When purchasing a property, it’s easy to focus on how much money the property will cost and how much money you will make. That said, before you start envisioning your ROI, check out the property’s foundation. According to Clever, while you might encounter a property with foundation problems the seller claims they’ve sorted out, fortunately, only about 7% of sellers lie about undertaking foundation maintenance. For the times when this is not communicated to you, here are some tips for determining whether your property needs foundation repair.
Check for Signs of Damage
As a shrewd real estate investor, you should check the structural integrity of any property you are interested in. You don’t want a situation whereby a property you’ve invested in needs serious foundation maintenance. Some of the things you can check for include:
- Cabinets and table tops separating from the wall
- Gaps around external doors
- The floor appears to be dipping
- The slab foundation moving upwards
- The property appears to be sinking
Hire a Foundation Maintenance Expert
If you find any of the issues listed above, the best course of action is to hire a foundation professional to help you evaluate the foundation integrity of the property. Sometimes, cracks appearing in the foundation might be caused by the normal settling of the property. Other times it’s an indication of serious structural damage. Foundation repair professionals will know how to assess each of these occurrences, their severity, and the necessary action to take.
Make a Decision
Once the foundation expert gives you an evaluation, you need to make a decision. It’s a no-brainer that you should walk away if the evaluation reveals serious structural issues. But if the property reveals minor foundation problems, you’d only spend a small amount to fix them, meaning you should consider buying the property. You can even use the minor foundation problems as a bargaining chip to lower the cost of the property as well as an incentive to raise the price come the time when you wish to sell. Also, consider adding a contingency when signing contracts for properties you’re investing in. This comes in handy in case further structural issues are detected later on.
When it comes to evaluating whether foundation maintenance has been done on a property, you also want to consider your own personal needs and avoid any property whose repairs would be too laborsome or costly. That way, you can be confident in any decisions you make to bring on foundation repair professionals who know what they’re doing.
