"Basement known to take on water in heavy rain"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The house isn’t worth it. I like the dark wood very much, cabinets and details, but the sea of white is awful. What are they covering up with all that awful white paint??

I'm not following your logic. The interior walls are all white. Which is a very common interior paint color. It looks crisply and nicely painted and the interiors are light and airy. Very well done, I must say.

[Anonymous]

I like the house and I think it would be worth having an inspection by a waterproofing company to see what the fix would cost. However, I'm surprised the owner didn't proactively do that which makes me think they did and aren't disclosing the cost or something else problematic about it.

[Anonymous]

I walk past this house all the time and it is even nicer looking in person.

[Anonymous]

It would be worth getting a professional to evaluate and to get estimates from a reputable waterproofing company. It helps that the basement is unfinished which allows an more transparent and unobstructed view of what is happening when it rains. Assuming you could get sufficient assurances that the problem was solvable, I would be OK buying the house. That said, I would not finish the basement until you solved the problem and went through multiple storms without any water intrusion. We had an unfinished basement where water would seep in maybe once a year or less during really heavy rains. We tried every DYI fix including regrading and rerouting downspouts, which definitely helped but not completely. After 10 years we finally relented and spent $35K on a complete perimeter trench and sump pump system that included a transferable dry basement guarantee. That was two years ago and we've had no more problems since. It also allowed us to finish out basement into a really nice space.

[Anonymous]

Given the renovations to the house my guess is that they have attempted to mitigate this and failed. Meaning it's a difficult problem a new owner wouldn't be able to fix reasonably either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the renovations to the house my guess is that they have attempted to mitigate this and failed. Meaning it's a difficult problem a new owner wouldn't be able to fix reasonably either.

If there is no sump pump, I question this assumption.

[Anonymous]

You don't need this. Keep looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be worth getting a professional to evaluate and to get estimates from a reputable waterproofing company. It helps that the basement is unfinished which allows an more transparent and unobstructed view of what is happening when it rains. Assuming you could get sufficient assurances that the problem was solvable, I would be OK buying the house. That said, I would not finish the basement until you solved the problem and went through multiple storms without any water intrusion. We had an unfinished basement where water would seep in maybe once a year or less during really heavy rains. We tried every DYI fix including regrading and rerouting downspouts, which definitely helped but not completely. After 10 years we finally relented and spent $35K on a complete perimeter trench and sump pump system that included a transferable dry basement guarantee. That was two years ago and we've had no more problems since. It also allowed us to finish out basement into a really nice space.

+1 on the plus side, this seems like the perfect timing to assess how wet it is given the intense rains we've had.

[Anonymous]

I would not buy this house. In part because of the basement, but also because of the wooden siding and porch. We previously owned a historic home with wood siding and a wood porch, and they are expensive to maintain. I was always looking longingly at my neighbors' houses that has concrete porches and brick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the renovations to the house my guess is that they have attempted to mitigate this and failed. Meaning it's a difficult problem a new owner wouldn't be able to fix reasonably either.

Why?? I didn’t get that at all. It looks to me like the last renovations happened to the house >20 years ago. The basement is unfinished, low quality utility space. There’s no egress nor room for much more than a laundry room. I would guess it just wasn’t a priority for them and whatever made them sell now after a long long time, they’re weren’t interested in putting cash in before the sale.

I bet for $20k you can get interior drains, a sump pump, and clean up the finishes to make a cute laundry/storage area that will be bone dry. Or you could just leave it alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The house isn’t worth it. I like the dark wood very much, cabinets and details, but the sea of white is awful. What are they covering up with all that awful white paint??

I'm not following your logic. The interior walls are all white. Which is a very common interior paint color. It looks crisply and nicely painted and the interiors are light and airy. Very well done, I must say.

It’s ugly, no character or texture or interest. Very yesterday, that look is dated. I assume this house had nice interior walls at one point, and seems fishy they whitewashed everything - covering mildew or mold?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd pass on this one. They were forced to disclose because you can see the water in the basement photos. It's unbelievable to me that this is just some 10k-20k fix. Any sane realtor would've told them to take care of it, knowing the price hit would be greater. It's a 1.4M house ffs.

I think you just haven’t been through it with a house before.

The basement is unfinished. The homeowners probably just didn’t sweat it. They may not have the cash to do it before the sale.

If the basement is finished, it’s a huge PITA.

It’s not finished, so if you buy this house and you want the basement dry, you can either dig exterior drains or do interior drains (they’re both “outside” the house, it’s just weather they are on one side or the other of the wall).

Or, you can start by checking/extending the gutters. I don’t think that will work but there’s no harm in the meantime except maybe wet toes for laundry.

I have dealt with basement flooding. It's most likely not possible to finish the basement, because it's not possible or financially worthwhile to stop the water coming in. If it were possible to fix for $20k it would've been done. Someone selling a 1.4M house would have no problem getting $20k mitigating it. It's almost certainly more complicated than installing some additional drains and a sump pump. So, for 1.4M, is it worth it to purchase a home that's going to have a wet basement and potential mold? Or have to worry if it'll get worse everytime there's a hard rain? Someone will buy it. An idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd pass on this one. They were forced to disclose because you can see the water in the basement photos. It's unbelievable to me that this is just some 10k-20k fix. Any sane realtor would've told them to take care of it, knowing the price hit would be greater. It's a 1.4M house ffs.

I think you just haven’t been through it with a house before.

The basement is unfinished. The homeowners probably just didn’t sweat it. They may not have the cash to do it before the sale.

If the basement is finished, it’s a huge PITA.

It’s not finished, so if you buy this house and you want the basement dry, you can either dig exterior drains or do interior drains (they’re both “outside” the house, it’s just weather they are on one side or the other of the wall).

Or, you can start by checking/extending the gutters. I don’t think that will work but there’s no harm in the meantime except maybe wet toes for laundry.

I have dealt with basement flooding. It's most likely not possible to finish the basement, because it's not possible or financially worthwhile to stop the water coming in. If it were possible to fix for $20k it would've been done. Someone selling a 1.4M house would have no problem getting $20k mitigating it. It's almost certainly more complicated than installing some additional drains and a sump pump. So, for 1.4M, is it worth it to purchase a home that's going to have a wet basement and potential mold? Or have to worry if it'll get worse everytime there's a hard rain? Someone will buy it. An idiot.

I don’t think this poster knows what they’re talking about.

But the whole thing is a good example of why you don’t put issues on the market if you can avoid it. But it’s also why buyers need to be willing to educate themselves, especially if they want to get a good deal (not that I’m saying this house is a good deal as listed - I don’t know the neighborhood market well enough).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PPs: if this is bad enough that it has to be disclosed, I would pass. Any home you buy could have some unforeseen problem that comes up, but in this case you know in advance.

What determines what needs to be disclosed? I do think it increases their chances of selling, because they'll attract the buyers who will appropriately diligence it.

[Anonymous]

It was disclosed because the pictures show a basement with water coming into it. Keep in mind they would've been able to choose the ideal time to take the pictures of the basement (no water present on a good day). Since that was not possible (some water is always present) they simply had no choice but to disclose it.