House With Foundation Issues

[Justin Bowman]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I live in Texas in the DFW area.

We are looking at purchasing our first home that we plan on turning into a rental property eventually.

The house has had foundation repairs a couple years ago, done by a reputable company with unlimited lifetime transferable warranties.

From my understanding it is not uncommon in Texas to have foundation repairs due to the rough, dry soil that can shift (would love perspective from any DFW investors).

This is our first house and we are so stressed to make the right decision because it’s a new process and we don’t want to buy a bad house and set ourselves back years.

How concerned should we be with these issues? Is it okay to buy a house that has had foundation repair? Any things to look out for?

Thank you,

[Will Fraser]

Hi @Justin Bowman, indeed Foundation is THE "F word" for most first time buyers and it's not hard to undrstand why.  In reality foundation issues are not the biggest threat to your home unless you live in a very non-DFW scenario (think mountain-side, sandy soil, or extremely bad drainage, etc.)  Your most likely culprit in DFW is the soil composition being prone to uneven settling and that darn ever-present construction (and the vibrations large construction can send through the area).  

Make sure that you have the documentation for the pier work done by said reputable company.  This is going to be a key component to the lifetime guarantee meaning anything.