The other day I showed a home that looked as if it had been built on the San Andreas fault line. You don't have to be an engineer or seasoned industry professional to know when the slab of the home is cracked in 72 different places. The property had huge gaps around the windows and there were about dozen huge cracks throughout the interior of the home. The damage was incredibly obvious and very extensive. I think if I drop kicked the door going to the master I probably still wouldn't have been able to shut it correctly.
Inside the home there were two college degrees prominently displayed on the wall of the study. And neither of them were from fake colleges. Clearly the sellers were educated. Even still, any person with a nose on their face could have easily identified that something with the foundation was incredibly wrong.
So why am I venting?
Other than the obvious foundation issues, the home was gorgeous. It was in a pristine neighborhood and with a working foundation, it would be awesome.
While at the home I called the listing agent and asked what the sellers plan of action was for the slab. Her response was to simply play naive. She told me that her and her seller were not qualified to ascertain that their was a foundation issue and if "we thought there was a problem" to order inspections for further findings. It's as if she had said this a dozen times already.
Her answer was technically correct, but it wasn't a good one. It basically says, "We're playing stupid and the seller is hell bent on not spending money."
I would never list a home with slab in this condition. If I did, there's no question I would demand that the seller look into a professional quote and overall determination. No buyer pay to fix a slab/foundation. It is just about always a seller expense. The seller should obtain a quote and put a plan "into action" when listing their home. If you're sitting on the couch and all the contents of your home are leaning to the left by 20 degrees, odds are something is very, very wrong. You should NEVER assume a buyer will split the cost of the cost of foundation work, especially when your home is listed for "fair" mkt value. Don't waste agents and buyers time by playing dumb. Nobody will "get under contract" to point out the very obvious.
Get it done right the first time.
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