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Foundation settlement WWYD?
Hi, I am a bit of a lurker and we are both selling and buying a house.
We listed the house in early January and were under contract in 10 days. It was really exciting. In the inspection they decided to have some basement cracks looked at by a contractor. Contractor gave us a quote for 20k worth of repairs. We were shocked. The cracks are not wide, nor do we get water in the basement or anything. They were there when we bought 8 years ago. So we call in a structural engineer to give us an unbiased assessment on what needed done. He gave us a 5 page report detailing the settlement, and furthermore recommended that no structural work was necessary. So we gave that to our buyer as indication we were not going to do the foundation repairs. They walked. Which we were ok with. This was a Monday. By Wednesday we had another offer. It was unreal. But these people had their dad walk through the next day and he as a contractor thought the house was still moving and he advised they not buy. So they walked. Rinse/repeat a third time.
The house is showing well, priced right. We have really had a lot of activity (and it is exhausting with two dogs and a kid!). I just don't know what to do about the cracks. I feel like if we do cosmetic repairs it would give the impression we are hiding something. But sharing the engineering report doesn't seem to be doing us any favors either.
WWYD if you were in a similar situation? I really do understand the hesitance people have with buying a house with a "foundation problem" but we have a report saying it isn't a problem. Do we have someone repair the cracks, and disclose the settlement but not include the report? Do we wait it out giving them access to the report and hope the right buyer comes by? This is way more stress than I bargained for.
Re: Foundation settlement WWYD?
How eager are you to sell?
The foundation issue, even if it is "not a problem" per se, is holding you back. Why should the buyer take the risk when they can find a house w/o a foundation problem? I would fix it.
I think you are going to have to fix the cracks honestly. We weren't scared by much during the home buying process but foundation issues (or hints of problems) weren't something we were willing to take on. I'm sure the contractors quote is higher than the work that is really needed (if any at all). But you are either going to have to lower the price and sell the basement "as isl or you need to have someone fix those cracks. I don't know if mortaring them and then painting the walls would help but it's obviously a problem that is scaring off multiple buyers. No offense but honestly I wouldn't take a report from the sellers saying there isn't a problem very seriously. I also don't take inspections that the sellers had seriously. I don't put my trust in people that easily.
Good luck but if you want to sell you will need to do something to the cracks. Maybe have a second or third company come out to see what theycan do to cover them.
We had something very similar happen on the house we bought. Our inspector went in the crawl space and there was a crack in the foundation. He suggested we bring in a structural engineer, not a foundation company, to inspect. He said a foundation company will always tell you there is something wrong. The engineer said that it was probably settlement and recommended the seller Tuckpoint the crack by a mason.
I would suggest you do that. Tuckpoint the crack and if anyone asks give them the structural report. It was less than $300 to have it professionally fixed.