<p>I need the collective wisdom of CC so I can give good advice to my son and daughter in law.</p>
<p>They just put a contract on a cute little house in Boston (I only wish the price was as little and cute as the house). They had the inspection today, and the inspector found two possibly troubling items:</p>
<p>–a crack in the foundation</p>
<p>–moisture in the crawl space</p>
<p>They are planning to have a contractor look at the problems. I want to know what to tell them to ask about/investigate etc.</p>
<p>They really love the house and the location and want advice so as to not make any mistakes.</p>
<p>boysx3, every house has something. See what the contractor has to say. These are probably just issues that can be fixed. The question is whether they can get the seller to pay.</p>
<p>VeryHappy, that’s just what I told them. The house was built in 2003 so I would be surprised if the problems were anything major. But the kids are a bit spooked–it’s their first house and it is a lot of money. They have been looking for over a year and really love this house and the neighborhood…and there is very little available.</p>
<p>I’ve often gotten very helpful advice from the inspector himself after home inspections.</p>
<p>I quite agree that every house has issues. The inspector has an obligation to report everything he finds. His report may not include a written assessment of whether it’s a big deal, but the inspector is often willing to discuss his findings with the buyer. And he should be. It’s the buyer who’s paying the inspector for his expertise, so it’s the buyer to whom the inspector has a responsibility.</p>
<p>How big is the crack? All foundations settle, they almost all have cracks. How wide is it? If it is a hairline crack it is not a big deal.</p>
<p>Sometimes with a crawl space all it needs is some ventilation, sometimes you have to put plastic down, sometimes it’s an outside drainage problem. The inspector should have voiced an opinion about the cause.</p>
<p>Make sure the inspector is a former contractor or builder, not a wet-behind-the-ears thirty-something who took a “home inspection” course. (We had an expensive bad experience with a young home inspector who overlooked or didn’t understand an obvious roofing flaw). </p>
<p>The house is almost 10 years old. A small crack in the foundation isn’t unusual at all. However, there’s a crack and then there’s a craaack! The crack could be so minor that it’s negligible and really nothing needs to be done, it might be a bit more significant and need to be repaired fairly inexpensively, or it could be a sign of a major soil/structural issue that one should avoid.</p>
<p>The moisture could be anything from just some poor ventilation that could be easily fixed, to poorly placed downspouts or sprinklers that are easily fixed, to something related to a more significant crack in the foundation, to the grade being improper for the house (i.e. a grade sloping to the house where the house doesn’t have a robust drainage pipe to shunt the water away from the house.</p>
<p>I’m surprised the inspector didn’t give details - he/she should have. I’d contact the inspector and ask for details and recommendations. Unless it’s all obviously minor, I’d then get a qualified and honest contractor or maybe a more competent inspector out to check it out</p>
<p>These are all good questions for me to have them ask (we are in Cincinnati).</p>
<p>BC, the house is in Brighton, very close to Brookline, I think. I couldn’t believe little there is available in the Brookline/Newton/Brighton area–they want a three bedroom house that does not require major work and that is semi-affordable. They have lost out on some houses by not getting there the day the house came on the market. This house just came on the market and they hustled to get a contract on it before the scheduled open house.</p>
<p>I did a home search in Brighton and only found three properties for sale, all small condos for about $400K. It looks like they got in before it hit MLS. I’m surprised that this home is so new. A lot of the housing stock in Brighton is pretty old. I do go through Brighton from time to time and am trying to recall the areas of new construction and am coming up blank. Brighton does cover a lot of area though.</p>
<p>Finding a 3-bedroom in those communities that’s reasonably priced and doesn’t need work sounds pretty hard to me. Is the school district a concern too? They would probably do better for schools in Brookline or Newton.</p>
<p>edit: one of my coworkers has/had a crack in his basement along with water coming in during two very heavy rainstorms in the last two or three years. He called someone to look at repairing the crack. I didn’t ask him what the resolution was.</p>
<p>One of the problems that they had was very poor drainage though. The ground could get soaked. They were also on a hill so water drained from properties that were higher on the hill.</p>
<p>So you know what they have been facing…there just isn’t much on the market.</p>
<p>They would prefer Brookline or Newton if they could find something they could afford, but those areas are even more expensive! They want an area with good schools so as to keep their options open, but they would like their children to attend a Jewish day school if possible…my DIL attended a Jewish day school and loved the experience and the education she received.</p>
<p>With regards to moisture in the crawl space, I agree with the others to make sure that water flows away from the house and not into the house. Is this house located in a flood zone area? If not, there is a possibility that the house still gets flooded during Category 3 or 4 storms such as Hurricane Floyd. If there is groundwater seepage I think installing a French drain outside the house is better than installing a sump pump.</p>
<p>GladGradDad said what I would have- they need further info from the inspector- even just to deal effectively with the contactor and not get mislead. Our inspection included suggested fixes (space on the forms.) He also kept a full carbon copy and encouraged us to call with any questions. Maybe they do have these details, but just being alerted to an issue is intimidating. (Who ever wants to hear “foundation crack?” But, I agree, many are minor.) Depending on the extent of the problem, installing a French Drain and/or re-grading can be DIY. Sometimes, it’s as simple as adding extensions to the downspouts, to divert that rush of water. Good luck to them. I hope this is just a set of simple fixes.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if an inspector doesn’t put something on the report and it shows up after you move in, he would be responsible for fixing that problem, at least in our state. Every foundation has some minor cracks, if that is the case with this house, no big deal. If the crack is large and compromises the foundation, big deal. Same with the moisture in the crawl space, is it standing water or is is effervescence from the soil, which is fairly natural process.</p>
<p>Call him and ask how severe these problems are or are they just more of a CYA issue?</p>
<p>Brookline and Newton contain some of the most expensive zip codes in the state.</p>
<p>That’s probably partially because of the school systems – so maybe they can afford the private with the money they’re not spending by living in Brighton.</p>
<p>In CA, the standard inspection report contains repair estimates, the most important part of the estimates called section 1. So, between brokers, they all refer to section one cost when they buy/sell a home. Normally, a foundation problem that requires attention will have a very high section one cost, like over 30K. Since inspectors regularly want to protect themselves, so the section one costs are usually higher than the real cost.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the input…I am relaying all of it to my son and DIL. They are 27 and this is their first house so they are very nervous!</p>
<p>And eireann, you are exactly on target with the schools–they know they can afford to live in Brighton and maybe stretch for the private school they would want to send their children to–my DIL loved the dual curriculum and the atmosphere at the school she attended. Their children would go to her school.</p>
<p>Update…so the kids have two contractors coming to check out the two bigger problems from their inspection. It turns out that the seller was aware of the problems…and had chosen to do nothing about them.</p>
<p>So, I have a question…does a seller need to disclose known defects to prospective buyers? For example, now that a licensed inspector has detailed the problems with the crawl space and the foundation, and the inspection has been given to the seller and the realtor, would they have to disclose these defects to any other potential buyers?</p>
<p>Our thinking being that, if they do have to disclose (and even if they didn’t–any other inspection would still find these problems)…that the problems either need to be fixed by the seller, or the cost of repairs be negotiated from the sales price—so our son and DIL should expect some movement on this issue in their favor, as they really like the house.</p>
<p>I would expect the seller would need to disclose these issues to future buyers, but it varies from state to state. </p>
<p>Given what you have said about the market in their location, the seller knows that another buyer is right around the corner, even with the issues. How your S and DIL should proceed really depends upon the contract and what it says about the seller’s ability to void the contract during the inspection period. Again, this varies from area to area. They need to know this before asking for anything if they really want the house.</p>
There’s an obligation for the seller and realtor to disclose known facts but I’m not sure of the legal consequences. </p>
<p>As far as your case here, I’d expect that your S could use this as either leverage to adjust the cost or have the owner do the repair OR your S could get out of the contract depending on how it was written. That assumes it’s a contract signed by both buyer/seller that has a clause regarding the inspection or is covered by laws in that state. But, the seller might opt to forego the contract rather than repair or cost adjust based on that sales price - i.e. the seller might decide to let the contract go, repair the defects, and then sell the house at a higher price that includes enough to cover the cost of the repair. Whether the seller can actually get that price depends on the marketplace. Whether they’ll try this or not depends on the situation and the seller’s motivation.</p>
<p>Note - I’m not a real estate attorney so take anything I say with a grain of salt.</p>