Rehab and Rent with Foundation Problems?

[Daniel D.]

Hey BP Friends,

Curious to know how some of you handle foundation issues on properties that you are considering purchasing.  I have viewed many homes over the years but every time I see big cracks in concrete or big cracks in sheetrock, what I consider obvious issues of foundation problems, I run and hide.  To be honest, one purchase has a few hairline cracks in the foundation that were very small and I just tried to look the other way.. so far so good..  I was told by a concrete guy that every concrete truck has six cracks in it, you just don't know where they will end up.

In the area that I want to own properties in, it seems that if you wait long enough you will have a foundation problem..  when it happens to your home you just fix it, deal with it and move on..  but when it looks like it has happened on a property I am interested in I think of all of the things that could be screwed up in the process, and run..  So my question is this.. sometimes I see a great house, and a great price, but it has obvious foundation issues.  Does that scare y'all away?  Do any of you just work that into the renovation figure because you have a foundation specialist you trust?  It seems that if I could get over my fear of foundation issues I could make a killing - Anyone feeling me?