Selling a House with Foundation Issues

Does the house you want to sell have foundation issues? We buy houses AS IS (yes, including foundation problems). Leave the repairs to us. Request a free CASH offer by filling out the form below!

Selling a House with Foundation Issues

You start to notice that your doors and windows aren’t properly closing. Hairline cracks have appeared on your walls all of a sudden. You drop something and it rolls away from you, towards the wall, indicating your floor is sloping when it wasn’t before. You do a quick web search about these symptoms, and you realize that all signs point to a

foundation problem

.

Realizing your house has foundation problems is a dreadful discovery to make.

Should you consider fixing it and continue living in your house?

Is it still safe


for you and your family to be staying in your house

?

According to the National Foundation Repair Association (NFRA), foundation damage

costs $12.5 billion in repairs

annually. Underpinning, one of the more well-known foundation repair methods,

costs an average of $18,000

! Most homeowners might consider just selling your house and starting anew elsewhere.

Can You Sell a House with Structural Damage?

While a house with a foundation problem can sound daunting, don’t panic.

The answer is

YES

. A foundation issue is

not a contract killer

. It’s not impossible to find interested buyers.

But trying to sell a house with foundation problems brings with it 3 D’s:

Diminished property value, Delays, and Damage control

.

Diminished Property Value

A house with foundation problems can have its value

reduced by as much as 15%

. In order to mitigate its impact, it might be

worth hiring a professional home inspector or structural engineer

to have your house looked at and you may find that it may be pretty inexpensive to repair.

Delays

You need to

have your foundation inspected

in order to determine the extent of the damage and to decide whether you would fix foundation issues or sell your home as is. Having to do this would take quite a while before you can offload your troublesome property.

Damage Control

Depending on what it says on the inspection report, you may

need to do some urgent repairs

in order to avoid further foundation damage. Additionally, timely foundation repairs can prevent your home’s value from plummeting.

Causes of Foundation Problems

The nightmare of foundation problems are typically caused by two things:

Change in Soil Properties

Acts of mother nature, such as earthquakes and flooding can alter soil properties so that they are unable to support your home’s structure.

Earthquakes

In earthquakes, there is a phenomenon called

liquefaction

, wherein the water in the soil bubbles up to the surface and causes the soil particles underneath your foundation to sink, bringing your home down with it.

Flooding

Severe flooding, on the other hand, could saturate the soil, increasing the hydraulic pressure and causing foundation upheaval, which

manifests in severe bowing of basement walls and floor slabs

.

Temperature

Hot weather can affect the soil as well, causing it to shrink and leaving your foundation unsupported. During rainy weather, the opposite can happen and it can expand, stressing your foundation and causing cracks.

Large Trees

Other causes of foundation problems are large trees with expansive roots that can grow under your home and damage your slabs; adjacent construction especially if their excavation is unsupported, resulting in soil subsidence; and a plumbing problem that is left unrepaired.

Inadequate Understanding of Soil Properties

The most famous case of inadequate understanding of soil properties at the time of design is the

Leaning Tower of Pisa

. It was built on soft soil, causing it to tilt inexorably to one side nearing collapse. It still happens in modern times, but rarely, as advances in geotechnical engineering has given structural engineers the information that they need.

How to Know if Your House has Foundation Issues

Small cracks are usually the first sign of underlying structural problems–not necessarily on the foundation–but it is worth looking into before it gets out of control.

Water in basements

and crawl spaces, walls that bow outward, stair step cracks, and separation of floor slabs from the walls can be an evidence of house settling and foundation movement.

Arrange a home inspection immediately

to get a picture of how deep your foundation problems are and find out what you can do about it.

Types of Foundation Repairs

As mentioned above, a

thorough foundation examination is needed to determine what type of repairs are needed

. Depending on what you need to do, foundation repair can

cost between $250 to upwards of $100,000

.

Let’s take a look at some foundation repairs:

Hydraulic Piers

Piers are

tubes made of concrete or steel that are driven using a hydraulic ram

to reach the stable soil layer deep underneath your property. It is an underpinning method which is used to stabilize homes that have began to settle or are leaning at an angle.

Helical Piers

A steel or concrete tube like the ones above, but instead of being driven underground, they are “drilled” towards the hard soil layer, similar to a large screw.

Slab Jacking

One of the most common concrete foundation repairs, it is done when soil subsidence is observed, dragging your floor down with it. This involves strategically drilled holes and injecting grout or high-density polyurethane foam to lift the slab. This is more cost-effective than replacing the slab.

Epoxy Injection

For hairline cracks in concrete and masonry, structural epoxy can be injected to keep the cracks from growing and aggravating the damage. This is effective when the structural issue is discovered early on.

Soil Modification

This involves

filling the voids in the soil

with grout or mortar in order to increase its stiffness and stabilize it, improving performance.

Selling a House with Foundation Problems

Once you have decided to sell, here are the options available to you:

Option 1: Undertaking Foundation Repair Prior to Selling

Before selling a house with foundation issues, it could be worth to have it repaired. It could

significantly widen your pool of potential buyers

and allow you to command a higher selling price for your home.

If financing is a challenge, there are companies who give flexible payment plans and repair credit to help you with the cost.

Furthermore,

foundation repair by a reputable company typically comes with a warranty

for you and the potential buyer’s peace of mind.

While you’re at it,

fix all cosmetic issues

such as adding a bit of landscaping or do some repainting; so, whether you list with real estate agents, or go the For Sale by Owner (FSBO) route, your house would be presentable and have increased curb appeal.

Doing the repairs would also help your potential buyer, as

many banks or lenders won’t approve of the mortgage on a property with foundation issues

, narrowing your buyer pool to cash buyers.

Option 2: As-Is Sale of your Property with Foundation Issues

Fortunately for you,

not all buyers look for a house where they can instantly move in

. Where most buyers see structural issues as headaches, a certain type of buyer sees an opportunity…

House flippers seek out the most distressed properties they can find and then, with their team of professionals, renovate and rehabilitate the house before selling it for a tidy profit.

Selling your home as-is can save you more money

in the long run as spending money on repairs that could cost thousands has no guarantee of getting a return of investment by way of the future sale.

4 Factors to Help you Decide Whether to Fix Foundation Issues

A

professional foundation inspection

is the most helpful thing to have in making an informed decision whether you’d go down the path of selling as-is or doing the foundation repairs first. A professional inspection will be able to tell you the following:

1. Extent of the Damage

If you find the foundation issues too enormous, such as wide foundation cracks resulting in severely bowed walls, you can sell your home as-is, so the buyer can demolish it and build on the lot.

If the foundation inspection finds that those are only minor cracks reparable for an affordable fee, you can consider doing the repair first before finding buyers.

2. Projected Repair Cost

You can request your home inspector to tell you the

total scope and how much it would cost

to address your home’s foundation problems.

3. Time vs Money

Ultimately it would come down to the

price you’d be willing to accept

. Would you undertake the major repairs yourself, if it means you can sell the house at a higher price point?

Or would you be content with getting a lower price but avoiding the hassle of repair and rehabilitation altogether?

4. Real Estate Market

Your decision

can also depend on whether it is a buyer’s or seller’s market

. You can ask a local real estate agent to get a feel of the market. In a

seller’s market

, where inventory is low, you may find that selling a house with foundation problems is easier than you think.

If you want to bypass paying real estate agent commission, you can reach out

directly

to companies that buy houses for cash and

get cash offers from multiple real estate investors

.

5 Tips on Selling a House with Foundation Issues

1. Be Transparent with Interested Buyers

When doing business with anyone, integrity is important. Therefore, it’s beneficial to be upfront to potential buyers about your home’s condition including foundation issues.

Even if you undertook the foundation repair prior to listing on the open market, and all interior signs and exterior signs of the issues had been eliminated,

you must hand over the documentation of the repairs

to the buyer. Disclosure of any flaws, weak spots, and hidden dangers, past or present, is

mandatory in most states

.

While past foundation issues can be a deal breaker for some, you’ll be certain to find a buyer sooner or later.

2. Obtain a Written Buyer’s Acknowledgement of Foundation Issues

For your protection, it is advisable to get a buyer’s acknowledgement, in written form, that you have disclosed any and all issues concerning your house.

3. Get Multiple Foundation Repair Quotations

When looking for a contractor who can do the necessary repair work, it is

not

advisable to get a single quote from a foundation repair company.

Shop around to get the best price

and the best contractor for the job.

4. Give Buyers the Repair Quotes You’ve Collected

If you decide to sell your house as-is even after obtaining repair quotes, you can pass them on to the cash buyer so they can decide if they’re going to repair foundation issues themselves or pass on the sale.

5. Specify that You’re Looking for Cash-Only Buyers

If the foundation damage is too extensive, potential buyers may have difficulty getting their loans approved. A cash investor is your best bet in getting your distressed property sold.

Final Thoughts: Selling a House with Foundation Issues

If you’d like to sell your house as-is, we at

Sell My House Fast

are ready to make you a cash offer. Free yourself from the stresses and hassles of trying to repair foundation problems.

With us, you

don’t have to pay

a dime to fix the foundation issues or wait months upon months for the foundation repairs to be completed. We purchase homes in absolutely

any condition

–sagging eaves, crumbling foundation, you name it.

We can close on

your

timeline–in as little as 7 days! Yes, you can get your cash IN A WEEK!


We even cover all closing costs


!

If you want all the benefits of a fast cash sale, fill out our form below!

Have any questions? Reach us at


(844) 207-0788


, and we’d be happy to help you!