FLINT -- Housing prices are at all-time low, as are interest rates on home loans, but if you don't do your homework you could find yourself digging out of a money pit.
Single mother Kim Daniello thought she found the perfect house when she purchased a home in Flint last February.
"I thought this was my dream home. It's a ranch style house perfect for me and my daughter," said Kim.
Kim says the home had new carpeting and hardwood floors. It also had a newly renovated kitchen and a finished basement.
The home turned out to be a nightmare for Kim and her daughter.
"Two weeks after moving in we started having sinus headaches, sinus coughs and we weren't able to breathe."
Kim figured out what was making them sick when she noticed some leaking in her basement. She says she pulled up the rug and found mold.
She searched the rest of the home and found more mold.
"We pulled the brand new hardwood floors that Triple Lee Properties put in. It was all wet and moldy and you can see he put the floor right over the top cover just like the molding he put up on the walls."
Kim says there was so much mold in the home that her and her daughter had to sleep in a tent in her backyard for two months while her brother helped her gut the home.
Kim blames Triple Lee Properties owner Gary Miller, She says he flipped the home and sold it to her and says he never mentioned the home had flooding until after she bought the house.
"He came out twice and kind of admitted to the water in the basement but he doesn't believe the water leaks caused the mold problem in the house."
Miller did not return our calls but Flint Area Association of Realtors President Pat Coates says Kim has to take some of the responsibility.
"Within the purchase agreement it's spelled out clearly.it's highly recommended that you have an inspection."
Coates says there are eight sections in the purchase agreement recommending an inspection and there is also a section that buyer must sign where they waive an inspection. He says the mold would have been found in an inspection.
"I kind of ran out of money at the last minute because I put my inspection money on another house but a few of us walked through and it looked pretty good," said Kim.
Coates is not associated with anyone in this case but says it's likely Miller may not have known about the mold since it was a foreclosed home. He says the history of home is not usually available if it's a foreclosure.
Kim says the that may be true but believes the home had flooding while Miller owned it. She says neighbors told her they remember seeing him trying to clean it up.
Kim says she's learned a very expensive lesson but believes Miller is still at fault. She is looking for an attorney.
We spoke to Miller's wife at his home and says her husband does not want to comment but told me he has flipped several homes and has never had any complaints before.
