Homeowners held structural information until after inspection was signed...

[David Robertson]

I have a house under contract that has structural issues. When we were initially signing the contract the homeowner disclosed a Foundation Repair estimate of $9000 dated February 2011, which was used in evaluating the purchase price of the property. Today, I signed the inspection document that I accept the property as-is with the disclosure that the foundation would cost $9000.

As soon as the homeowner received the inspection acceptance they sent over a more recent estimate that was dated July 2012 for $28,000. It appears that the homeowner was deceptive and did not make a good faith effort to disclose the revised foundation estimate until after the inspection and contract were signed.

What can I do? Do I have any recourse?

[Jon Holdman]

Hmmm. Given that timeline, I would think you would have grounds for pushing back. Seems very strange that an hour after you're committed (on the basis of an inspection) that they reveal a major difference.

OTOH, I would have thought you own inspection would have been in order for a major problem like that. I've had bids for similar jobs vary by a factor of six. And lots of contracts have different opinions of what should be done. So, $9K vs. $28K really isn't unusual. I'd bet that if you had your own estimate done, it would be different than either of those.

I think given the circumstances, I would request an additional seven days to do your own inspection and get your own estimates.