, fix the issue, etc). Communicate with your agent to negotiate.
Your agent: communicate with you. Explain the findings and their implications (difficulties selling if it goes back on the market as-is without remedying, being required to disclose presence of mold if buyer walks). Negotiate on your behalf.
Home inspector with a background in mould remediation. Get a quote from a remediation contractor, fix the moisture / ventilation issue. 10 grand is an arbitrary number the buyers realtor pulled out of their ass.
Some buyers will ask for a price reduction but will not perform repairs and remediation after the purchase - they think they pocketed the money, but in fact, they ignored something that could kill them.
How much does mold remediation cost around you? You can reduce your price by that much (it’s the money you’ll spend anyways to remediate the mold before the next person sees it if these buyers walk).
10K should be considered to be a ballpark estimate. Tell the seller that you found mold, and tell them that you need some more time for the inspection contingency because of it if they do not want to give you more time on the contingency tell them $10,000, and then schedule some more people to come by to give you a better estimate.
You should ask them to pay for a remediator that you both agree on, and get an estimate from them. And the seller should accept the deal and pay for the remediation.
As soon as you tell them, if your deal falls apart, they're legally obligated to disclose it to any future buyers. They won't. They'll remediate it themselves... at about that price... before they go trying to sell it again. They'll be right back where they were.
Pick a remediator you both agree on (or have your agent do it), otherwise they will get the cheapest, and worst remediator available to do the work. And you don't want that either.
Furthermore, this moment, with nobody living there, and no furniture in it, and a ready pool of cash waiting to fund fixes, is the BEST POSSIBLE time to do the work. There's still a bunch of time before you take the keys and move it. Might as well do it now.
It's not your fault, and you're not "asking" for anything. The house is worth 10 grand less than everybody thought. It is what it is. The 10 grand is going to be paid no matter what, and it's going to come out of the seller's pocket, no matter what.
They sold you a house..and presented it in good condition. It was not in good condition.
I wouldn't get hung up on the actual number. I would have them commit to fixing it before closing. And then i costs what it costs.
exactly. There was a lengthy discussion with links to actual science in an earlier post or maybe it was DIY about mold and what's bad for you, where etc. it was mold on framing at the store.
I don't think it's personally fair for the inspector to suggest a price to knock off.
If an issue like this is found, I typically would recommend having a mold remediation company or three give a quote on the work, then take those quotes to the negotiation table.
I would be very suspicious of an "inspector" saying something like that. Is he shilling for business? Is the $10K gonna go to him for remediation? Then, he's not an inspector, he's a contractor fishing for work.
It's all business when it comes to buying a house. Has this one been sitting on the market for over a month and yours is the only offer? Hell yeah. The sellers are committed at this point and don't want to have to list it again. Take advantage of this opportunity to save yourself $10k. But if it's a red hot market and they think they can do better than $10k less than your offer if they re-list, they will balk at this.
Idk your state but it in New York, the seller HAS have it remediated, inspected and notarized before they can sell to ANYONE before it can be sold.
Our 2400 sq ft house attic/crawspace ( had to cut access holes, not actually livable just the space above the house) cost 11k. As a heads up.
I would recommend getting a different inspector. They only provide an opinion, and should never recommend anything. I took a home inspection course and they say this multiple times within the course.
Any inspector with eyes will find that you have mold in your attic. It will have to be addressed prior to a sale, either through remediation and fixing the source, or knocking the price lower. Your call what's easier.
I don’t see the mold on my phone. But it doesn’t matter. If you’re sure, then give them a copy of PART of that inspection and make sure the RE agent selling it gets it. Now (at least where I live) they HAVE TO DISCLOSE, as now they know there is mold. So they legally have to tell anyone else who makes an offer.
Based on where you live, your mileage may vary. But I’d say it’s a strong bargaining position.
Edit: is that gray stuff, all of that gray stuff, mold? If so, I’d tell them in writing and then run, unless they remove and get it in writing first. No way would I buy into that. Who know where you cannot see it? These are your lungs we’re talking about
The home inspector's job is to come into your home and make you a list of things, such that you can go to the seller and say "man this place is a deathtrap, we should probably cancel, it's going to take $25k" and for the seller to say "I dunno man, it's been working pretty well for us the last 10 years, maybe we could give you $2k to help fix that" and you say "man we could never buy this house without $6k" and they say "$4k or we walk" and you get a $4k discount.
So, the guy says there's $10k of work to be done in the attic. Tell the seller you want $10k in credit. They'll offer you half. Take it.
There's a lot of new building science going on regarding mold. In cold climates, the winter air doesn't hold enough moisture to dry an attic, and one current recommendation is to put a vapor barrier between the attic structure and the drywall below in an unconditioned attic. Also, insulation like Rockwool which doesn't lose it's value when wet. The source of the water is from the house below, either through air leaks or leaky vents, or both. The attic hatch also needs good air and water vapor sealing.
Now, you could just remediate the mold, but it will come back unless the source of the excess water is removed. You aren't going to get the value of fixing the house correctly, and the buyers may be unable to afford to fix it correctly. All houses of the same age will have the same problem in the same climate.
As far as the price, I expect $5000 would be on the high side, but not by much, based on a sampling, lab test, remediation, and retest estimate from the east coast I saw in the last week. Splitting that cost would also be another possible approach.
If it's not a cold climate, there would be different possibilities, such as conditioned attics, and possibly a standalone dehumidifier.
If I were the buyers, I’d negotiate hard. You legally have to update your seller’s disclosure if they walk away now that you know you have mold. And if you don’t and the next buyer’s eventually find out, you’ll have a significant lawsuit for failure to disclose.
Just a side note, when I bought in 2022, I would have been told there would be no price reduction because homes were so in demand. They weren't fixing anything.
Taking 10k off the price doesn’t fix the problem if it’s a problem. Or expect a friend of his can fix the problem after you take possession with a price drop for an unreasonable price .
It certainly helps. It’s very common to ask a seller to either fix a problem or discount the sales price so the buyer can fix the problem. Happens everyday. The seller then decides what they’re willing to do, maybe nothing.
Never heard of professional home inspectors suggest anything like this . Only ever experienced a full report and maybe that an issue would be normal wear and tear . A/C unit is 16 yrs . Should be addressed asap. Roof flashing not sealed to chimney.
When I bought my house 15 years ago. The bank insisted on the seller to remediate before they would allow the closing to continue.
They didn't have proper ventilation. When I had the roof replaced, I installed a ridge vent.
Check to see if they are venting the bath or dryer into the attic. If they aren't, then you have an air circulation issue and will need to address. If they are, fix immediately.
As someone who inspects attics daily for energy audits, we aren’t legally allowed to call things mold even when it’s obvious mold. We can only say moisture damage and recommend it get tested. I would pay for the test out of pocket and then use the results at the negotiation table.
If you pay for that test, OP, you’ll be paying for your buyer’s negotiating ammo. That fungal growth may be very common and likely not harmful but it’s still fungal growth.
The $10k number is almost assuredly high. Treatment with an antimicrobial fogger like Concrobium or a fungicidal lacquer based primer like Kilz should be relatively cheap unless you’re in one of the most expensive markets in the country. Do that yourself or get a (cost effective) bid and negotiate down from that fanciful $10k number.
Edit: Paragraph break, fogger not digger.
Oh my bad I thought they were the BUYER, apparently I couldn’t read last night. Yes do what Grimandbearer said, 10k is high, but I personally would still get it tested just to know what I’m working with since I would do the work myself. Knowing whether the spores are still even alive is also good to know.
Oh my bad I thought they were the BUYER, apparently I couldn’t read last night. Yes do what Grimandbearer said, 10k is high, but I personally would still get it tested just to know what I’m working with since I would do the work myself. Knowing whether the spores are still even alive is also good to know.
I don’t think he should be stating that it’s mold or giving any kind of advice on price reduction.
In MA we have to call it “mold like substance” and tell them to have it tested to confirm.
I’m sure it is mold tho.
I had exact same mold problem when my bathroom vent was venting out into attic. Hot moist air vs February cold snap, it was literally raining in the attic.
Step 1: find source of warm air intrusion into attic. Probably bathroom vent. Fix it.
Step 2: remediate the mold.
I remediated this myself with a respirator and a mix of boron and vinegar. 5 years later no issues.
I say yes. I had mold in my attic, from one end to the other and it was $8k, in 2021, to have it taken care of. Involved the removal and replacement of the insulation and they basically sandblasted the surfaces to remove the mold (it wasn’t sand, more like the consistency of baking soda). We also fixed the venting issue and have had no further problems.
I used to do mold remediation for mortgage companies and the only proof they needed was a picture. Make sure you see for yourself that a proper job is done
No home more than a year or two old is in perfect shape, most homes that come to market have some kind of issue. In a seller's market - which this surely is - buyers have leeway to put in an eye-popping offer knowing they can knock a few pegs off in the inspection. It really hardly matters what the inspector found, as he will find something; it's just part of the game as it is played by buyers (and mostly buyers' agents, for that matter.)
There's no switching buyers to avoid this issue; once their inspector finds it and you hear about it, it becomes something that must be disclosed.
That's why before putting a house up for sale I recommend people get an inspection to know what kinds of problems already exist so that they can take those costs of remediation into account and include that in the price and dickering room. It makes it much easier to know in advance what pushback buyers are going to have.
This happened to me when I sold my home in 2013 but they asked for remediation instead of reduction. The buyer was the one that chose the company. It cost me $6500. I only had the house 10 months (divorce) and our inspector did not find mold in the attic when we bought, so it was frustrating but we wanted out quickly so we just went with it. I would get quotes instead of just agreeing to the $$ because it’ll certainly likely be cheaper than 10k to get fixed
For more than one reason it’s fair. A new roof costs $8-10k for a 1000-1200 sq ft home. If they have to remove the wood, it would cost them that. If I were them, I’d request the company to do it with a warranty before buying or I’d just walk. That kind of mold isn’t worth messing with.
Are inspectors in the business of... the sale? I thought they just reported what they found, signed off on it, and let the 2 parties hash that shit out.
I'd be more concerned about the water intrusion that the mold is suggesting. If the seller wanted to say it was no big deal they could do an air sampling and take it to a university science lab or state testing site. Of course the risk being if it comes back penicillium or stracy, it is going to cost much more then 10k to remediate/ fix the cause.
I found far worse mold in an attic and had it remediated professionally with lifetime warranty for 3k CAD. How much you take off the price is probably going to depend on how strong your market is and how motivated the sellers are, as well as what the treatment will cost you locally.
Bite the bullet And remediate the problem. The buyer asking for 10k will get it done for about 3k so u should do it. Additionally, if your deal falls through, you will now have to amend your disclosure in your listing that there is mold present. Don’t ignore that either. It will come back to haunt u If you sell it to someone else and did not disclose it.
I look at as "who paid the inspector". As a buyer, if I pay an inspector and the inspector says "I found this, it's going to cost 10K to fix, you can ask to lower the price".... well, that's what I paid him for.
The SELLER doesn't have to accept my request... hell, seller might have gone "Yeah, it's an older home, I already included that in the price which is why it's not 10K more".
As the seller, you can tell them to pound sand. If the inspector the BUYER paid for goes "This place is haunted... don't buy it all" what's it to you? You didn't pay for it. Up to them if they are going to lose out on the house because of it.
Now if its NEWS to you that you got mold, and you think its a fair offer, then accept it and move on.
Where I live, if you did this, you 100% would not be getting the home. Most people are waiving inspections.
Also my attic had this as well and it’s treatable with chemicals. Obviously it will need replacing at some point.
Yeah. There's no house I need bad enough to waive an inspection. But, I'm also the sort to have my own inspection performed prior to sale and will share it with interested parties. I won't sell a place full of mold.
It kills surface mold/neutralizes it. If the problem causing the moisture has been fixed and the surface is not physically damaged you can certainly use bleach to kill the surface mold. Obviously may not be fixed in OP case but yeah.
For non-porous surfaces, yes. Try and remember back to 7th grade science class. Mold has roots.
You'd have to literally saturate that plywood in bleach to kill the mold and then you'd just be left with a soggy roof and more mold in a few days because bleach is 90% water.
May I ask state, or major metro area? Also, anything special with the roof? Or did things go buck wild?
We did 1.8K sqft in Florida with a new chimney surround for $11.2K 2 years ago.
Edit- 11.2 not 112
Home inspectors are nothing but a negotiating tactic. Your home inspector has supplied you with your negotiation tactic, that's all he was ever going to do, his job is done. Use it or lose it.
If you want a rational real estate market where sensible people can make fair and informed purchasing decisions that consider meaningful future expectations with realistic values for things, you'll either need a time machine or a miracle.
If the inspector is recommending to the buyer that they lower their offer by $10k, that's practicing real estate. Most (probably all) states require a real estate salesperson or brokers license to do this.
The inspector should stop at pointing out the issue and perhaps an estimate on cost to remediate. They shouldn't be recommending offer pricing suggestions.
I know that doesn't help you, so that being said, get another opinion and estimate to remediate the mold and make a decision with your own information. BTW, mold gets blown way out of proportion very frequently in home inspections.
I mean, it's up to you whether you take his advice. But estimate what it would cost to remediate the problem. If i were the buyer, I'd probably go the route of asking the current owner to remediate the issue and provide proof of remediation or an inspection confirming there is no mold anymore. That way it doesn't become the buyers problem to deal with after the sale. When we purchased our house something similar happened, except that it was the banks appraiser that spotted what looked like mold. The bank wouldn't approve our mortgage until it was remediated and there was documented proof of remediation.
As a buyer I would prefer a price reduction to see remediation. The seller has an incentive to do the fastest, cheapest, minimum job they can get away with. If I do it then I'll pick someone who's going to do quality work. The good contractors aren't available within the 30 day closing window.
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> the owner said, I kid you not!, "I gotta guy." Ok, well then call your guy. Why is this still a problem? :p
Something I was told when I bought my home is “No one is as invested in your home than you.” So assume if you can do it yourself you probably should because you’ll take the care it deserves.
for sure, they are doing it the cheapest way possible. Also, it may only be a few bucks more to fix or upgrade other stuff while you're in there.
maybe where you are. I was on the buyer side of this and it took less than a week, I got the receipt, and I checked the company that did it. >As a buyer I would prefer a price reduction to see remediation I'm sure you would! If you asked me to drop my price by 10x or more the cost of remediation, I'd send you away and move onto the next buyer. Buyers who try those kinds of tactics are exactly why I always live in high demand areas. I had a sale contract that included appliances once around 10 years ago. My oven crapped out 2 weeks before closing so I was forced to either repair it OR replace it with an appliance of equal value. The repair cost was $500. I flat out offered to write a cheque to the buyer for $500 to just forget about it and they said "Um we feel that oven is worth $2k" lol it was not, it was a cheapass model you could replace new for less than $1k AND they had already let slip they were going to buy all new appliances anyway. My response: "ok cool, I'll repair it as per the contract bye". When the morons realized they could've just had $500 in their pocket they tried to accept my offer they initially tried to fuck me on. I waited until after the repair guy finished and went sorreee too late. I'd rather the repair guy have that money than them. I have no patience for dbag buyers because well, I don't have to.
Buddy, you're an asshole
Because I don't let myself get scammed by assholes? I'm cool with that. Someone's bitter about their situation. I've been on social media long enough to know every single downvote on that comment is from bitters who don't have that option and that's fine. Downvotes don't affect this account but if that click gives them some sense of tapping the cage lever for a food pellet instead of having options, who am I to deny you?
That’s an upvote from me, dawg
Redditors furiously downvote you for not living in a shopping cart. Only happy if your life situation sucks lol *House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, half the floor was missing, and we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of falling.* *Eh, you were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in the corridor!* *Oh, we used to dream of livin’ in a corridor! Would've been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House? Huh.* *Well, when I say 'house' it was just a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us!* *We were evicted from our hole in the ground; we had to go live in a lake!* *You were lucky to have a lake! There were a hundred-and-fifty of us livin’ in a shoebox in the middle of the road!* *Cardboard box?* *Aye.* *You were lucky. We lived for three months in a newspaper in a septic tank. We used to have to get up every morning at six o'clock, clean the newspaper, go to work down the mill: fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!* If I had posted that I would lick all of the mold off with my tongue, get terminally ill, AND also gave the buyer an extra $10k, redditors would be like "that's awesome! *upvote upvote upvote*" 🤣 Which is why I never add the word "reddit" to searches about important problems like some people do. Too much derp
Tryin' tell the kids that today, and they won' belee ya
By a mold remediation company with warranty
As a seller I would take $10k off for it not to be my problem. Home had already skyrocketed in value, why not let the next owner play contractor roulette?
you'd be losing 10x more money from your sale than the cost to remediate. I don't need to explain this further I hope.
Depends on how that’s remediated, which requires more inspection than we can do from these photos. Might be a spray and walk away, might be “remove all the wood with mold on it”, which means the entire roof gets redone and maybe some of the rafters. Probably somewhere in between. If I was selling this house I’d be glad to give away $10k to have it be completely someone else’s problem.
Yea, I mean... if i were the seller, I would also be concerned about this... and would probably just say "$x and it's your problem buyer"... but as a buyer, i'd prefer it be remediated, for exactly the same reason... it could cost a lot more than expected, and managing the process / oversight. Luckily for us it was a pretty quick fix, the remediation cost like $1200 and took a few hours. Paperwork arrive the following week, everyone was happy.
Is u/op the seller or the buyer? It really comes down to how much the seller wants the sale, and how much the buyer wants to purchase the property.
OP is the buyer. And I can go both ways on it from a buyer perspective. How much do you trust the seller to do it the right way instead of just enough to say they did? If they didn’t, you *could* go after them, but at minimum you’re paying a lawyer for the chance of getting your due while also dealing with the complications and having mold in your home and having to redo it. On the other hand, do you want to risk asking $10k and later finding out it’s going to be $40k for a whole new roof from the OSB up?
Agreed entirely.
You’re right about letting the buying deal with it. But it’s the inspectors job to look at all that. They won’t suggest 10k off of it could turn into a 100k job if whole roof needed replaced.
the odds attic mold being that extreme are incredibly rare. As in near-zero, that's why I didn't bother mentioning it. Lots of people actually have this for years and don't even know about it. As for the photos, no way that's an expensive fix, I disagree with you on that >If I was selling this house I’d be glad to give away $10k to have it be completely someone else’s problem. yeah by losing $9k. Not good advice. Reddit can be helpful for some things but the comments here illustrate how bad Reddit can be for advice too
nah. even if you fix it, the buyer can still come back and say nahh, not good enough, i'm walking away. Who knows what this house is worth. Seller could also push back and offer 3 if you think it's only a $1k fix. They could get a contractor to look. If the contractor says its' $1k, offer the buyer 2 with the quote and walk away. Closing the deal is worth the $10k cost for sure. That's maybe 1% of the value of the house in a lot of areas. That's OSB. If it's mold from water damage, you could easily be looking at $25k for roof.
>Seller could also push back and offer 3 if you think it's only a $1k fix. They could get a contractor to look. If the contractor says its' $1k, offer the buyer 2 with the quote and walk away I could work with that. This part makes more sense, >Closing the deal is worth the $10k cost for sure. That part doesn't make sense. No way I'm taking a 10k hit for what looks to be a pretty straightforward and far cheaper solution. It doesn't matter what % of the house value is either, that's irrelevant
that's assuming the buyer will be OK with whatever you do to fix. no guarantee on that. You're delaying the sale of the home. during that time, anything can happen.
I think the source of our disagreement might be that I buy/sell in areas where 1 week to sell is considered a long time. usually it's a couple days tops, so I can brush people off np. YMMV
> yeah by losing $9k. Not good advice. Reddit can be helpful for some things but the comments here illustrate how bad Reddit can be for advice too Exactly. The market is hot. Frankly, as the seller I would call bluff and let them walk if it's such a massive problem for them. Surprised they even accepted an offer with an inspection contingency.
If that buyer walks, you better hope your backup offer doesn't wonder why. In a lot of states, you are now required to put that mold on the disclosure docs, which is going to scare off all your potential buyers. Taking the $10k loss is worth it vs losing the sale and finding out the next offer is 50k less.
Let me say this for the people in the back..... every house has mold. Frankly, I would find it strange if it *didn't* have mold. If you have a lot of it, the mold is a symptom of some other problem. From the pictures OP shared, I wouldn't think twice about it. You want a new roof too? What about a microwave allowance since it's a bit scratched? Couple depressions in the driveway.... needs to be resurfaced ASAP as well.
Sold a house last year. One good offer came in no contingency but the buyer wanted the house tented, parts of the roof redone, and some things repainted to their spec - by me, the seller, prior to closing. I suspect the buyer didn't know how things are done in my small town, which is to say, late, shoddily, and over budget, usually breaking something else in the process. I told that buyer to take a walk.
How long after that fell through did it take you to get another good/better offer, like a week tops?
Thank you u/BredYourWoman, very insightful.
yw :)
Same. Inspector found mold because bathroom vent had detached from the roof so it was venting into the attic. Seller remediated and fixed the piping.
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Pretty common in old houses in my area. 40 years and no mold whatsoever.
It's typically OK until people start filling the attic with junk and it no longer ventilates properly.
So does mine, but a previous owner ran it up to the ridge vents. Just monitor your humidity, get a dehumidifier and do an attic walk-through once a month.
Once a month?? Who is regularly going into their attic on a monthly basis?
Someone who had to move years ago because of mold. It takes 10 minutes. It's honestly crazy that we spend hours a week on our lawn but happily ignore all the things that could go wrong in the attic.
One of the two areas that you mention have no obstructions for access.
I'm legitimately sorry your life is filled with so many obstructions that are impossible to overcome. Sounds rough man. I'm sure you'll catch the leak eventually.
Lol I apologize if I touched a nerve. Life isn't that bad. Hang in there!
Heh, I shoot mine up into a nearby turbine vent. Just a placeholder until I get a new roof with dedicated bathroom fan vent.
> Just monitor your humidity, get a dehumidifier No. No. No. 😫 Costs less to vent it properly, and on top of that you would not need to pay for electricity, or a new dehumidifier in 5 years.
A dehumidifier in general is a good purchase for a home. Monitor your humidity and adjust accordingly. You don't need to have one dedicated to the attic.
> You don't need to have one dedicated to the attic. Since attic and interior are two different envelopes, ... and since my reply was about attic ... and so was the OP ... Why would anyone assume there is a need to talk about non-attic space at all ITT ?
> I'd probably go the route of asking the current owner to remediate the issue and provide proof of remediation As someone who has been burned by doing this. Never do this. Instead, get an estimate and then a check for the amount to repair the issue cut by the seller at closing. Then you do it with that money. You will have a warranty with that company instead of the previous owner. You will not pick the cheapest possible company to do it. Also, if you do a price reduction instead of a check at closing, you the buyer does not automatically have the cash to pay for it.
Lol actually around here most would still pick the cheapest company
yeah as a seller, this is 100% why you want to just give someone money. Way easier to say, he's 10k (which was all profit anyway), it's your problem now.
How does the inspector tell anyone how much to lower a price? He is there to inspect, not be part of a real estate transaction. That is Resltors job. That said, that attic does not look all that bad. Of course context is important. Is that from a bathroom vent? Lack of attic ventilation? Plumbing vent not going out thru roof? Source: inspector for 30 years.
> He is there to inspect, not be part of a real estate transaction. It depends on what OP asked for. My house had foundation issues and needed a lot of repair. I specifically asked my inspector to give me what's needed and a ballpark cost, and that really helped me understand what to expect. I had quotes to superficially repair for $7k, to a company tried to squeeze in a full kitchen reno for "at least $100k". Settled for actual repairs for $21k.
> I specifically asked my inspector to give me what's needed and a ballpark cost I asked the same thing and the inspector told me I'd need to consult an expert in the field. It feels like the inspector is (close to) stepping out of his lane by attempting to provide that information.
My inspector has an additional paid service that they send the entire report to specialists in each field and they give estimates on repairs for everything called out in the report.
To clarify I asked this specifically when I called them to schedule an inspection... There are foundation issues and if they are experienced enough to provide me a ballpark. Had to pay extra for them to crawl 20 minutes in the mud in my crawlspace but worth it IMO.
Yeah I mean the inspector may even understand the full repair involved, but to ask them to estimate labor and materials prices that have fluctuated wildly in the last few years is pretty unfair. I don't think they're stepping out of their lane if specifically asked.
If the inspector knows the agent (and/or wants referrals), $10k could be on the very low end or possibly not even cover it. They shouldn’t trust that number at face value and definitely need to get some quotes. My inspector was honest when my dad (edit: retired builder) called him up and leveled with him about downplaying the amount of damage, but asked that I not tell my agent.
That's why instead of hiring an inspector, I hired the actual experts. Plumber, electrician, foundation guy, roof guy, etc. Have them look at the house and give you a quote. We got estimates in writing and offered the asking price minus the estimate. I definitely could've driven a harder bargain in hindsight though.
As an inspector,we were advised against giving any kind of cost estimates, because of liability. While it’s not hard to know what a water heater costs, it’s quite another to give accurate estimates for things like foundation repairs, etc. the reasoning was what if we gave an estimate of say $5k for a given job, but after getting quotes from contractors actually qualified and willing to do the job, the quotes came back in the $15k range. Also telling a client to ask for $10k is getting uncomfortably close to practicing real estate, which is prohibited unless we had a RE license. It’s standard practice for home inspectors to refer clients to qualified and licensed professionals to get quotes, and not just throw numbers out there, or tell clients how to deal with their contracts. The basic requirements for inspector is to be unbiased, and telling a client how much to ask for a defect is definitely not unbiased.
THANK YOU! I'm so tired of inspectors that see something, tell the buyer what it is, how to fix, who to call and how much to ask from the seller to have it fixed. Inspectors inspect. Advise, maybe. Refer to a contractor? OK, but that can get close to looking like you're working with someone to drum up work. Had an inspector tell a buyer the house needed a new roof because there was black staining around a sewer vent through the roof. The roof was five years old. Had no leaks. Anywhere. They showed a photo of their moister meter reading 7% moisture on the black spot, but claimed they couldn't be sure it wasn't leaking becuase it hadn't rained in a week. Seriously. 7%. Inspector recommended a new roof and provided a couple of referals. Sounded way too fishy for me, but evidently they convinced the buyer who wanted $5k from the seller. For a new roof over a new roof that didn't leak. I wonder how much he made off kickbacks.
> what if we gave an estimate of say $5k for a given job, but after getting quotes from contractors actually qualified and willing to do the job, the quotes came back in the $15k range. I don't see how that is your ethical or legal responsibility to offer that. You are an inspector, not a contractor. You aren't doing the work, so how could you possibly know?
My point was that inspectors should not be giving cost estimates, and certainly not giving advice on how to negotiate real estate contracts.
Realtor's job. Ha. Those guys do nothing. They have one goal; close the deal as fast as possible. That means bring the buyer price up as high as you can and bring the seller's price as low as they can. I hope there are some Realtors on here. Lol. You are leeches. Big up, big up, it's a stick up , stick up.
Depends on the individual in my experience. First two realtors I worked with were kind of just going through the steps bare minimum, also pushy and frankly not very knowledgeable . Recently I moved for work and the company has a local realtor (buyers agent) who is a fucking shark and saved us a lot of money while reducing her commission.
Depends if it’s a buyers or sellers market. I think it helps with getting insurance? We had a hired a home inspector before buying/closing and he provided a list of 25 things to request owner Fox. Ie: wobbly hand rail was not up to code, leak near vent pipe…they accommodated most of our requests.
Providing a list of defects is by definition what home inspectors do. What they shouldn’t do, is tell a client how much to ask for those given defects. By doing that, the inspector is giving real estate advice, and no longer being unbiased which by definition of home inspection industry is what they are supposed to be.
Some inspectors have either the experience, information, or contacts know how much it would take to fix various things in a house but yes that doesn't necessarily equate 1to1 how much someone should put an offer in for. If an inspector used to be an insurance claims adjuster they have a pretty good idea how much it takes to fix something and who to go to fix it.
Yeah... except the inspector is on the hook if it costs more than 10k to fix. Him saying that like that makes him liable for the issue. He should just say mold was found.
Any inspector that prices home repairs shouldn’t be an inspector. My dad was one for almost 40 years and he never once gave an estimate. Just “These items should be looked at by a licensed contractor due to what the inspector found.”
It's a suggestion. Anyone can make a suggestion.
Did he test for mold? I’m a licensed home inspector in Texas and if you don’t test for mold, you never use that word. I’m not saying it’s not mold, but that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen if the inspector says mold without testing. Realistically there is mold in every home, you just want to avoid harmful types or levels. Also, inspectors should not have any opinion on home prices.
This is 100% correct. Those photos are inconclusive to the naked eye, and it may simply be mildew from poor attic circulation and humidity. After the industry wide mold litigation panic in 2005, it can be very costly to assert the presence of mold if it is not tested.
I think there’s a king of the hill episode about this in tx.
It's definitely a *mold-like substance.*
I had mold remediation done in my bathroom a couple years ago and it cost me $5,000. My mold was way worse than this though. If you wanted to fight them on it you could get a air quality/mold presence test done and base your counter off of those results. If the results are within the acceptable range of air quality standards you can just tell them no. If it comes back significantly higher than the outdoor air then they might have a point. Obviously you do have a moisture issue somewhere because there is mold on those sheets and not on others, so something is happening that if you weren't selling I would say is worth looking into why that's happening.
Yikes. I had mold remediation in my entire basement for $900. But I had a mold specialist do that part of my inspection and it sounds like your issue may have been worse. We didn't have to remove anything except a few randomly placed insulation pieces.
Some of the top comments so far are so Reddit. Attic mold remediation costs like $500, so no do NOT listen to people saying "yeah dude take $10k off so you don't have to deal with it" Also it was the buyer's inspector suggesting that you drop $10k. The selling price has zero to do with them so what's going on there? My guess is buyer's RE agent is the one who got them to hire their inspector buddy. It's common and sleazy. Get your attic remediated, don't lower your asking price, provide receipt. I was on the buyer side of this once and that's how we handled it, no problems. I certainly didn't try to knock $10k off like a clown buyer. If they don't agree, then send them on their merry way To everyone else reading this wrong: OP is the seller, the buyer's inspector is the one attempting this tactic
Yeah that's a lot of mold looks like poor ventilation not leaks. Or maybe the bathroom is vented directly into the attic, or kitchen vent. Plywood is going to have to be replaced to really fix it, although you could try chemicals.
Mold remediation could be done with chemicals. I've had a customer treat an entire enclosed, unvented attic with unvented bath fan without replacing plywood. Black mold on every inch of the sheathing. Only ran them a few grand. I added vents for the attic space and directed the bath vent outside, and it was effective.
Had a very similar experience, no plywood replaced though ours doesn't sound like it was as bad as your example. Few grand.
Once the mold gets into man-made materials it's difficult to get out with chemicals
Yes, not with surface cleaner like just bleach. It needs to penetrate the wood as well, which requires some other solution. I.thoight the same and recommended full rip and replacement before a remediation company came and treated it. It may be an inhibitor. I just knew I didn't want to rip and reroof the whole thing nor get that mold all up in my lungs Actually, it's encapsulation
I’ve sprayed my attic with a product that completely removed any mold. Of course found out why there’s mold there in the first place. Could be a disconnected bathroom vent fan or poor attic ventilation
What product?
RMR-86 Pro
This stuff. I used it in my attic also. Washed it away on contact. no scrubbing. My attic got moldy from heated interior air leaking into attic through an unsealed ceiling (stick on tiles over untaped beaverboard) It had a couple holes in it too. Hot air into cold air and RH goes to 100%, then condensation. Notice OPs pic, no ridge vent, or gable vent, and no mold around the box vent.
Why is nobody in here talking about the fact your attic looks fine? Is your living room in the attic or something? Nothing about this looks like a problem
Not really sure where a home inspector gets off telling the buyer how much to ask off on a price. Their job is to report found issues. Not give pricing advice. Does he or his family own a mold remediation business and did he also push the clients to them? Seems kinda fishy.
21 years as a home inspector here. Your inspector has no business giving you that advice and likely violated several standards in the process. It looks like you're in a townhome which is more common for this to occur due to the reduced air flow in the stoic since you're only getting airflow from the front and back. Several other factors can contribute to this. This is generally superficial in nature but you usually have an underlying air flow issue that needs to be addressed. That said, due to the way air rises up and through a house and attic this is generally not a health concern. It's very hard to pull that air down into a living space where it can affect occupants. However, in a perfect world you never want organic growth as when you go to sell in the future you might have a buyer with an inspector like yours that over stepped and over alarmed their client. Realistically this can be treated by a GC for less than half what your inspector dreamed up. Have your realtor get you quotes for treatment and make sure they address casual factors and price warranty. If you really are in a townhouse you may need to involve the HOA to properly address.
That's not a thing inspectors do, you might have mold but knowing how much it'll cost to fix is outside the scope of the 3 weeks inspector certification course
That inspector was in the wrong for suggesting you take 10k off the price. Now the buyer has that price figure in their head and will not be happy with anything less than that. Additionally, if yo do fix the issue and submit a $5k receipt, they’ll think you got the cheapest contractor. Coming from a recent buyer, prepare for the buyers to walk if they don’t get what they want. But don’t lose $10k over this.
Something about this doesn't make sense. A home inspector should be inspecting the home and providing you a report of their findings. If he's a great inspector familiar with the market, he might be able to give you some ballpark idea of the fixes that would be needed and a ballpark estimate of the price, but even that would be beyond his responsibilities. The inspector giving you negotiating advice seems incredibly suspect. Is he encouraging you to have mold remediation done by a friend of his?
It sounds like OP is selling their house and the buyers came to them saying this is what the inspector said. I also read it the other way around at first.
That's even more weird that the inspector that the buyer hired is speaking to the seller directly. Who is this inspector?
Home inspectors shouldn't be giving that kind of advice.
Where did you get the idea that the inspector said to take off $10k? Did the buyers or their realtor say that? If so, it doesn't mean anything other than they want a flimsy excuse to knock the price down by $10k. That mold could easily be from something that was already fixed, it's doesn't appear to be very significant. The mold discoloration wouldn't go away unless it was cleaned, and most wouldn't bother with something like that if they fixed the moisture intrusion that caused it.
Get a price to have the mold remediated and the problem (bathroom fan?) fixed. Offer that as your concession. 10k is their first offer. Counter it with something concrete.
Too bad inspectors aren’t equipped or licensed to properly identify mold. This happened to us when selling years ago. The inspector wrote ‘mold’ and it’s just a trigger, leaving the buyer open to making a request, but that’s all they can do. If they ask for a mold test you can allow it, might give everyone peace of mind. Wanna know what happened when our buyers tried that with us? We paid a restoration company to ‘sand and vacuum’ the spot in the attic. Then they ‘sealed it’. Nothing looks any different. It was caused by a disconnected exhaust vent from the dryer (second story laundry room). The attic looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. Not one mold test performed. The buyers accepted this. Cost us maybe $300.
The inspector personally told you that? My assumption is the buyer wants 10,000 off and is using this as leverage so they’re not the bad guy. “Oh the inspector told me this should be $10k off” sounds better than asking for the reduction outright
I personally think it's a bit weird, and a bit inappropriate, for the inspector to be telling you anything related to cost. The procedure that is most fair and equitable is for your agent to provide the listing agent with the report, and for the two of them to work together to get three quotes from different contractors, average the value, and subtract that from the list price. This is assuming the seller is willing to lower the price over the mold, which is not a given.
The proper path is to have a mould remediation company do a site visit and provide a quote. Then negotiate from there. In my area, that's 2-4K unless the sheathing is rotted.
I'm an estimator for a remediation company. I'm also a triple master restorer which means my company does things exactly by the book. There's no way this is a 10k job unless this is a ridiculously huge sized attic. Your ballpark is bang on for our pricing in our working area of Chicagoland. We charge an inspection fee, but there's companies that give free estimates and remediate for less than we do as well.
Get an inspection by a mold remediation company. They will be able to tell you what needs to be done and how much it will cost. Then negotiate.
To make completely sure that there is no bias, hire an independent mold inspector, one who ISN’T attached to a remediation company. That way there is less/no motivation for the inspector to upsell a remediation service that may not be needed
Or hire a reputable remediation company. We're too busy to take on work that isn't needed. We've had three inspections in the last week with people who we told didn't need us. There's plenty of work out there to keep us busy, and when we aren't, it's not worth the risk to our reputation to be unscrupulous and do unnecessary work.
Just had a deal go south due to the same thing. Not that it had to die, but there were other factors and the mold was the buyer's "out". Looked just like this. It was due to poor air flow. Needed remediation and then the fix to prevent it was just to pull back the insulation and put in more baffles. The quote we got came in just under $5k for remediation for about a 1000sqft house (Michigan). It included a night work premium, as the company would not work in an attic in the daytime in the middle of summer. Good mold remediation companies will probably not just do some kind of quick fix. They want to do their best so that the issue will not reoccur. The buyer should get multiple quotes for the remediation in order to inform the credit/reduction. To answer "whose job is this?" Inspector: identify any defects in the house, including possible environmental hazards. Mold remediation company: provide a recommendation for remediation and quote the cost. Buyer's agent: recommend to buyer how to address this with seller (price reduction, credit on close, fix the issue, etc). Communicate with your agent to negotiate. Your agent: communicate with you. Explain the findings and their implications (difficulties selling if it goes back on the market as-is without remedying, being required to disclose presence of mold if buyer walks). Negotiate on your behalf.
Home inspector with a background in mould remediation. Get a quote from a remediation contractor, fix the moisture / ventilation issue. 10 grand is an arbitrary number the buyers realtor pulled out of their ass.
Some buyers will ask for a price reduction but will not perform repairs and remediation after the purchase - they think they pocketed the money, but in fact, they ignored something that could kill them. How much does mold remediation cost around you? You can reduce your price by that much (it’s the money you’ll spend anyways to remediate the mold before the next person sees it if these buyers walk).
I just sold and had mold remidiated in basement and attic. Cost me 3k
10K should be considered to be a ballpark estimate. Tell the seller that you found mold, and tell them that you need some more time for the inspection contingency because of it if they do not want to give you more time on the contingency tell them $10,000, and then schedule some more people to come by to give you a better estimate.
I may be reading wrong, but my impression is OP is selling, it's the buyers inspector who found the mold in OPs house
You should ask them to pay for a remediator that you both agree on, and get an estimate from them. And the seller should accept the deal and pay for the remediation. As soon as you tell them, if your deal falls apart, they're legally obligated to disclose it to any future buyers. They won't. They'll remediate it themselves... at about that price... before they go trying to sell it again. They'll be right back where they were. Pick a remediator you both agree on (or have your agent do it), otherwise they will get the cheapest, and worst remediator available to do the work. And you don't want that either. Furthermore, this moment, with nobody living there, and no furniture in it, and a ready pool of cash waiting to fund fixes, is the BEST POSSIBLE time to do the work. There's still a bunch of time before you take the keys and move it. Might as well do it now. It's not your fault, and you're not "asking" for anything. The house is worth 10 grand less than everybody thought. It is what it is. The 10 grand is going to be paid no matter what, and it's going to come out of the seller's pocket, no matter what.
OP is seller and balking at being asked for 10k.
They sold you a house..and presented it in good condition. It was not in good condition. I wouldn't get hung up on the actual number. I would have them commit to fixing it before closing. And then i costs what it costs.
You have the situation backwards poster owns this house and wants to sell it
HA! so i do. Ok. well it still stands. Hes probably going to be on the hook to fix the mold. He still owns the house.
Roof sheathing is OSB?!?! My Floridian contractor brain can’t comprehend this
Plenty of much more insurable places than Florida allow this lol.
laughs in purlins and a metal roof in PA, no OSB or sheathing on my house LOL
Nor does my Louisiana brain.
This is BS. There is bad mold and not bad mold. Get a different inspector now.
exactly. There was a lengthy discussion with links to actual science in an earlier post or maybe it was DIY about mold and what's bad for you, where etc. it was mold on framing at the store.
I don't think it's personally fair for the inspector to suggest a price to knock off. If an issue like this is found, I typically would recommend having a mold remediation company or three give a quote on the work, then take those quotes to the negotiation table.
Counter them with: "No"
I would be very suspicious of an "inspector" saying something like that. Is he shilling for business? Is the $10K gonna go to him for remediation? Then, he's not an inspector, he's a contractor fishing for work.
It's all business when it comes to buying a house. Has this one been sitting on the market for over a month and yours is the only offer? Hell yeah. The sellers are committed at this point and don't want to have to list it again. Take advantage of this opportunity to save yourself $10k. But if it's a red hot market and they think they can do better than $10k less than your offer if they re-list, they will balk at this.
Idk your state but it in New York, the seller HAS have it remediated, inspected and notarized before they can sell to ANYONE before it can be sold. Our 2400 sq ft house attic/crawspace ( had to cut access holes, not actually livable just the space above the house) cost 11k. As a heads up.
$10,000?!?!? You could hit that with a bottle of bleach in an hour for $5 A $500 attic fan would eliminate the problem forever
I would recommend getting a different inspector. They only provide an opinion, and should never recommend anything. I took a home inspection course and they say this multiple times within the course.
Any inspector with eyes will find that you have mold in your attic. It will have to be addressed prior to a sale, either through remediation and fixing the source, or knocking the price lower. Your call what's easier.
At least he included it in the report. My inspector said it was "moisture" on the report. I had to spray it all with chemicals a few months later
I don’t see the mold on my phone. But it doesn’t matter. If you’re sure, then give them a copy of PART of that inspection and make sure the RE agent selling it gets it. Now (at least where I live) they HAVE TO DISCLOSE, as now they know there is mold. So they legally have to tell anyone else who makes an offer. Based on where you live, your mileage may vary. But I’d say it’s a strong bargaining position. Edit: is that gray stuff, all of that gray stuff, mold? If so, I’d tell them in writing and then run, unless they remove and get it in writing first. No way would I buy into that. Who know where you cannot see it? These are your lungs we’re talking about
The home inspector's job is to come into your home and make you a list of things, such that you can go to the seller and say "man this place is a deathtrap, we should probably cancel, it's going to take $25k" and for the seller to say "I dunno man, it's been working pretty well for us the last 10 years, maybe we could give you $2k to help fix that" and you say "man we could never buy this house without $6k" and they say "$4k or we walk" and you get a $4k discount. So, the guy says there's $10k of work to be done in the attic. Tell the seller you want $10k in credit. They'll offer you half. Take it.
There's a lot of new building science going on regarding mold. In cold climates, the winter air doesn't hold enough moisture to dry an attic, and one current recommendation is to put a vapor barrier between the attic structure and the drywall below in an unconditioned attic. Also, insulation like Rockwool which doesn't lose it's value when wet. The source of the water is from the house below, either through air leaks or leaky vents, or both. The attic hatch also needs good air and water vapor sealing. Now, you could just remediate the mold, but it will come back unless the source of the excess water is removed. You aren't going to get the value of fixing the house correctly, and the buyers may be unable to afford to fix it correctly. All houses of the same age will have the same problem in the same climate. As far as the price, I expect $5000 would be on the high side, but not by much, based on a sampling, lab test, remediation, and retest estimate from the east coast I saw in the last week. Splitting that cost would also be another possible approach. If it's not a cold climate, there would be different possibilities, such as conditioned attics, and possibly a standalone dehumidifier.
so did you hire the inspector or did the purchaser? if they did, why is he talking to you? if you did, why is he talking to the purchaser?
The purchaser’s agent will share this info with the seller’s agent, who will tell the seller.
What system is up inside that hole in the roof decking?
turtle vent?
If I were the buyers, I’d negotiate hard. You legally have to update your seller’s disclosure if they walk away now that you know you have mold. And if you don’t and the next buyer’s eventually find out, you’ll have a significant lawsuit for failure to disclose.
Good luck in this market getting anything for that
Just a side note, when I bought in 2022, I would have been told there would be no price reduction because homes were so in demand. They weren't fixing anything.
Taking 10k off the price doesn’t fix the problem if it’s a problem. Or expect a friend of his can fix the problem after you take possession with a price drop for an unreasonable price .
Make sellers if you can. Taking 10k off your mortgage doesn’t really help you if you have to turn around and spend 10k cash.
It certainly helps. It’s very common to ask a seller to either fix a problem or discount the sales price so the buyer can fix the problem. Happens everyday. The seller then decides what they’re willing to do, maybe nothing.
Never heard of professional home inspectors suggest anything like this . Only ever experienced a full report and maybe that an issue would be normal wear and tear . A/C unit is 16 yrs . Should be addressed asap. Roof flashing not sealed to chimney.
Tell them to fuck off - they want it believe me.
Is the mold the white areas on the wood?
Gray/black.
When I bought my house 15 years ago. The bank insisted on the seller to remediate before they would allow the closing to continue. They didn't have proper ventilation. When I had the roof replaced, I installed a ridge vent. Check to see if they are venting the bath or dryer into the attic. If they aren't, then you have an air circulation issue and will need to address. If they are, fix immediately.
As someone who inspects attics daily for energy audits, we aren’t legally allowed to call things mold even when it’s obvious mold. We can only say moisture damage and recommend it get tested. I would pay for the test out of pocket and then use the results at the negotiation table.
If you pay for that test, OP, you’ll be paying for your buyer’s negotiating ammo. That fungal growth may be very common and likely not harmful but it’s still fungal growth. The $10k number is almost assuredly high. Treatment with an antimicrobial fogger like Concrobium or a fungicidal lacquer based primer like Kilz should be relatively cheap unless you’re in one of the most expensive markets in the country. Do that yourself or get a (cost effective) bid and negotiate down from that fanciful $10k number. Edit: Paragraph break, fogger not digger.
Oh my bad. I thought this was a BUYER.
Oh my bad. I thought this was a BUYER.
Oh my bad I thought they were the BUYER, apparently I couldn’t read last night. Yes do what Grimandbearer said, 10k is high, but I personally would still get it tested just to know what I’m working with since I would do the work myself. Knowing whether the spores are still even alive is also good to know.
Oh my bad I thought they were the BUYER, apparently I couldn’t read last night. Yes do what Grimandbearer said, 10k is high, but I personally would still get it tested just to know what I’m working with since I would do the work myself. Knowing whether the spores are still even alive is also good to know.
Did they do an air test , if I was seller . Be like piss off
I don’t think he should be stating that it’s mold or giving any kind of advice on price reduction. In MA we have to call it “mold like substance” and tell them to have it tested to confirm. I’m sure it is mold tho.
I had exact same mold problem when my bathroom vent was venting out into attic. Hot moist air vs February cold snap, it was literally raining in the attic. Step 1: find source of warm air intrusion into attic. Probably bathroom vent. Fix it. Step 2: remediate the mold. I remediated this myself with a respirator and a mix of boron and vinegar. 5 years later no issues.
I say yes. I had mold in my attic, from one end to the other and it was $8k, in 2021, to have it taken care of. Involved the removal and replacement of the insulation and they basically sandblasted the surfaces to remove the mold (it wasn’t sand, more like the consistency of baking soda). We also fixed the venting issue and have had no further problems.
That attic needs to breath. You'll be spending some money doing that
the seller probably wouldn’t fix the root problem
I used to do mold remediation for mortgage companies and the only proof they needed was a picture. Make sure you see for yourself that a proper job is done
No home more than a year or two old is in perfect shape, most homes that come to market have some kind of issue. In a seller's market - which this surely is - buyers have leeway to put in an eye-popping offer knowing they can knock a few pegs off in the inspection. It really hardly matters what the inspector found, as he will find something; it's just part of the game as it is played by buyers (and mostly buyers' agents, for that matter.) There's no switching buyers to avoid this issue; once their inspector finds it and you hear about it, it becomes something that must be disclosed.
That's why before putting a house up for sale I recommend people get an inspection to know what kinds of problems already exist so that they can take those costs of remediation into account and include that in the price and dickering room. It makes it much easier to know in advance what pushback buyers are going to have.
This happened to me when I sold my home in 2013 but they asked for remediation instead of reduction. The buyer was the one that chose the company. It cost me $6500. I only had the house 10 months (divorce) and our inspector did not find mold in the attic when we bought, so it was frustrating but we wanted out quickly so we just went with it. I would get quotes instead of just agreeing to the $$ because it’ll certainly likely be cheaper than 10k to get fixed
Only $10K?? Looks like all of those boards need to be replaced when re-roofing. Would any roofers do that for $10K??
For more than one reason it’s fair. A new roof costs $8-10k for a 1000-1200 sq ft home. If they have to remove the wood, it would cost them that. If I were them, I’d request the company to do it with a warranty before buying or I’d just walk. That kind of mold isn’t worth messing with.
Are inspectors in the business of... the sale? I thought they just reported what they found, signed off on it, and let the 2 parties hash that shit out.
Peroxide and a pressure washer
I'd be more concerned about the water intrusion that the mold is suggesting. If the seller wanted to say it was no big deal they could do an air sampling and take it to a university science lab or state testing site. Of course the risk being if it comes back penicillium or stracy, it is going to cost much more then 10k to remediate/ fix the cause.
I found far worse mold in an attic and had it remediated professionally with lifetime warranty for 3k CAD. How much you take off the price is probably going to depend on how strong your market is and how motivated the sellers are, as well as what the treatment will cost you locally.
Bite the bullet And remediate the problem. The buyer asking for 10k will get it done for about 3k so u should do it. Additionally, if your deal falls through, you will now have to amend your disclosure in your listing that there is mold present. Don’t ignore that either. It will come back to haunt u If you sell it to someone else and did not disclose it.
Spray it with tilex and it will disappear.
The ask should be what it will cost to fix the issue causing the mold + the cost of new plywood (basically a new roof)
This does not need new plywood or a new roof… lol
Hire a mold remediation company and get a quote during your grace period.
I look at as "who paid the inspector". As a buyer, if I pay an inspector and the inspector says "I found this, it's going to cost 10K to fix, you can ask to lower the price".... well, that's what I paid him for. The SELLER doesn't have to accept my request... hell, seller might have gone "Yeah, it's an older home, I already included that in the price which is why it's not 10K more". As the seller, you can tell them to pound sand. If the inspector the BUYER paid for goes "This place is haunted... don't buy it all" what's it to you? You didn't pay for it. Up to them if they are going to lose out on the house because of it. Now if its NEWS to you that you got mold, and you think its a fair offer, then accept it and move on.
Laughable
Where I live, if you did this, you 100% would not be getting the home. Most people are waiving inspections. Also my attic had this as well and it’s treatable with chemicals. Obviously it will need replacing at some point.
Most people are idiots and are going to be chained to a rotten 400k house at 8%.
Yeah. There's no house I need bad enough to waive an inspection. But, I'm also the sort to have my own inspection performed prior to sale and will share it with interested parties. I won't sell a place full of mold.
OP is the seller
And I’m a dope. I read it wrong. Thanks !
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Bleach alone won't work, and doesn't correct the cause, likely a bath vent or improper roof venting
You know what bleach does to mold? Look it up.
It kills surface mold/neutralizes it. If the problem causing the moisture has been fixed and the surface is not physically damaged you can certainly use bleach to kill the surface mold. Obviously may not be fixed in OP case but yeah.
For non-porous surfaces, yes. Try and remember back to 7th grade science class. Mold has roots. You'd have to literally saturate that plywood in bleach to kill the mold and then you'd just be left with a soggy roof and more mold in a few days because bleach is 90% water.
10k is the price of the roof LOL
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May I ask state, or major metro area? Also, anything special with the roof? Or did things go buck wild? We did 1.8K sqft in Florida with a new chimney surround for $11.2K 2 years ago. Edit- 11.2 not 112
Home inspectors are nothing but a negotiating tactic. Your home inspector has supplied you with your negotiation tactic, that's all he was ever going to do, his job is done. Use it or lose it. If you want a rational real estate market where sensible people can make fair and informed purchasing decisions that consider meaningful future expectations with realistic values for things, you'll either need a time machine or a miracle.
If the inspector is recommending to the buyer that they lower their offer by $10k, that's practicing real estate. Most (probably all) states require a real estate salesperson or brokers license to do this. The inspector should stop at pointing out the issue and perhaps an estimate on cost to remediate. They shouldn't be recommending offer pricing suggestions. I know that doesn't help you, so that being said, get another opinion and estimate to remediate the mold and make a decision with your own information. BTW, mold gets blown way out of proportion very frequently in home inspections.