All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Taylor Chiu - Inspector said minimum of $5k and I think that's a pretty conservative estimate.  They would need to jack up the entire East side of the foundation wall to fix it.

@Jack Clough - Not yet, I'm going to try and get one in this weekend to take a look. Foundation problems were noted in the disclosure, but either way I was going to have to get an inspector in to assess how bad it was.  This deal was a bit unique in that I relied on my agent and offered on it sight unseen... I actually didn't see the disclosure until after I had offered.  Not a big deal, I don't mind paying for the inspection and I can still walk away.  If nothing else it's a learning experience...

I'm under contract for a SFH in Indiana and the inspection uncovered some fairly serious foundation problems. Basically a previous owner dug out the basement below the foundation footer and this has caused one of the foundation walls to settle. It's obviously a pretty major issue and would require significant expense to repair. I'd be curious as to how others have dealt with situations like this. My agent is talking to the listing agent to see what we can work out, but here's how I am thinking about my options:

1. Seller pays to have foundation fixed (unlikely given price point of home - $75k)

2. Seller agrees to lower price (I would need a fairly significant discount to make it worth the out of pocket expense and risk that repair is more expensive than planned)

3. Walk away from the deal (really don't want to do this but may have to....)

Any other creative ideas? 

@Jeff Burdick - Thanks Jeff.  This property only has one egress and the ceiling height was lower than what I understand to be the required height of 7'6".  I'll PM you with more.

@Lumi Ispas - Agreed, still on the hunt for units that work. Unfortunately if you duplex down on this one the numbers don't work.

@Dhru Das - Living in the in-law unit probably protects you somewhat, but not something I want to do at this point.

@John P. - Both sound like nightmare scenarios for the respective owners!  Definitely not a risk I'm willing to take.  Thanks for the input!

@Jonathan Klemm - Got it, thanks for the clarification

@Jonathan Klemm - Sounds like your basement will be legal non-conforming once you get it up to code?  Is there not still a risk with renting out the third unit since it is zoned as two units?

@Jonathan Klemm Agreed, I've run the numbers on hundreds.  Definitely not worth the risk to do the illegal in-law unit.  When you say you plan to make the basement in your property legal, do you mean you're going to get it up to code, or are you also trying to get it zoned as a 3 flat?