Real Estate Elevated Answers: What Do You Do When You Find Asbestos in a Flip?
If you’ve watched our HGTV series “Flip or Flop,” you’ve witnessed the various issues we’ve had to deal with in our home renovations. These issues range from disgusting to extremely dangerous. Once, we had a bathroom covered in black mold, which required us to evacuate and wait for the mold guys to come seal off the area. This is a worst-case situation, similar to that of finding asbestos in a home.
Luckily, newer homes don’t have the risk of asbestos since they follow updated building codes and EPA rulings. Older homes do have this risk, but they’re also an incredible opportunity to make a great profit. So how do you deal with finding asbestos in a flip?
Bring in a Professional
Asbestos is a serious issue known to cause lung cancer and a lot of other health problems. Don’t try to deal with it yourself — contact with asbestos can be very dangerous. It’s well worth forking out the money to have a professional come deal with the problem.
Isolate the Area
If you find asbestos in the house, you want to take all precautionary measures to make sure it isn’t all over the house. You may be able to isolate the area with the help of a professional. But if the experts say you’ll need to shut down work in the whole house, just do as they say.
Do Your Research
Even after you’ve brought in an asbestos expert, you may need to do more research to protect you and your team. If the asbestos removal needs to be done outside the home, you may even be endangering neighbors and need to give them warning. Check out the guide from the Department of Health to learn everything you need to know about handling asbestos materials. You’ll get a good understanding of how to keep you and your team protected in any given circumstance.
Take a Break
It’s always ideal to get a house flip done as quickly as possible, but that doesn’t mean you should carry on at all costs. If it’s not an option to keep working without risking asbestos exposure and compromising the health of you and your team, it’s best to take some time off. Yes, it’s a major pain to have to stop your renovations, but it’s ultimately the right choice.
You can use this downtime to send your contractors to other renovation projects you may have in the works. If this is your only current project, use the downtime to research other house flipping options and gather potential leads. Rather than sit back and feel defeated, it’s important to maximize your downtime and make the most of the situation. House flipping may be a time-sensitive industry, but you’ll also need to be able to roll with the punches if you’re really going to have success in the real estate investment world.
Learn More From Real Estate Elevated
To avoid asbestos problems altogether, try to find a contractor familiar with the issue and take them on a walk-through of the home before you invest. The more you know upfront, the better your house flipping experience will be.
If you’re looking for more real estate investment tips, check out our blog or attend one of our Tarek & Christina Seminars. Real Estate Elevated hosts events all over the country and helps real estate investors take their business to the next level!
