As you drive around Appleton or any of the surrounding communities you can see countless houses with the slate/asbestos siding still on them. It was popular to use back in the early 1900’s as there was no research at them time that deemed asbestos harmful to humans. But, nowadays there is much more research done & government agencies in business because the asbestos containing material.
So how do you t sell a house that is covered in the asbestos siding? I will go over each option in detail down below. If you have questions on anything that is written in this article feel free to reach out to us at 920-215-4201
Asbestos Containing Material
Like I had mentioned above, back in the day asbestos was used in a lot of the material used to construct houses. Some examples are the duct wrap you see on old furnaces, the blown in insulation in old attic spaces, the diamond shape roofing shingles, & then the old style slate/asbestos siding. So, if you think just by replacing your siding you will be covered, please do your research!
Asbestos Siding
Asbestos siding can be tricky to replace. Really, your options are to either have it completely torn off (needs to be done by certified professional), or to go over the top of it. There really isn’t an easy option when you are dealing with this so I will go into detail on how both will turn out.
Complete Tear Off – If you tear off all the asbestos siding & it is completed by a professional you will need to have the entire house encapsulated. What I mean by this is you will basically have a huge plastic bubble going around your home to make sure none of the asbestos gets into the air & harms your neighbors. As you might expect this can become extremely costly. To tear off the siding you are just looking at roughly a $5,000-9,000 bill. That doesn’t even cover any of the cost of the new siding.
Go Over the Top – By going over the top of the old asbestos-slate siding you will definitely damage it in the process. The tiles are already brittle, so when you begin messing with them they will start to crack & break causing more of an issue. I would highly recommend having a contractor who has done something like this before, because they will still need to abide by all of the asbestos remediation laws in place.
If you’re thinking to yourself “I am just going to save money and do it all myself.” That is a great idea, until something like this happens. You have a neighbor who calls the city inspectors because they see what you’re doing. The neighbor knows the siding contains asbestos & they are worried. Now, because you didn’t take the precautionary measures, you will be facing a fine from the Code Department for not pulling a permit or properly removing it. Then you will be forced to stop the project immediately. And chances are if you have been throwing it into a normal dumpster you will be charged another fine for needing to dispose of the material in a special waste facility. So, the money you thought you were going to save ends up costing you 3-4x the normal amount. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN
How to Properly Sell The House
If the siding is in alright condition then you might be fine when selling it. The main thing that you need to take into consideration is that most Government funded loans will not lend on a property with asbestos siding (FHA, VA, USDA, WHEDA). This is because they do not want the liability of it. This leaves the potential home owner with the only possibility of selling to a conventional mortgage buyer or a real estate investor.
When I describe “alright condition” above I mean the siding is not cracking or chipped in any areas & there is no pealing paint. The siding has to pretty much be in great condition in order for there to be no issues in the home inspection or appraisal process.
If the siding is falling apart or has a lot of pealing paint you can do the following options:
- Paint the Siding & Replace any broken pieces (Most cost effective)
- Replace all of the siding (Fairly Expensive)
One Final Option…
If you are thinking to yourself, “I don’t want to worry about any of this stuff, I just want to sell the house as-is.” Then a company like ours might be the best option. We purchase properties as-is for cash so you never have to worry about bank financing. We won’t do any testing or inspections because we are experienced house buyers & know what we are getting into. If you want to receive a cash offer for your property fill out the form below or call us at 920-215-4201.