House under contract - foundation, plumbing question URGENT(ish)

[Miles Stanley]

Hi all!

We are on day 3 of our option period.  House and termite Inspection completed today, contractor set to come look at the place Monday and give me a bid (will have inspection report in hand by then as well).  Next point of business, my inspector recommends i get a static and hydro-static test done on the house since the seller's disclosure said foundation work was done, but no paperwork/warranties/reports are available.  Disclosure just says the rear of the house was leveled.  The seller bought it from the previous owner, started rehabbing, and has decided to sell it.  The inspection didn't show anything alarming really, mostly little stuff.  There was no indirect evidence of major foundation issues except for the usual thin cracks in drywall here and there and some of the doors look like they were 'trimmed' a bit to make them close.

But i am suspicious about the foundation work that was done.  I have requested a list of the permits that were pulled for the property from the City, but none of them were for foundation work (at least going back to 2012).  I think the static tests are a good idea to see if the foundation work caused any damage to the plumbing.  Its an older house (±50 years), so i know the pipes are likely cast iron for the sewer.

It's our first one, so I'm in the middle of the option period frenzy to get everything done in time and i wanted to be sure I'm thinking about about this right.  The way i see it, I would be paying a few hundred $ to save potentially several thousand $$$.

Thanks for the input.