When Buying a Home, Are Foundation Problems a Dealbreaker?
LOS ANGELES, CA: Julian Construction (www.julianconstruction.com), a foundation repair and construction company in Los Angeles, shares some tips on recognizing signs of foundation damage in a potential home, and what to do if you find any.
When you find a home you like, personally check the property for the below signs of foundation problems. If you find any, you should hire a structural engineer to inspect the home and get a better idea of repair costs. Having a dollar amount for repairs will also help you negotiate the price down.
Here are some of the signs of foundation damage to look for:
- Sunken floors or foundation.
- Cracks on the outside of your home- especially diagonal ones. If they are small it may just be a cosmetic issue, but large cracks are often a sign of a more serious issue.
- Patios that have pulled away from the house.
- Doors and windows that don’t open and close properly.
- Gaps between the caulking on windows and doors.
- Sloping floors with a height difference of more than an inch over 15-20 feet.
- Wallpaper that has wrinkled or creased.
If you notice any of the above issues with the house of your dreams, don’t let it scare you away. Many potential buyers are put off by foundation issues because they think it will be too difficult and expensive to fix. In turn, that makes houses like this harder to sell, and the seller is more likely to be motivated. You can have a structural engineer inspect the property and get an inspection report detailing what needs to be fixed and recommendations as to how. You can then take that report to foundation repair companies to get estimates, and then use the estimates to negotiate a lower price on the house.
Julian De La Torre, founder and owner of Julian Construction, stated: “If you notice any of the signs of foundation problems when you’re considering buying a home, have an inspection done, so you know how expensive the problems will be to fix. That then gives you leverage with the seller to bring the price down enough to cover those repairs.”
Julian Construction owns its own company and is built on a “no middlemen” model – no salesmen, no subcontractors. When you work with Julian Construction you get the principals of the company and workers of Julian Construction under your home. The result is the highest quality work at affordable prices. They can be contacted by phone at 323 733-3377, by fax at 323 733-4477 or via their website, www.julianconstruction.com. You can see tips and advice about home foundations on their blog.