As mentioned above, if it's a really good deal then hire a structural engineer to come out and thoroughly inspect the house. Most folks would have walked the minute they saw any of this. You didn't so I take it that it's everything you want with exception of the cracks. Pay for the engineer and make sure you hire them not either of the realtors and not off their referrals.

Then buy the house like your wife is nagging you about. This way she'll be all happy and giggly, maybe even give you some for a month as often as before you were married, and while she sleeps soundly you can stay awake wondering if the foundation repairs will last. Everyday you'll constantly scan the walls and ceiling for new cracks, and wonder if ran the soaker hoses enough or too much that week.  Hey, but she'll be happy and maybe even give you fellatio!

Unless you plan to sink additional money in possibly fixing the foundation and more, I suggest running, and never looking back

Find some place else.

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Up front anyway...

Screw that. It'd be less hassle to buy land and build your own place.

Guy probably couldn't sell the house due to the issues so he probably let the bank forclose on him

Why get an inspector?
You can see that there has been something going on.
Get a contractor to look at it and get a "ball park" estimate to fix it.
Or get an engineer and contractor to look at it together?

Are you in an area that is susceptible to foundation movement?
Some states/locales sit on very reactive clays.
So this type of movement may not be unheard of.
foundations not designed correctly - or standard size was undersized for the structure
soils got wet due to above grade moisture - number of ways for this to happen and likely the reason for the movement

OP, run away!

I didn't read all 5 pages of comments.  Get a local Structural Engineer, I get reports from them all the time, 600 dollars is what it cost me.  Money well spent.  Don't use a Inspector as your primary tool, if the Realtor suggest the inspector, don't use him.  I use to inspect homes 15 years ago, you are a one time customer for the inspector, the inspector real interest is in serving the Realtor.  Additionally inspectors are trained on a lot of areas of home construction and repair.  You are not concerned with the electrical or the roof right now, mostly you are concerned about the structure, so a engineer would put laser-like focus on your problem.

At the end of the day there isn't enough information in those pics.  Broken tile and cracked walls are VERY common in foreclosures.  Remember most of these homes haven't had utilities on in years, they've been sitting in the sun and snow without gas or electric on, and they AGE A LOT. The tile could have been install by a novice home owner as Do It Yourself project, pick up the floor tile and look under it.  Many times the tile was installed improperly.  Check to see if its on Durrock or some sort of backer board.  It is "acceptable" to install tile on plywood, but the plywood should be primed.  Still without a backer board, tile installed on plywood will move a lot with the floor vibration and cracks are common.

Of all the cracks on the wall, the one that bothers me the most is the first one.  If you can run your finger over and crack and it gets "caught" you may have energy (shear) moving through the wall.  That first crack in the corner seems to be slightly raised.  That is my biggest concern.

In most states, owners have to give full disclosure.  My guess is that bank doesn't know that anything is wrong with the property (if anything is wrong).  They generally don't go into so much detail as to determine structural issues unless the building is falling down.  They have thousands of properties, and are just managing the losses.  The lower price is more then likely causing my internet appraisal software.  When I look up my house, its worth is never actually depicted correctly.  Generally its will use whatever comps it can find, and generally doesn't do a go job at it.  So I wouldn't assume the low price is a indication of anything but poor bank management.

Don't let fear rule your decisions.  Get a structural engineer asap.  Additionally, if he finds nothing wrong, get him to issue you a certificate of insurance, listing you as additional insured/certificate holder, back dated to the date of the inspection.  That way if he is wrong, you can file a claim against him for the repairs.  Not an uncommon practice, he may ask for more money but it shouldn't cost more then 50 dollars.

Good Luck

Most inspectors have never even built a house.  Most are good at finding faulty appliances and cosmetic issues.  Trusting them for anything beyond that is a knee-slapper.

They don't even stand by their own advice, hence all the agreements you have to sign stating you understand that they cannot be liable for things not found or beyond their knowledge.


But yeah OP, maybe your inspector is different.

Good luck on the house.  

I'm calling it now, that's not foundation.

That's what happens to a house when there's no HVAC for multiple seasons.

Why would you want to?  Just buy a house that's not broken.

Walk away op!



< Foundation Repair Contractor

Tile don't pop because of that

If it was done by two experts who watched a 30 minute show on DIY channel....

You said the house was banked owned. How long has the house been sitting empty? If its been vacant for a long while then naturally the climate change for an unconditioned house will wreak havoc on walls. The floor is whats concerning.

Buy, burn and collect, rebuild

UPDATE!!
So I will confess I am not the one buying the house. My friend is and I am just researching for him because he is not that smart. Anyways I had a foundation specialist come out and look at it for 3 hours. He said it only moved about a half inch and does not think it will move any more. He is sending a bid for the foundation repair but also said it is not necessary. What say the hive?

Throw the truck in reverse, Cletus.  Diligence is done.

LOL

No, just say no.

Slab is cracked

What the heck kind of offer did you make for that crap hole?

Is there something incredibly special about this house that your friend must buy it?



Seems to me like it's going to be more problems than it's worth.



 

Some friend you are. (edit cause I need a smilie here, just can't decide which one!)

You need to send your buddy the link to this thread so he gets the full picture!

This

He wants big and cheap so it perfect for him...... Haha
He wants to fix it up as he goes. Witch means I will be fixing it because I am in the construction trade.

He has been watching this thread. He was running full speed at this house but the thread is making him doubt it now.

Then why did you ask for advice?

ETA - Generally when one asks for advice on how to proceed its because one does not know.  (Example - "Hey car repair guy! How hard is it for me to fix my own transmission slipping problem?")  Translation - If you have to ask for advice on how to do something you probably shouldn't be doing it.

Run Forest, Run

Been a while since you bought a house?.  Home inspections have gone up considerably with Gov't mandates.

You're in the "construction trade" and will be fixing this place up for your "friend", yet you have to ask GD for advice on obvious construction issues??

Why did you say you were buying it the entire time?  You're full of shit.  We aren't buying you.  I can't believe you're lying to save face.  That's pathetic OP.  Even more pathetic than buying this fubar'd house.

A half a inch over 20, 30, 40+ feet is not even noticeable to humans, not a big thing.  Ask the foundation specialist to mark the corner or side that has dropped, so that it can be monitored in the future.

Then...NOW LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY...Go and nail your friends wife, girlfriend or his Mother (and video tape it) after he closes.  OR ELSE you will spend every weekend for the rest of your life in that house   Sell your truck, slice the tires on your van...Break it off now or you will find yourself in the free labor army ( a hundred and fifty years ago we called it slavery).

Good Luck Bro

Its funny, the more and more ppl post/talk on here, esp in a single thread, the more the stories get crazier. funny how that works.

GD never, ever, fails to deliver....

I guess if you like to continue going back to fix fucked up drywall and your buddy don't run out of money to pay you, it's a win for you.

How does the Foundation contractor propose to fix it?  If it's not fixed properly it will move again, I'll bet my life on it.  

Eta: spelling

And some new shoes

R
Lol you can tell yourself whatever you want. The trade I was referring to is an electrician. Would you like my license number? And fixing his house is because I am pretty handy at everything else too. Thank you for your wonderful insight.

Yes. This.

Unless you know a good contractor who can fix up your foundation. That's a 5-figure repair easy.

People can think whatever they want. That's what this country is all about. I said in the op I was buying it to get more people to read and comment. If I posted a friend wants to buy a house and there is problems!!! I don't think I would have gotten half the posts I got. But I mostly knew what to expect from everyone on here. But what I wanted was ideas I have not yet thought of for him. Would you like me to have him make an account and post on here for you guys to believe me?

Meh.  That shit is NORMAL here in North Texas.

The clay soils move, and foundations eventually crack.  

I have a rental property in Plano that looks just like that.  Floor tiles cracked EVERYWHERE.  Door sticking, etc.  And a ton of this movement and settling happened AFTER the foundation was repaired.  There are two kinds of homes in Plano, TX - those who have had the foundation repaired, and those that will.  They need to drill down to bedrock, and install pillars for the foundation to settle on to.  It must be done by a pro.  Depending on the foundation, between 8k and 25k.  My house with 28 piers was $400 a pier.

Then the homeowner put down tile everywhere after the foundation repairs.... but additional movement cracked those.  I don't sweat it.  The worst case is you get a waterline crack due to movement, and this can create a hell of a mess, and expense down the road, tearing up your floors, gutting out the concrete, doing repairs and pouring new slab.

I am not in the "run" crowd.... but you need to get it cheap enough to cover a structural engineers recommendation for repairs, plus some money to set back for possible future repairs, and any floor rework, drywall patching, etc.

Dear OP's friend who is monitoring this thread,

1. Don't buy this house.

2. If you do buy this house, don't think that an electrician who is "pretty handy at everything else too" will do an awesome job on anything but electrical. People who are not licensed for a particular kind of construction activity but who do it for others are called either a) a handyman or b) a jackleg, depending on how they sell themselves to you. Either way, you will get what you pay for. Ask me how I know.

If you end up buying this house, by all means have the OP to handle the electrical issues, but hire a plumber to do the plumbing, an HVAC guy to handle the HVAC, etc. And definitely hire a structural engineer to figure out why your house is caving in.

So could they build a new house already on those pillars? That extra cost seems like it would work out in the long run

I compleatly agree. He wants to fix it up himself and I will help him what he wants (painting, mud and taping, electrical, building a new deck.) nothing crazy. I won't touch the tile. No idea how to do that. That's what friends do.

RUN

In my experience, that's too much movement in the tile for be a "half inch"

Foundation specialist???  Ha.

You need a structural engineer to bring the right equipment in.

They certainly could.  However - foundation technologies have improves and the builders keep saying it isn't necessary.  My whole block where I live now was built in 1996-1998, and they are just starting to "pop".  Several neighbors have had to have structural piers installed.... even though these are the new technology stressed and cabled foundations that are supposedly able to take the soil movement without failing.  (yeah, right).

The only thing that works is getting drip irrigation installed, maintaining the timer and equipment so the soil is always the same and never fully retracted from lack of moisture.  Some lifting is normal in heavy/extended rains.