Leaky basement-would you buy?

[Anonymous]

HELL NO!!! As first time home buyers, we bought a house with a leaky basement (it was not disclosed and our sleezy inspector didnt catch it). It turned into a massive expensive renovation that we were not prepared for. Next time I will triple check the basement, poll the neighbors, hire two inspectors, and steer clear of any property with any signs of water in the basement!!!

Fix the problem. Then list.

[Anonymous]

New PP here, what if the problem cannot be truly fixed? We had a sneaky seller who kind of, but did not really, disclose a problem. The walls seeped, but they were covered with old paneling.

We put in french drains which pretty much stopped the appearance in the basement, but the water still gets inside the perimeter - just it is moved away. The problem is the slope of our house from the road that cannot be regraded and the high water table.

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the PP who said all houses 70+ years old leak. My parents house is older than that, and has never leaked. The age of a house is no excuse for it leaking.

[Anonymous]

checkbook just did a review on basement water proofing. The best water proofer and most honest fix was like $3500 vs the rip off artists that started at 12,000 and kept dropping the prices down to 9,000 over a course of a few weeks. Terrible sales pitches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we list it knowing this problem? Everyone I know has water issues in the basement-and just hides the fact when they sell.

Yes, you can list with this issue, but you MUST disclose it. If you know about the issue, fail to disclose and the problem manifests within a certain amount of time (the length of time varies by jurisdiction), then you will be liable for repairs, damages and penalties. Something that might cost you $3-4K to fix now, could cost you $10K if you fail to disclose and the problem becomes significant. Do not do this. It is illegal and unethical. You also will have to explicitly hide this from your realtor and have to perjure yourself. When you list, your realtor will ask you if there are any problems that you know about that need to be disclosed. If you answer yes, then the realtor is obligated by law to notate it. If you answer no and it is later found that you were lying, then the penalties are unforgiving.

Either fix the problem or disclose the issue and be prepared to either fix the problem after inspection or give an allowance for what the buyer thinks is reasonable to fix the problem after settlement. I personally think fixing the problem now, on your own schedule and with the professional of your choice (rather than the only one that is available on short notice when you must repair to be able to close) is the cheapest and best solution. At a minimum, I would get someone in to do an evaluation and estimate so that you also know how much allowance to agree to if you don't fix if yourselves. Otherwise, you may have to agree to a larger allowance that you need to just to close the deal.

[Anonymous]

I chose not to buy a house with a wet basement - the inspection was pretty bad so we backed out. They had a sump pump and it didn't help. I was glad - that was a very rainy summer and I would have been on edge the whole time.

We did buy a house with a sump pump and with stairs that lead down to the basement. We've now lived through the last two rainy years - not a drop in the basement.

My previous townhouse had no basement water issues. Not all houses do. Though I did have to replace the carpets after we had a leaking refrigerator that (through a comedy of errors) ended up flooding the kitchen and basement room below with an inch of water.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't the issue arise at a home inspection?

And what is the source of the problem and how do you know that there isn't other damage (mold, wood rot)? Have you considered waterproofing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New PP here, what if the problem cannot be truly fixed? We had a sneaky seller who kind of, but did not really, disclose a problem. The walls seeped, but they were covered with old paneling.

We put in french drains which pretty much stopped the appearance in the basement, but the water still gets inside the perimeter - just it is moved away. The problem is the slope of our house from the road that cannot be regraded and the high water table.

We have this issue, too. We don't plan to stay in the house long term and know we can sell it anyway given our location, so we are not putting in french drains but we will disclose that there is some minor water in the basement. The return on investment for french drains just isn't there b/c it really won't affect the sale price. The rest of the house is solid for the neighborhood and the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't the issue arise at a home inspection?

And what is the source of the problem and how do you know that there isn't other damage (mold, wood rot)? Have you considered waterproofing?

It didn't for us. But then again, we were FTHB and our inspector SUCKED.

[Anonymous]

I would never buy a house with a leaky basement. You need to either disclose or repair this. Even the worst inspector will look for this. Unless your house is in such a desirible area, and you are making so much money on it, that it is a tear down, or you can afford the price reduction/lack of buyers/hassles to sell "as is." Then you could just say: here it is.

[Anonymous]

^^It might not cost as much as you think to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^It might not cost as much as you think to fix it.

Oh, but it does. We've looked into it. We bought a fixer upper knowing we'd have to put money in elsewhere - but we didn't budget for this and the crap inspector didn't catch it. We've made a ton of improvements that will make it desirable in spite of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not buy a house with those outside stairs going down into a basement door. There are so many problems with houses I would not buy a known wet basement. If it was wet once or twice and remedied then perhaps. Who lives in a house for years without attempting to fix basement water?

Why would you not buy a house with stairs to the basement? Definitely does not mean water is coming in. I feel safer knowing I have two ways out. I've always considered the outside stairs to be a selling point, not a negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not buy a house with those outside stairs going down into a basement door. There are so many problems with houses I would not buy a known wet basement. If it was wet once or twice and remedied then perhaps. Who lives in a house for years without attempting to fix basement water?

Why would you not buy a house with stairs to the basement? Definitely does not mean water is coming in. I feel safer knowing I have two ways out. I've always considered the outside stairs to be a selling point, not a negative.

+1. We have a welled exit in our home that was built in 2006. Despite a LOT of rain and several gales, hurricanes, etc, we have not had a drop of water in the basement (unfinished basement, we can definitely see whether there is water anywhere in the basement). And the door is still perfectly dry and working on the inside. I definitely wanted the door there. At some point, we do plan to add rooms in the basement and the side with the welled exit is where we'll build. That will be the only place that we can put a legal bedroom in the basement. We're planning a little "in-law suite" down there.

[Anonymous]

I always make an appt at a house I like immediately after it rains a lot. I diligence the basement, draining, and grade of the yard.

You're just going to have to disclose the pooling water and how it was never a big deal to you. If your house is in a good neighborhood, in demand and priced right someone will not mind it too badly....