Can I Sell My San Diego House With Foundation Issues?

Yes, you can! It’s as simple as disclosing it to the seller.  Once disclosed, the seller can agree to buy your house, understanding the home is sold as-is. Unfortunately, most lenders won’t finance conventional mortgages for houses with severe structural problems (like foundation issues). However, some select mortgage programs allow home buyers to finance distressed properties with foundation issues.

Even if you have a brand new construction home in pristine condition listed at a bargain price, it can still be challenging to actually make that sale. When your home for sale is neither new nor pristine, and especially if there are structural issues with the foundation, that sale gets even tougher to make.

How To Sell A House With Foundation Problems

But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to sell your San Diego home fast. Whatever your personal reasons may be for wanting or needing to unload the property, there is some good news here: for every home for sale, there is always a buyer somewhere who will want to own it. You just need to find the right buyer for your home for sale!

How to Know Your Home Is Developing Foundation Problems

If you are a first time homeowner, you may not immediately realize that the changes you are witnessing inside your home are, in fact, caused by a shifting foundation. You may even find yourself wondering what on earth could be causing the cracked paint, jammed windows, falling cabinet drawers, et al.

Then you talk to a friend or read an article online (like this one) or have a contractor come take a look and you discover it is the foundation.

Selling A House With Foundation Issues

Why Do Homes Develop Foundation Issues?

It is true that foundation issues are among the more serious structural issues a home can develop. Not all buyers will be willing to tackle this type of serious structural repair.

Fixing foundation issues starts with identifying the root cause of the problem itself. In other words, what caused the foundation to crack, shift or slope?

Some very common causes of foundation problems in residential communities is the local soil type, overly humid or overly dry weather, severe storms, poorly laid original foundation, the passing of time which can degrade the foundation naturally, poor drainage that sends moisture back towards the home and similar issues.

Over time, foundations that are experiencing these kinds of issues can no longer adjust so readily and they can start to shift, slope or crack from the pressure of the surrounding soil and the elements.

Sometimes after ongoing degradation, poor maintenance or major weather events, or even just the wear and tear of the passing years, you finally decide to do something about the foundation issues. And that is when you discover your homeowners insurance policy that you have been paying for all these years doesn’t cover the type of foundation issues your home has developed.

It is often at this point that selling the property comes to mind and you may wonder how to sell a house with foundation problems.

These are the most common telltale signs your home’s foundation is unstable, cracked, sloped or shifting.

Wall, door or window cracks.

Are your walls developing cracks in the paint, bubbling wallpaper or some combination thereof?

Do you see cracks developing around movable structures such as doors and windows or along the crown moulding that separates your wall and ceiling?

When you walk by your doors and windows, can you feel air or even water blowing in?

These exact types of issues are most commonly caused when the foundation starts to shift. Your home’s foundation was built to ensure every movable structure stayed in place correctly. As the foundation moves, all the structures on top of it do too.

This is particularly concerning if the cracks are wide or deep enough so moisture and water can seep in, leading to mildew and mould.

Floors feel like they are bubbled or sloping.

When your floor starts to feel like a ride at an amusement park, either sloping down or pushing up or down in the center, this is a clear sign that your home’s foundation is starting to experience structural degradation.

If the structural damage is slight, which it often is at first, you may notice that your furniture is uneven – for example, a table might feel wobbly where the floor has buckled slightly in one corner.

You may also notice the changes more in some rooms over others. Sometimes the first indication is when you start to trip in a place you have never tripped before, because suddenly there is a new drop down or step up as you move from one room to the next.

Windows, doors and drawers won’t stay closed or open.

We mentioned earlier how, when the foundation shifts, everything on top of it shifts too. This can really affect built-ins such as cabinets and drawers as well as windows and doors.

Depending on the nature of the damage, you may start each morning with your daily tussle to open the bathroom drawer. Or you may end each night trying to convince your bedroom door to stay shut already.

You may also notice that sometimes your windows stick and sometimes they won’t stay shut – this can happen during seasonal shifts in moistures and humidity.

Cracks or leaning in your walls or chimney.

One of the scariest signs any homeowner will see of foundation issues is when they look up one day and notice their chimney is leaning! This is really dangerous – if left unfixed, it may bring the whole wall down with it.

Smaller issues may show themselves with cracks in the bricks or outer wood, bulges or curves in the middle, top or bottom area of a wall or a wall that appears to be leaning out or in.

Should You Fix or Should You Sell?

Once you have identified that the issue is with your home’s foundation, you now face that one essential question: fix it or sell it.

The typical foundation repair can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000+ when all is said and done. Plus you will likely be displaced during some portion of the repairs.

Plus, unless your homeowners policy includes a special rider, you can pretty much count on your claim being denied.

Most people today don’t have a lot of extra ready cash in savings. This can make selling look like the smart choice.

How to Sell Your Home If It Has Foundation Problems

If you are like most homeowners, when you are ready to sell, you just want to get it done.

While traditional selling certainly is one avenue you could take, it can be problematic when the home in question has major structural or foundation issues that you must disclose.

A more expedient method is called “as-is selling.” In this type of transaction, you work with a buyer that purchases your home just as it is. You pay no fees and you don’t even have to clean. You walk away with cash and a fresh start.

It is not surprising this is such a popular option for homeowners saddled with homes that have foundation issues, since such homes can be all but unsaleable in the traditional home sales marketplace.  Contact I BUY SD to sell your home fast.

 

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