Foundation Problems, HELP A NEWBIE!

[Adriana Saldana]

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie, and I got an offer accepted. However, during inspection the property showed foundation problems.  Two of the walls have 3/4 of an inch out of plumb. The reason for this is most associated with poor grade or pitch which caused  excessive soil /water pressure against the wall resulting in incremental displacement as wall yields to horizontal earth pressure. IF LEFT unchecked then it could lead to structural problems. Per structural engineer this could be fixed and would cost about $5.000 to fix. 

MY CONCERN is if I buy and fix it and keep the property for a while, then at the time to sell, will people walk away if they know this had foundation problems that were fixed?  IS IT COMMON for people to buy properties with foundation problems? Will foundation affect plumbing? What would anyone recommend in this case ? I've always heard that if a property has foundation problems to walk away so I am not sure whether to keep the property or move on ?

[Sergio A. Chucaralao]

Quote from @Adriana Saldana:

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie, and I got an offer accepted. However, during inspection the property showed foundation problems.  Two of the walls have 3/4 of an inch out of plumb. The reason for this is most associated with poor grade or pitch which caused  excessive soil /water pressure against the wall resulting in incremental displacement as wall yields to horizontal earth pressure. IF LEFT unchecked then it could lead to structural problems. Per structural engineer this could be fixed and would cost about $5.000 to fix. 

MY CONCERN is if I buy and fix it and keep the property for a while, then at the time to sell, will people walk away if they know this had foundation problems that were fixed?  IS IT COMMON for people to buy properties with foundation problems? Will foundation affect plumbing? What would anyone recommend in this case ? I've always heard that if a property has foundation problems to walk away so I am not sure whether to keep the property or move on ?

Congratulations on the offer getting accepted and welcome to the BP forum.  Here are things that I would ask my self or do when buying this kind of property.
1- Get a second and third if possible opinion on how severe the issue is. If they are all giving your about the same cost and evaluation once corrected the problem it should be fine.
2- how long ago was this property build, if it has been build a long time ago, chances are that all the foundation settling has already happened, one again after correcting the grading and drainage it should be fine.
3- How long are you planing to keep the property. If you are going to hold the property for a long time it shouldn't be an issue with selling you can save and show all the documentation of when you purchased and how the issue got corrected and that after all the years you have hold it, it has not gotten worse. 

This are just suggestions, consult professionals. 

Best of luck!