The house we are interested in had foundation repair 2 years ago (piers put in.) According to the seller, the repair was very successful (fixed the problem and no further problems), and the repair has a lifetime (transferable) warranty. The house is wonderful, has everything we are looking for with no compromises. Should we be concerned about future resale of this house? Has anyone out there ever had this situation before?
Thanks!
Pam

How old is the house? Is it on a hillside? Were there insufficient piers to begin with or is there some underlying structural problem? Hope you are getting a home inspection so that you have a pro telling you this stuff.

katie

It probably isn't a big deal but definitely have the home inspected. I would also request the repair bill, and check with the city/county to ensure it was a documented repair. I imagine foundation repairs would require an permit?

PASS -- and continue shopping around...however if you are insistant on this home...

YES, be concerned about future resale. Pier/foundation problems, even with corrections, are of major concern to the buying public.

Even worse, what if you have additional pier problems after you move in. Yes, the warranty of work (fixing foundation) is transferable - but what if that company goes out of business?
Whoa!

I think if you want to press ahead... it is important to get to the root of the problem.

Where are the soil boring tests and engineering reports? Get a copy.

Much stress is put on the structure when this happens.

These reports will tell you why the home was sinking or tilting.

Be very careful to look at baseboards/flooring separation - cracks in walls.ceilings.outside as well..look close and bring a flashlight.

I personally would make any offer contingent upon your own engineering inspection at the sellers expense( it's their problem and know it could prevent a sale ) .If they don't agree, you may have to pay for it.

I have sold homes that have had these problems, with insistant buyers making the offer subject to approval of engineering inspection... (not just a home inspection). Many homes are built on a bed of junk including limbs, lumber junk,
compose and other junk because the small time builder wanted to cut corners. This is the case of a small subdivision not far from me.

I have also had lenders who would not finance these homes, even with correction of problem.

Being able to get insurance is a whole other issue. In other words...a nightmare.

BUYER BEWARE.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

Real estate lady--you have just confirmed our gut feeling. Despite the fact that we absolutely LOVE the house, and it is truly perfect for us in every other way, after sleeping on it and reading a bit, our gut says, why buy a house with foundation issues, when we can buy one that doesn't. The home had some substantial cracks, and although repairs had been done, we don't know the home's future. I had not even considered the financing or insurance problems that could occur--WOW, those are scary issues. Thanks so much for your post.
Pam

We brought our home in 2002 knowing the house needed foundation repairs. The house needed case-ons for stability. We live on a hillside and it's quite common for houses to shift. When we made our offer we also requested a geologicial and a soil test, as we wanted to know what it would cost us to make the repair.

It wasn't inexpensive, but we purchased the house far under market value. Our city also requires an inspection during and after the work before they would issue a permit. We have never had any additional problems.

So, if it were me, I would require a geo, a soil tes and make sure there was a permit before I purchased the home.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

good, glad to hear you decided against that one!
Whew!


Another good thing you can do is ask for the seller's property disclosure up front before
offer...to see about problems.

Look on police sites, pull up the address, the sellers name, do your homework. You can pull up the public records on any property online through your local gov't site - property appraisers office.

You know from being on this site, that power lines, can affect resale value...also next to school, on busy road,, vacant property behind that could become a shopping center because it is zoned commercial. Low ceilings, oddball floor plans, and water in the basement, creaking floors, previous bad roof, new shingles
but rotten roof decking.


Just be "aware". Hopefully you are working with a good Realtor.

Without knowing where you live it is impossible to give you sound advice. The type of soil makes a huge difference. Also the age of the house. Was it the original construction that was poor and thus needed reinforcement? If so then the problem is solved. If it is the soil than it may be an ongoing problem. With a lifetime guarentee you have to know how long the company has been in business.

It is just a little to early to pass judgement without more information.

Have a structural engineer check it out. If it's fairly new construction, find out who the builder was. It's likely that the SE will know which builders in your area are likely to have
"problems." Some things can be fixed, but I'd want a professional opinion, not just the word of the seller.

I want to personally thank everyone who responded. You all gave me much food for thought, and the insights were great. There is an interesting twist to this story. Yesterday,(Sunday), my husband and I found an identical 1 1/2 story home in a totally different neighborhood. It was the exact same house and floor plan as the one we fell in love with that had the foundation issues. We love the floor plan of this house and were thrilled to find another one just like it, in an even closer in neighborhood. Woohoo, right? Guess what?! This house had the exact same foundation issues and had been piered also! Two days, two identical houses with piering. Well, we have ruled out that particular style/floor plan from our search. Something is up with the design of that house. These neighborhoods were at least 15 minutes apart.
Pam

Betcha same builder.

We were thinking it could possibly be the same builder. It was the identical house.
Do you think that ANY 1 1/2 story house would be more prone to this kind of problem? Do you think it is the design of that particular house, or do you think it is the builder? I'm asking because we really like the floor plan of the 1 1/2 story houses with 2 bedrooms on the main floor and 2 or 3 bedrooms upstairs. But we have definitely ruled out any of them that are identical to these two with the piers.
Pam

Where do you live? I live in North Texas (Dallas area), and all my life I've heard that there are two kinds of homes in North Texas: those that have had foundation repairs and those that will be having their foundation repaired. It's pretty much a given that over the course of 30-40 years, every home in this area will need to have foundation repair (except, perhaps, for the McMansions). It has to do with the soil and the extremes -- wet vs. dry; extreme heat, etc. Is this the case where you live?

Truebluebeliever, I live in Missouri, and while foundation problems are certainly not unheard of here, they are not particularly common. We have looked at many houses in our home search, and the two with the piers were the identical house in 2 different locations! So I think it was the house design/same builder.
Pam

I don't know about Missouri - but I've definitely seen houses that have the basic design you're looking for - and they didn't have foundation problems. It could be the builder's specs, could be quality of materials or work, could be lots of things - but I think I would definitely steer clear of that builder....

Here in Houston, we're in the same situation as North Texas. We live on a sea of mud with slip faults...if you don't have foundation problems yet, just wait. Of course, I wouldn't buy a house on a known fault line. And I would prefer the pier kind of foundation here.

You know they have earthquakes in Missouri, right? Not very big ones. But every once in a while...

Yep, we get the very rare earthquake here. Just had one a few weeks ago in fact! Woke me up at 4:25 in the morning. The last one that was similar to that was when I was 11 years old. (I'm 51 now!)
But in general, foundation problems are not an issue here, at least in this part of Missouri. We've looked at tons of houses, and only a couple had the problem.
Pam