Selling house, have a foundation question...

[ThelmaLou]

About 3 years ago, we had a foundation repair (13 piers) and an installment of a French drain. There were some cracks at the time (tile and walls), and those still remain.

 

We're getting our house ready to put on the market, so we're going to do fresh paint throughout, new carpet, and new tile. (Expensive, I know!)

 

My question is this: While walking through the house with prospective painters and tile guys, we noticed some cracks that we *think* weren't there several years ago. One in particular is in the ceiling, and another goes across 3 tiles in the laundry room. Yet another is in some tile by our master b-room. The ones in the tile are very hairline, but still concrn us. None of these (maybe) new cracks are in the area where the piers were installed, so these areas of the house wouldn't be under warranty.

 

Realtors have told us to wait for an inspection by a structural engineer until toward the end of the selling process.

 

Here's our dilemma. What if we get new tile, paint, etc...then find out we do indeed have a foundation problem. We have to pay to fix the foundation at that point, and the new paint and tile will likely crack during the repair and subsequent settling. So then we have to do it all over again in order to sell. Ughhh!!!

 

We don't want to invite trouble by having an engineer out too soon, but we don't want to stick our heads in the sand, either. What would you do?

[Tammy]

I would definitely get the structural engineer out right away.

[CalicoKat]

About 3 years ago, we had a foundation repair (13 piers) and an installment of a French drain. There were some cracks at the time (tile and walls), and those still remain.

 

We're getting our house ready to put on the market, so we're going to do fresh paint throughout, new carpet, and new tile. (Expensive, I know!)

 

My question is this: While walking through the house with prospective painters and tile guys, we noticed some cracks that we *think* weren't there several years ago. One in particular is in the ceiling, and another goes across 3 tiles in the laundry room. Yet another is in some tile by our master b-room. The ones in the tile are very hairline, but still concrn us. None of these (maybe) new cracks are in the area where the piers were installed, so these areas of the house wouldn't be under warranty.

 

Realtors have told us to wait for an inspection by a structural engineer until toward the end of the selling process.

 

Here's our dilemma. What if we get new tile, paint, etc...then find out we do indeed have a foundation problem. We have to pay to fix the foundation at that point, and the new paint and tile will likely crack during the repair and subsequent settling. So then we have to do it all over again in order to sell. Ughhh!!!

 

We don't want to invite trouble by having an engineer out too soon, but we don't want to stick our heads in the sand, either. What would you do?

Follow your realtor's advice. We sold our home last year and during the first offer their inspector discovered a foundation crack and a 1" dip in the upstairs floor. We were mortified! That offer fell through and our realtor advised against the structural engineer because if we did that then we'd be obligated to state in the listing a defect. This would potentially end the sellf process as no one would even come to see exactly what was involved. In our case, it was just a matter of getting the foundation crack sealed, $200. And the buyers who did buy it knew of it but as the house was 35 yrs old knew it wasn't that the house was falling down but it was part of the charm....

 

If we would have had another offer fall through then our realtor was advising us to take the house off the market, get a structural engineer and fix the problem, then relist. Then we wouldn't have had to "declare" that there'd been a problem at all.

 

My $0.02.

[ThelmaLou]

Follow your realtor's advice. We sold our home last year and during the first offer their inspector discovered a foundation crack and a 1" dip in the upstairs floor. We were mortified! That offer fell through and our realtor advised against the structural engineer because if we did that then we'd be obligated to state in the listing a defect. This would potentially end the sellf process as no one would even come to see exactly what was involved. In our case, it was just a matter of getting the foundation crack sealed, $200. And the buyers who did buy it knew of it but as the house was 35 yrs old knew it wasn't that the house was falling down but it was part of the charm....

 

If we would have had another offer fall through then our realtor was advising us to take the house off the market, get a structural engineer and fix the problem, then relist. Then we wouldn't have had to "declare" that there'd been a problem at all.

 

My $0.02.

 

Well, we will already have to disclose the report from 3 years ago. Also, I've heard in TX that if you've had foundation issues and had them fixed, that's actually a bonus as long as you have a warranty.

 

I guess our thought is this: If there's not a problem, we'll get a clean bill of health, and that will look great. If there is a problem, won't we have to fix it anyhow before most lenders will let the prospective buyers borrow money?

[In The Great White North]

I would go with the realtor's advice. Fixing the foundation in one part of the house frequently causes cracks in other parts because it is all connected. They do not all appear at once. You have disclosed the foundation work and you don't know exactly when these cracks appeared. You have absolutely no way of knowing that these cracks aren't related to the original foundation work. You are only required to disclose what you know - not what you think, suspect, guess, fear.

 

We replaced half of our foundation and have cracks everywhere.

 

A normal home inspection does not usually include a structural engineer. Ours have always been former contractors who found an easier way to make a living.

 

Repainting and replacing a tile or two is cheap compared to foundation work. It's worth the chance.

 

If there is a problem, won't we have to fix it anyhow before most lenders will let the prospective buyers borrow money?

 

No, we bought our house (with a mortgage) knowing full well that the foundation needed work. This fact was in the inspection report.

[Sharon in SC]

About 3 years ago, we had a foundation repair (13 piers) and an installment of a French drain. There were some cracks at the time (tile and walls), and those still remain.

 

We're getting our house ready to put on the market, so we're going to do fresh paint throughout, new carpet, and new tile. (Expensive, I know!)

 

My question is this: While walking through the house with prospective painters and tile guys, we noticed some cracks that we *think* weren't there several years ago. One in particular is in the ceiling, and another goes across 3 tiles in the laundry room. Yet another is in some tile by our master b-room. The ones in the tile are very hairline, but still concrn us. None of these (maybe) new cracks are in the area where the piers were installed, so these areas of the house wouldn't be under warranty.

 

Realtors have told us to wait for an inspection by a structural engineer until toward the end of the selling process.

 

Here's our dilemma. What if we get new tile, paint, etc...then find out we do indeed have a foundation problem. We have to pay to fix the foundation at that point, and the new paint and tile will likely crack during the repair and subsequent settling. So then we have to do it all over again in order to sell. Ughhh!!!

 

We don't want to invite trouble by having an engineer out too soon, but we don't want to stick our heads in the sand, either. What would you do?

 

Here is our story - several years back we had one pier placed on the house we sold recently to contend with settling that affected the foundation (cracks evident in the brick veneer). Two years later, our first buyer 5 weeks after the house went on the market decided he couldn't sleep at night for fear the house was falling down (because of the pier disclosure which was never an option - we were told it was definitely something to be disclosed; besides which, even if we had not disclosed it, the subject would have come up because there was no doubt that the cracks in the brick would have shown up on inspection). He walked away leaving $10K earnest money on the table before an inspection was ever done. A little while later another family became seriously interested in the house. "Lived" over there (it was vacant) for an entire weekend, obviously interested. The reason they walked away? Concern over that blasted pier.

 

After that much expressed concern by serious buyers over the pier (ignorance on their part - once a pier is placed, the problem is "repaired" and there is no longer an issue; additionally, settling in our part of the country is COMMON and the house that does not need a pier is the exception, not the rule), we decided to call in a structural engineer to cite his professional opinion on the stability of the home. We wrote a terrific letter stating why he felt it was one of the most stable 20yo homes he'd seen and why any cracks evidenced on inspection were superficial in nature and not to be of concern. That letter, subsequently, went in the promotional materials alongside the warranty from the pier. No serious buyer past that point ever questioned the pier/stability of the house after the letter from the SE was procured.

 

FWIW and YMMV. Maybe your buyers will be more educated than ours. I will say, though, that personally if I suspected we could have further foundation issues, I would NOT want to find out while at the table with a serious buyer. Trust me when I tell you that, particularly in THIS market, a foundation issue is one that will send a buyer packing but quick. It is for that reason that we had the pier put on our home in the first place.

 

Sharon

[Sharon in SC]

... our realtor advised against the structural engineer because if we did that then we'd be obligated to state in the listing a defect. This would potentially end the sellf process as no one would even come to see exactly what was involved. In our case, it was just a matter of getting the foundation crack sealed, $200. And the buyers who did buy it knew of it but as the house was 35 yrs old knew it wasn't that the house was falling down but it was part of the charm....

 

If we would have had another offer fall through then our realtor was advising us to take the house off the market, get a structural engineer and fix the problem, then relist. Then we wouldn't have had to "declare" that there'd been a problem at all.

 

My $0.02.

 

Maybe this differs from one area to the next but, in our case, we were told that there was no question but that the foundation repair (pier) needed to be disclosed. A lifetime warranty accompanies it and there's no way we would have been able to get around disclosing the work had been done. BTW, you were very blessed with your buyers who viewed the issue as charming! We were not so fortunate! :-}

[Sharon in SC]

No, we bought our house (with a mortgage) knowing full well that the foundation needed work. This fact was in the inspection report.

 

My concern would be in the fact that in *this* particular market things have changed drastically. Lenders are MUCH more picky and there is simply no guarantee anymore on what will be excused. (Ask me how I know). I'd definitely be asking someone in the know how this situation might play out in the eyes of current day lenders before I assumed that a foundation issue would be a non issue in the lending process. Granted, if the price on the home reflected the need for foundation work, then that would be different, I'm sure. I'm assuming a family who wants to get as much as possible out of their home and have not priced it as a fixer upper.

Edited March 28, 2009 by Sharon in SC