Foundation crack in walkout basement

[vitos]

I'm thinking to make an offer on a foreclosed house but have some concerns about a foundation crack in a corner of the house. This house is 7 years old and it looks like the crack is pretty dry and has not leaked yet. This house has a walkout basement but the crack is in the corner of the higher grounds so it completely ground covered from the outside and it's impossible to tell if this crack goes all the way through the poured concrete. I would really appreciate any advise or recommendation if I should worry about it. Thanks.

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[Jim Katen]

The crack is unimportant.

[Nolan Kienitz]

Ditto Jim's comment.

I only wish the foundation cracks I see were that minimal !!

[gtblum]

Have you hired a home inspector yet?

If not, do your homework and hire a good one one. Make sure you have the time to be there and learn about what you're buying. Leave the realtor out of the loop when you do hire one. It's your investment, not theirs.

[vitos]

All, thank you for your prompt responses. No I have not hired an inspector for this house. This house is one of those cash foreclosures deals. The bank is trying to move this house quick and don't want to deal with conventional mortgage or contingencies upon inspection. They only accept cash offers and sell it as is.

[Bill Kibbel]

All, thank you for your prompt responses. No I have not hired an inspector for this house. This house is one of those cash foreclosures deals. The bank is trying to move this house quick and don't want to deal with conventional mortgage or contingencies upon inspection. They only accept cash offers and sell it as is.

I have many, many clients purchasing foreclosures that are being sold as-is. They still get it inspected to discover any major issues. Many have walked away from something that would have been a major financial burden had they moved forward with the purchase.

[hausdok]

All, thank you for your prompt responses. No I have not hired an inspector for this house. This house is one of those cash foreclosures deals. The bank is trying to move this house quick and don't want to deal with conventional mortgage or contingencies upon inspection. They only accept cash offers and sell it as is.

That's fine, but are you willing to buy a pig in a poke? I do REO sold-as-is homes on almost a daily basis now. You'd be amazed at the amount of stuff non-home inspectors miss when they go through these homes without an inspector and then make an offer. Sometimes they focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else; your post might be an example of that.

I looked at one the other day where the guy who'd walked away from the house had converted a garage into finished space. In the process he'd enclosed his gas furnace and gas water heater into a little space that had less than 1% of the volume needed for proper combustion of those two appliances. The vent connectors on top of these appliances required at least six inches of clearance to flammables; but the rocket scientist had framed right up against them, so it wasn't only a carbon monoxide poisoning event waiting to happen it was also a barbecue waiting to happen - which is exactly what I called it to the chagrin of the realtor who I thought was going to have a stroke she turned so red.

Through the new basement bedroom highlighted in the advertising brochure was the only way to get to that space. That bedroom didn't have a legal egress window. Under the right conditions that "mechanical room" could have killed not just the person sleeping in that bedroom but everyone else living in the home. Do you have the expertise needed to spot those kinds of issues?

Do yourself a favor; hire a good inspector. It's not just your largest financial investment you're talking about; it could be your life or the life of one of your loved ones.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[vitos]

I understand all the risks involved, and again, I'm not saying that's my plan to buy it without inspection. I'm just trying to cover some basic obvious things before I get into heavy negotiations with the bank, which has been a very difficult process so far. The bank has been very unwilling to even talk to potential buyers, they are very hardheaded about this house, they set a price and want it in cash. They priced it very aggressively but the cash part is a very hard pill to swallow. The bank is open to conventional mortgage with all inspections and etc but for a much higher price. So as you can see, I'm definitely not ready to spend $500-$700 on inspection if we can't even reach a tentative agreement with the bank. The whole idea about this crack post is to get some professional opinions so I can decide if it event worth trying to fight for this house.

[Marc]

The bank is open to conventional mortgage with all inspections and etc but for a much higher price.

Then don't tell them you're getting an inspection. Just do it, then if the inspection report clears your intention to walk away, just walk away.

In the end, if you do buy a house, the inspections become investments, not expenditures. The return is the improved value of the house that you end up with and that return can exceed the cost of all those inspections many, many times over.

Just do your homework on your inspector before you pick him. Like houses, they're not all the same.

Marc

[AHI in AR]

What Marc said.

[Jim Baird]

vitos,

Listen to my brethren above. Do not attempt the path through the jungle without a guide. There may be quite a number of pitfalls.

[vitos]

Thank you all for the advice!