We often get calls from realtors who are calling us because they have received their report from their home inspector that identifies potential foundation issues. The problem with this is that their 10 day inspection period is nearly over and they need us to go out and do a full investigation and write a report in a few days time which is nearly impossible.
We suggest that you get the buyer's agent and the seller’s agent to meet with us together so that everyone is on the same page and understands the issues involved.
The report that we produce is very comprehensive and has a number of moving parts and participants. The work on-site takes about 3 to 4 hours, the analysis back at our office takes roughly twice that amount of time, afterwards it needs to be reviewed and stamped by a civil engineer. Once that is done it needs to go to our design consultants who then build a repair plan and price it out for the customer. We are continually making improvements to our processes to shorten the time needed for completion and have made a lot of progress….. But still have a ways to go.
Real Estate Agents: Call us at the start of the Inspection Period.
I think I have a solution for this problem. I suggest that into each sales contract that a clause be inserted that should there become any concern over the foundation, that an automatic 10 day extension kick in to allow adequate time to investigate properly. This would allow enough time without rushing and making potential mistakes. At that point call us immediately! If you wait halfway through that 10 day period, we will not have time to do a proper investigation.
We also suggest that you get the buyer's agent and the seller’s agent to meet with us together so that everyone is on the same page and understands the issues involved.
Here is an example of what a page in our Forensic Engineered Report looks like:
