All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Victor S. Wow, thank you for the picture! I’ve never heard of or seen piers like that. Very interesting!

@Steven Lowe you’re probably referring to a fake handyman. A real handyman can do anything well on a house and has more skill than most laborers working for a foundation company. Again, it’s a no-go scenario due to cost, so I suggested an option that saves money. How would you fix a foundation like this and afford the deal? It’s not doable unless you take matters into your own hands, educate yourself on what to do and hire someone to carry out your idea. Also, I’m not suggesting raising the house, just supporting it. Simply putting piers in. I’ve worked in many crawl spaces and there’s old houses with all sorts of little piers set on blocks and rocks or wood etc. I would do something with a small footing, but put a lot of them in to distribute the weight. Nothing too complicated about it, just a bunch of crappy work if you’re crawling.

@Joe Splitrock I said he should educate himself about piers on YouTube. Getting a bid from handymen is an option for adding piers in my book, and paying $26k on foundation work is not realistic for most homes. Price does matter to most sellers and buyers. Asking seller to pay for it is a good idea, but that probably means you’re expected to pay near full price or market value for a house as its without foundation issues. Foundation issues are a way to buy for way below market and if you are up to solving them, can help your bottom line significantly. If you can’t figure out an economic way to handle it, stay away from it.

@Jasraj Singh if there’s a will there’s a way my friend.

@Josh C. What are you talking about 30 feet into the ground? What I’m talking about is bracing the house with piers to prevent it from further sinkage. It’s usually not worth it to try to raise the house.

@Frank Zondlo

Ok, I just read how long the house has sat there. The reason it’s sinking is usually due to water drainage issues. Maybe there’s a roof pouring water in that direction, or they let the gutters fill up long ago and it flooded that spot when water poured over them etc. whatever the case, to deal with the cracks, I recommend a stucco material by quikcrete called quick wall. It is fiberglass reinforced, can be found at lowes or ordered at Lowe’s, and it will help slightly structurally also. If the cracks are wide, you should fill with mortar first. Make sure you have proper slopeage away from the house and don’t pay the big dollars! Come up with a game plan and hire a handyman with a good reputation and let them know your plan.

@Frank Zondlo

NO. Piers are easy to add and they are praying they get your job. Probably the only thing they can do is support it, rather than try to raise it and replace the perimeter wall (which can be done, but may cause other problems). If you’re local, you can YouTube how to add piers to support or hire a handyman or someone to knock it out for half that (or maybe a quarter of that price really)

@Jasraj Singh ah, ok I see. I like it.. thinking big outside your box. I would too! I would say one more time, your thinking is generalizing so much, even your own country! Did you know flipping makes the most since in high priced markets? I’m sure there are high end, high priced markets there that you can invest in. Until then, you do well to start with something wherever you are. I’ve been to India and yes the concrete construction most the world uses is much different than the US who benefits from all the Canadian lumber etc. If you want to invest in the US, you need to move here! There’s lots of (“Eastern”) Indian people in St. Louis area and it’s probably a good start for you.

@Jasraj Singh again too vague. Depends on the construction and home type. Turnkey isn’t a total solution either. What company is it? What kind of contractor did they use? You might buy a turnkey that’s going to have expensive issues in a couple years. If I was buying from a turnkey company, I would assume they are cutting corners since they are production home flippers. If you want turnkey, buy from an actual homeowner that kept their house in good order and the quality will probably be better, and the price better. Flips are tough and hiring contractors is hit and miss and miss. That’s why I think it’s best to start by buying a house, doing some work yourself, hire some work out and oversee it and learn about homes. Shouldn’t you be familiar with home construction and maintenance, fixtures and features if you plan to go big with RE? Not that you need to be a construction guy, but you have to get close to it at least to know what the heck is going on and how much it should cost, and how long it can take (more than you think $, and longer than you want)

@Clay Bradley East TN is cool. Currently flipping a house near downtown Greeneville, TN. Lots of growth in this little town as the downtown just had a huge college addition, and nearby shopping centers are growing. Small city, but could be a good one for certain plays. Nobody is on lockdown here right now, everyone is out and the streets are filled with cars. That’s what people are going to be looking for; probably what you figure.