Cracked Foundation & Water Issues in Basement

[Carrie Giordano]

Hello - I am in negotiations on a house that went on the market well under market price. The house is in very good condition aside from the basement which has serious water issues. I have not been in the basement but my agent sent several pictures. It appears that the basement walls have some cracks and crumbling. The basement is also wet so there could be mold. Before finding out that there could be possible foundation issues I estimated that I could spend up to about $10k waterproofing and still have a good return. However, I now am wondering if this is much more than I would want to take on. I am attaching the photos.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Mindy Jensen]

I don't have experience with horizontal cracks. I steer clear of them, and would let this deal go to someone else unless you can get a great basement guy out there who can give you a solid estimate on what it would take to fix, then adjust your offer accordingly. Horizontal cracks are no joke.

The shiny walls make me cringe, too, but there are plenty of people on this site who love houses that look just like that!