Almost every week at our brokerage office we have a speaker that helps to keep us on top of trends in the real estate industry. This week's topic was "Asbestos in Calgary area homes." Specifically, what asbestos is, what types of homes will we find it in and what should buyers and sellers do about it. Today's speaker was the CEO of Western Asbestos Removal Inc. He is definitely a subject matter expert, but it was a bit of a sales pitch just the same.

Here is the Asbestos Problem: 

• Asbestos is fibrous mineral, that if inhaled can cause life threatening lung diseases.
• Until banned, asbestos was used in more than 2,000 building materials.
• Homes built before 1990 possibly contain asbestos materials somewhere.
• Homes built before 1980 almost always contain asbestos materials somewhere.
• Homes renovated in the 1990s possibly contain asbestos containing materials in the home since suppliers were allowed to use up their existing stock of building products eventhough asbestos itself was banned...