Record-setting Golden Beach home has history of mold

A custom-built oceanfront home in Golden Beach recently set a record as the most expensive property ever sold in the town when buyers paid $22.5 million for the 15,592-square-foot mansion. However, unbeknownst to the buyers, the home was until recently afflicted with mold, according to the Daily Business Review.

California entrepreneur Ronald Tutor purchased the home at 317 Ocean Boulevard late last month for $1,443 per square foot. For that substantial sum, Tutor received six bedrooms, a 38,850-square-foot lot, seven bathrooms, a gym, swimming pool and guesthouse.

The sellers were Joel and Marcia Hochberg, who bought the lot for $2.4 million in June 1998. The couple then built what they thought would be their dream home.

But court documents show that at the time the Hochbergs were dissatisfied with their contractor, claiming that the house was shoddily built and uninhabitable.

The Hochbergs claimed they were “unable to spend even one night because an overwhelming smell of mold in the home triggered a severe reaction in Mrs. Hochberg.”

The Hochbergs also alleged that their new home had cracked walls, drafty doors, leaky windows, poorly cut marble and peeling stucco.

However, in the recent sale the extent of the home’s repair history was not discussed, said the buyer’s broker, Diane Lieberman of Miami Beach-based South Beach International Realty.

In Florida, sellers and their agents must disclose facts and conditions about real estate that could affect its value or desirability, according to the newspaper. [Daily Business Review] – Christopher Cameron