I receive many calls from real estate agents who need our services to investigate and then repair a foundation. We are very good with these kinds of requests. Many times no matter how good we are the transaction falls apart. Let’s go back in time and see how we can avoid this.
Scenario #1 Mr. Jones notices some cracks in his walls, or that his doors or windows are out of square, but puts off getting it analyzed or repaired until he contemplates selling…. Maybe a few months ahead of time, or not at all until it is recognized by a someone in the buyer’s camp. So he hires a repair contractor maybe a good one like Arizona Foundation Solutions…….:)
Now we need to convince the buyer that #1 the problem was diagnosed correctly, and #2 that the repairs were done properly. The repair contractor has a good track record. The repair comes with a lifetime warranty. However he has only have a few months or weeks of performance on those repairs. Ultimately how much does Mr. buyer believe that the repairs will not present problems to him in the future? Not so much. How likely will he have to discount the price…. Who knows?
Scenario #2. Mr. Smith notices those same symptoms, cracks, doors, windows etc. However Mr Smith wisely decides to proactively invest early. He gets his foundation inspected, and analyzed by a licensed professional engineer. He follows the recommendations of the engineer, hires a reputable contractor who follows the engineer’s recommendations, pulls a permit, and completes the work many years before putting his house for sale and has the contractor document the floor levels on the house after the repairs are done.
Now Mr. Smith must sell his house. He is being transferred to Kansas, or he gets a new job in Miami. Now he documents the new elevations of his home with again professionally engineered analysis, which shows over several years that those repairs have been performing very well. How much does Mr. buyer believe in the future performance of those repairs? ……A LOT!...... Will he likely have to discount the price? Hardly…
