I'm heartbroken

[webwench]

I found a wonderful house, was pretty much hopping up and down in excitement about it... and then, on the way, spotted a big, huge crack up the front of it. An inch wide mostly-vertical crack right through the brick. How I missed it on my first drive-by or when we walked in, I'll never know

Comments

[swedenborgspace]

I'm asking prettytwisted. She's a princess realtor.

[satogaeru]

You've probably already decided what to do about this, but here's my two cents.

1) A home inspector will probably be well-equipped to address the issue and associated costs. A good one, anyway. In fact, I'd assume a home inspector's knowledge to be more practical and relevant than a structural engineer's for this particular kind of issue.

2) The housing market is not so great right now, and I'd bet the owners would be willing to allow an inspection beforehand, especially if they thought the problem was minor/cosmetic and that you'd buy the house post-inspection. Even if you didn't buy, you could probably swing it so that they could supply the results of your inspection to other prospective buyers. All sane prospective buyers will have the same concern. If they balked, I'd take that as a warning flag.

[willowkitty]

ask b brandonatasmithfamilydotnet, we had an amazing home inspector that scared us off of a house that we didnt even realize might have problems.

[bunnyfeet]

Tif is talking about MIchael Leban at Leban Engineering (www.leban.com). He is a PE Civil Engineer and brings a little more to the table than your average home inspector. Of course he'll charge you for an inspection, but if you really like the house and this is what is keeping you from making an offer, it might be worth it. You'd be looking at $400 to $500 for a full inspection.

[bunnyfeet]

For what it's worth, we used these guys when we bought our current house, as well as when we were thinking of buying that house in Kirkwood. He will definitely give you his honest opinion.