Buying or Selling a Home/new home inspection

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Expert: - 12/7/2009


Question
Hi There,
A home has come on the market I am interested in.  However upon our initial walk through, the family and I noticed that the floors were slanted going down hill.  We returned the next day with a ball and level and sure enough both first and second story floors were not level.  All floors are hard wood, but not the read wood.  How do we proceed, we really like the house.  It has been on the market going on 500 days. Price started in August 2008 at $993,000.00 and has just been relisted after a series of drops to $700,000.00.  It is located in Simi Valley, CA. was built in 1987.  My budget is $700,000.00 therefore any costly repairs would be out of the question.
Thanks,
Gene

Answer
Hey, Gene.

Out in Simi Valley, sloping floors could be the result of something simple, like poor floor construction, or more serious, such as earthquake damage or excessive settling.

I'm presuming that the house is built on a concrete slab and not a raised foundation. In other words, you cannot crawl under the house. If that's the case, sloping floors could be much more serious since sloping would seem to indicate problems with the concrete slab, and that would probably be expensive to ascertain and to correct.

If the house is on a raised foundation -- somewhat rare for 1987, 2-story construction in Simi Valley, it would be easier to correct.

Since you already know that the floors slope, a foundation professional would be the best person to call first since most home inspectors are only going to be able to tell you what you already know and then refer you to a foundation professional.

I might be able to help you further if you can provide some pictures of the house and the neighborhood, especially neighboring houses and answer some questions:

1 - Is it definitely a concrete slab foundation?
2 - Are there any large trees nearby?
3 - Is grass planted in the yard? If so, is it nice and green or brown and dying?
4 - Can you see the foundation from the exterior, i.e., no vegetation precluding visibility?

Russel

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Russel Ray

Expertise

Through home inspections, I provide an education about real estate. I'm one of those rare home inspectors who has been involved in real estate in many different capacities: as a Realtor (in Texas), as a property investor/flipper, as a teacher, and as a marketing expert (for Realtors and home inspectors). I believe that my experience as a Realtor and property investor provides me with a different viewpoint about home inspections in that I work for my Clients, but when there are other people involved in helping my Clients, then I firmly believe in helping them, too. That includes Realtors (both the seller's and the buyer's), repair professionals (e.g., plumbers, electricians, etc.). If I can get all the players (seller, seller's Realtor, buyer, buyer's Realtor, and repair professionals) playing in the same sandbox together to accomplish goals as a TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More), then I believe I have succeeded in my job as a home inspector. My profession is, in my opinion, much more than simply documenting the condition of a property and then take the money and run. I am also a rare breed in that I don't believe that one inspection fits the needs of all Clients, and I have led the industry in understanding that fact. For example, the goals of a property investor are far different than the goals of someone buying a property to live in. The goals of a seller (a pre-listing inspection) are far different than the goals of a buyer (a pre-purchase inspection). To that end, I offer 14 different types of inspections, e.g., STANDARD, LIST, RENTER, BASIC, MAINTENANCE, SPOT, and more. I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt to all professionals in whatever industry they represent until they prove me wrong.

Experience

Over 42 years in all aspects of real estate--building homes, renovating homes, inspecting homes, Realtor.

Organizations
National Association of Certified Home Inspector, Better Business Bureau of San Diego

Education/Credentials
Graduate of Texas A&M University; College Station, Texas

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