Can you sell a house with asbestos in Florida? Yes. It is completely legal to sell a home containing asbestos in FL. Under Florida law, you must provide an asbestos disclosure if you are actually aware of its presence, but you are not legally required to test for it or remove it prior to a sale. Instead of paying thousands for professional abatement, the easiest way to bypass the problem is to sell the property “as-is” to a cash buyer like The Best Cash Home Buyer in Tampa.
I was inside the home of a client whose father had passed about three months ago at that point. He was the eldest of the three and was just given the legal go-ahead to sell the house. Thankfully, the siblings were all on board with the idea. Just as he was about ready to put some work in, he called me by complete accident assuming I was a real estate agent. He wanted to ask me questions on what was the best way to improve the value of an old 1950s style home.
I reassured him that while I wasn’t a real estate agent per se, I could buy the home from him if he wanted to without going through the traditional channels. That caught his attention. I took a look at the house. For something that was close to 70 years old, it didn’t look like it was in bad shape. When he walked me through the place, we saw the attic and it was filled with lots of things. Then I saw the insulation and told him that it contained asbestos. He was shocked to learn about that. “Can you sell a house with asbestos in Florida,” he asked me. I told him yes.
At Best Cash Homebuyer, we don’t want you to take risks into your own hands such as exposing yourself to asbestos when you want to redo the house before selling it. Especially when you don’t have the proper equipment and know-how. Not to mention, we actually wouldn’t want you to renovate the home before a sale period. We can buy the house as-is in as little as 7 days with a cash offer in Tampa that is fair for you.
I have seen plenty of homes in the Tampa Bay area that were built before the 1980s. There in places like Seminole Heights, St. Petersburg, and Ybor City. If your home was built before that time period, odds are that asbestos could be present. Here are some of the things that I see often in such homes:
When I told the client in Tampa about this, he had one more question: “how do you know for sure there is asbestos”. I told him that while it can’t be confirmed just by looking at it, it can be lab tested. But I remember seeing that exact insulation once before and I knew it contained asbestos. Still, don’t take my word for it. I can handle the confirmation process myself after we buy the house. One more thing, don’t take matters into your own hands and have it tested even. I’ll explain this right now.
The State of Florida has strict disclosure laws about asbestos when selling house. From what I know, the law in plain English is as follows:
That last point is very important. You don’t need to take matters into your own hands and have it tested. You probably didn’t know asbestos was present to begin with so you didn’t violate this law. Having said this, you can still sell the home to my team and I since we buy your house in St. Petersburg at a fair cash offer. From there, we test for asbestos because we intend to make sure that the home is safe for the next buyer.
Now, if you were to go the traditional route you would need to disclose if asbestos is present or might be present (assuming you haven’t had it tested). Testing it and never doing so will make the difference between a done deal and a dead one. Believe me, I’ve heard countless stories of such things happening.
I can tell you from what I’ve learned from traditional homesellers that inspectors may seem like they do everything thoroughly and by the book. But here’s what I know about home inspectors and what they actually do:
Nonetheless, you’re stuck in this predicament that many homesellers experience by selling through traditional means. Why go through the frustrations and headaches of a buyer that demands a lot when you can sell as-is in Clearwater to The Best Cash Homebuyer. This way, we do our part to make sure the concerning materials are tested or removed accordingly and safely.
One homeseller lost a deal because of a buyer being on high alert about concerning materials. To the point where the home sat there on the market for another three months before we finally took it off their hands. They did get a fair cash deal despite the fact they were shelling out who knows how much in holding costs.
I have asked many times to homesellers about asbestos abatement before they sold their home. Even some members of my team have recoiled in disgust over how much a homeowner spends on real estate abatement. How much are we talking about exactly? Let me break down the numbers for you:
All right, so that’s just the abatement expenses alone. I didn’t forget the additional figures that come with the traditional sale. Which happens to be:
I’m not finished yet. There are more numbers to go over. Now, suppose the house was $400,000. Then you have this:
All told, you just lost $50,000 before you even walked away. You’re not increasing your profit, you’re decreasing your net despite those tax benefits in Florida for home improvements. I have said this like a mantra to many home sellers. To the point where they thought for a moment and said, “yeah, you are absolutely right. Let’s make a deal right now.” Some things I say never fail to get someone to say those words.
Now here’s where things get a lot easier. My team and I at The Best Cash Homebuyer will look at the house with asbestos. Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to fix it. So the process works like this:
No. You can still legally sell a real estate property that does contain asbestos. However, the legality lies in the compliance with the state disclosure laws especially when it’s in regards to known defects and the presence of “concerning materials”.
No. If the material is intact and undisturbed, you can leave it alone as it is the safer option. Even the EPA says something like this. Nonetheless, selling it to an as-is buyer will be the best option without touching the asbestos or doing any work.
Again, this depends on whether you followed the disclosure laws and actively didn’t hide any known facts from the buyer. If I were you, I’d disclose the possibility of asbestos anyway even if you were to sell it as-is to us.
If you are looking to sell a home that was built before the 1980s, it could contain asbestos. But you won’t know for sure without testing. You don’t need to go through all that trouble. Simply sell the house as-is to The Best Cash Homebuyer and we’ll take care of everything. All you need to do now is schedule a 15 minute property discovery and we’ll be there to check out the property. Contact us today to set one up fast.
