r/RealEstate • u/Own-Negotiation-1422 • 7d ago

Homebuyer Foundation issues

I put an offer (at listing price) on a home that definitely has foundation issues. My realtor asked for a disclosure before the offer was made but we never received it. The offer asks for concessions but it was denied by the seller. Selling agent says that they have denied larger offers & pretty much saying that the house will be sold as is even though it states that no where in the listing. Is this normal? Should I walk?

4 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

40

u/Buglemintoday 7d ago

Always walk in this scenario...unless you are wanting to overpay for the home and are willing to spend thousands on foundation/plumbing repairs...

Or you are purchasing the home to demolish and build your dream home on the property.

2

u/Necessary_Good425 3d ago

agreed, the demolish and rebuild angle is really the only scenario where this doesnt end badly

19

u/JakeBrown235 7d ago

Foundation issues are two words that can turn a dream home into a very expensive geology lesson 🤔

19

u/Huckleberry-hound50 7d ago

Sounds like the seller isn't willing to negotiate. I would move on gladly.

11

u/aguyonahill 7d ago

"Larger offers" (if true) could have all sorts of contingencies like seller financing, fixing the know issues etc to make them worthless.

Don't proceed. 

8

u/atxgirl2024 7d ago

Definitely walk. Foundation issues are expensive and these sellers are delusional. Find a house that doesn’t require major work from day 1

4

u/Delicious-Round-4061 5d ago

dont walk...run. Foundation issues are expensive.

5

u/TradeTraditional 7d ago

let them pound sand.
They obviously "know what I have" and it'll remain theirs for probably several years to come.

4

u/Tom__Clement 7d ago

Licensed CO agent.

Should I walk? The answer is always it depends.

Foundation issues scare everyone, and that's normal. But not every foundation problem is a dealbreaker. Some are a few thousand to fix. Some are nightmares. You don't know which one this is yet, and guessing is how good deals die for no reason.

Your agent is right to push on this. If the listing doesn't say as-is, the listing agent saying it now means nothing. As-is lives in the contract language, not in a conversation. And a disclosure you asked for and never got is a real problem, not a paperwork delay.

If they really turned down larger offers, why is the house still sitting there? That line is meant to make you feel lucky to be in the game. Read it for what it is.

Before you walk, if this is the right home in the right spot for your lifestyle and the seller approves, you could spend a few hundred on a structural engineer. Not a home inspector. An engineer. That report gives your agent the paper to demand a credit or a price cut, or it tells you the foundation is a money pit and walking was right. Either way you stop guessing.

One more thing in your favor. Rates in the 7s shifted this market. Buyers have options again, and sellers know it. Your agent walks in with more leverage than they would have when rates were low and buyers were waiving inspections just to win bidding wars.

Ask your agent to get the disclosure request and the as-is question to the listing agent in writing (if it's not already). Paper trails change the tone of these fast.

Not advice, just an outside perspective.

3

u/MetsToWS Landlord 7d ago

the missing disclosure and refusal to negotiate are bigger red flags than the listing not saying “as is.” don’t waive your inspection contingency. get an independent structural engineer, not a foundation repair company, and price the repair plus related plumbing, drainage, drywall, and flooring damage. if the seller won’t allow proper inspections or the contract doesn’t give you a clean exit, walk and have your realtor or attorney confirm the deadline in writing.

3

u/JunkBondJunkie 7d ago

Foundation issues I would walk

3

u/Altruistic-Panda-697 6d ago

Don’t just walk, but rather run away!

3

u/KittenKingdom000 2d ago

I'd pass. If you choose to more forward you want an inspection by a STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, not a random home inspector. If they're passing on these magical high offers they either don't exist or those people bounced when they figured out how bad it is.

2

u/sweetrobna 7d ago

You should hire an engineer and have them give you a report on what is wrong and what it will take to fix. Maybe this is a huge problem and there is already a lot of damage, it's money well spent to avoid buying this home. Maybe it's a relatively easy fix like adjusting piers or sistering a few floor joists. Or somewhere in the middle, and the report helps justify asking the seller for a credit or reduced price. Because they now need to disclose it to future buyers.

2

u/Naikrobak 7d ago

Everything is negotiable. Should you walk is up to
You on your deal.

Did you offer less and is it priced accordingly to allow for the foundation issue or is it offered and priced as if the foundation damage doesn’t exist?

It’s very possible you are 30k under appraisal and that the foundation issue is baked into the deal already, or that it’s not. This answer is what you need to resolve

2

u/Powerful_Put5667 7d ago

Walk the seller gets to set the terms of the sale. Clearly they are willing to wait until someone who is very foolish comes along and buys their home. You do not want to be that person.

2

u/Rich-Discipline9535 7d ago

As someone with foundation issues and also selling another home, walk away. Not all realtors or home sellers are honest and the most common lie is that there are multiple buyers who are willing to pay more but honestly there isn't. I am just getting into the foundation problems on my home and fortunately part of it is city problem and part is my problem, but I am staring at a $15,000 bill and that is just my driveway. Can you afford to spend a lot of extra money?

2

u/Judgejudyssideeye 6d ago

RUN, everything about this screams illegal, unethical and that sellers and their RE are hiding serious issues. I wouldn’t even ever look at a home with foundation issues.

2

u/anotherlab 6d ago

A verbal notice of larger offers isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Foundation issues can be either nothing or a huge expense to address. Not providing the disclosure notice upon request sounds like a serious red flag. Since they denied the concessions, you can just walk away.

We placed an offer a few months ago, and the inspection turned up a laundry list of big-ticket items. Easily 50k of work. We told their agent that if they addressed the issues, we would still move forward. They offered a 25k credit, and we walked.

They relisted the home a few weeks later for about 60k less than our offer. We found a home that was a better match for what we were looking for the same week we cancelled the contract.

1

u/ShortWoman Agent -- Retired 7d ago

Withdraw your offer and have your agent make it clear that if they have a better offer, they should take it.

Do not buy their problem.

1

u/Equivalent-Tiger-316 7d ago

It’s all a negotiation. Doesn’t mean the seller has to negotiate. Only way to win a negotiation is to send the cancellation papers and say if you won’t accept xx concession then here is the cancellation. 

1

u/Impossible-Sign-9452 6d ago

There will always be another house. Not worth getting locked into something unless you are sure.

1

u/Emergency-Fish3036 6d ago

Oh no, don't walk away......RUN!!!!

1

u/Ok-Cat5325 6d ago

Regardless of what your Realtor says, Foundation Issues r a No for me.

1

u/MacDaddyDC 6d ago

unless you got untold tens of thousands of dollars to burn for unknown foundation issues after paying full ask, run. Don’t walk, run.

Foundation work is absolutely not a DIY repair.

1

u/at-the-crook 5d ago

Foundation issues? Why are you still considering this purchase?

1

u/Own-Negotiation-1422 5d ago

The house is has everything I want. It’s in a great location. I have money left over to fix things. The foundation is a crawl space and the only be noticeable issue is just in one room of the home

3

u/KittenKingdom000 2d ago

Whatever the estimates to fix it are it will always be more. Foundation issues are no joke. We saw a few houses with major issues and walked, one is nearby and the wall is collapsing. Nope.

2

u/adjusterjackb 3d ago

Walk. Whatever they are telling you is probably a lie. Whatever you think it's going to cost, triple that amount. Yes, walk.

1

u/TheoreticalLime 2d ago

Our house they had already spent 12k to fix the foundation, turned out they had just propped it up enough to sell before it started sinking again. Was able to get it fixed properly with 10 helical piers down to bedrock for about 16k. This was one corner of a 800sqft house... Other quotes went up to 70k. The missing disclosure to me says one of those other "larger" offers had a foundation inspection and they don't want to show it to you.

1

u/Meow99 3d ago

Run!