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Updated over 7 years ago,

Account Closed
  • Tallahassee, FL
0
Votes |
7
Posts

Potential foundation issues - should I walk?

Account Closed
  • Tallahassee, FL
Posted

Hey everyone,

I'm a second-time home-buyer/investor and have some foundation questions I was hoping you could help with. 

I currently have a duplex under contract in north Florida that might have some foundation issues. The house was built in 1978 and sits on a roughly 5% grade that drops off in the back yard at about 30% farther away from the house. There is cracking in the stem-wall masonry in the rear of the house where the property slopes down hill. The owner must have noticed this about 10 years ago because they had some foundation repairs done (~$26,000). Apparently clayey soil is the root of the issue and the downward pressure of the house caused the rear stem wall to rotate laterally 1/2 inch and sink 3/4 inch. For context, the house has a concrete slab foundation, but it was never tied to the rear stem wall.

The contractor who did the repair work is a company like RamJack and has a good reputation in town. They installed 16 helictal piles and 10 concrete butreses in the rear of the house. However, it appears that the owner cut cost and failed to pull a permit for the work done.

I had a rep from RamJack come out today and review the old plans and take a look at the foundation. He said the contractor did a good job and did the same repairs that RamJack would have done. However, he couldn't tell whether the cracks in the masonry are new (ie - the issue hasn't been solved), or whether they are from before the repair and the owner never had them patched. However, he did say that they appeared "weathered" and were probably old. Regardless, he said it will be $700 to get the old work permitted and $1500-2000 to have the cracked masonry patched.

With all that being said, I have the following questions:

1) could anyone give me an opinion on the pictures of the cracks? Old/new? Kill the deal?

2) regardless of whether the cracks are from before the repair, steer clear of this deal?

3) how much would you discount the purchase price given this information (assuming FMV = 200K)?

4) any other advice?

Thank you!

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