Foundation issues

[Taylor West]

Looked at a house on Friday and discovered a foundation issue, to include maybe two or just one big problem. The owner had an estimate, not to mention the brick wall on top of the area had to be repaired to fix the cracking from continuing, but that doesn't mean anything. The other problem is the roof doesn't have gutters (I am in Louisiana), which had caused all the water to continuously pour into this one spot. Ultimately, beyond getting my own estimates and going anything further into this house, I would like to know how you all feel about foundation issues. It will be a wholesale and I obviously will factor in the costs if I go forward, but what is your personal opinion about this type of issue. 

[Robert Leonard]

@Taylor Westmost people run from foundation problems and that, my friend, spells OPPORTUNITY!  It takes two pros, a foundation repair company and a structural engineer to solve the problem and document the proper repair.  It's one of those areas where you have to develop relationships with those experts to establish a business to business pricing arrangement that will allow you an advantage over retail customers to allow a profit margin as an investor.

I personally don't have those relationships yet, but when I do establish them, I'll take on this type of property in a heartbeat.  They are opportunities!

This brings to mind a good question for you to ask those you add to your cash buyers list, "will you buy properties with foundation issues?"  Then you'll have your short list of buyers who take on those properties or you'll know if you don't have any.

And about the gutters, that's not a problem not having gutters.  The concern is where does the water go when it hits the ground?  As long as it's not splashing back on the exterior of the house and the water is draining away from the foundation, it can be okay without gutters.  It looks like the bed may be absorbing the splash effect in your picture.  The question then, is does the water drain away from the foundation/structure adequately?  That's a drainage question.