House Settling Question

[brianwolters]

Hello!

My wife and I found a very nice house with a history. It was built in

2003. About a year ago, it settled and it cost them nearly 10,000 out of pocket to fix it. It looks great and has a lifetime warranty on the repair work for the settling.

The biggest "scar" is a huge crack in the garage foundation that was filled in. It is very noticable.

We don't have a problem living there but I am afraid to buy it in the mere fact it cuts our seller base in half when we go to sell it.

What is good rule of thumb when buying a home that has this kind of past history?

Thanks, Brian

[RayV]

Read the warranty carefully. Most likely only the repair has a warranty, I doubt anyone would issue a warranty against future settling. Get an experienced engineer to evaluate the situation.

[EXT]

Run! Fast!

[John Grabowski]

For a three year old house that has foundation problems, I think a good rule of thumb would be to walk away and not look back.

[PipeDown]

Assuming the warranty is good and useful and the only lasting defect is the crack in the garage floor I would say you are probably safe enough.

If settling is to occur it will happen in the next few years given how quickly it happened in the first place. In 5 years, future buyers will be unconcerned if you neven had a problem since.

As for the crack, make sure the patch is smooth and not opening back up then use an epoxy garage floor paint and it might be virtually invisible. People expect some cracks, they just want to know they are stable.

As time proves the repair to be reliable, the price will return to market value and any discount this defect causes now will be gone.

If the warranty is good, this is a road to a nice below market steal. If it only covers labor and matrials for defects, it may not be good for much. If the repair was signed off on by a professional engineer, you are probably in good shape.

[Art]

Personnally I would find another house unless a professional engineer can explain to you why the house settled and why it will not settle any more. The soil could be of poor quality or the house could be built on fill and it will continue to settle. Do not guess on this. Call in a professional engineer or find another house.

[trader4]

The house would have to be something very special and a hell of a great deal for me to even get involved in considering it. There are plenty of other houses available. Also, if it was built in 2003, it's strange that it would have cost the owners $10K to fix it, as most new homes have warranties that cover major structural issues like this for a lot longer than 3 years. What you don't know is what caused this and that it's not going to happen again to other parts of the house. And while you can get opinions, no one is going to guarantee that it doesn't happen again.