Would you buy a building that has the potential of collapsing by itself in some time? Possibly, your answer is a big, fat ‘no’ in this case. You did not pay all that money to see your investment sink the next day.
The same situation applies to your house when you are selling it while structural issues are still persisting at its foundation. The value of a property with foundation problems slips down by 10-15%.
Hence, in simple words, the untreated foundation problems push down the value of your house and make it difficult to sell. For example, a house that is worth $200,000 would lose $20,000 to $30,000 in its resale value, considering it gets a buyer.
On the other hand, foundation repair boosts the resale value while making it easier to attract a potential buyer. Thus, your worries of a foundation repair that makes it challenging to sell your home are unfounded.
How do foundation problems reduce the value of a house?
Foundation issues snowball into other problems as well. These include cracked walls and difficulty in using the windows. To narrow it down, the effects of foundation problems extend to two major classes: poor home exterior and a damaged floor.
Firstly, the extent and severity of your house’s foundation problem demonstrate how it affects the exterior. Some of the issues that crop up include cracks in the wall, a sloping staircase, door jams, misaligned windows or windows with cracks on them. These also involve physical cracks on the drywall and gaps between the ceiling and wall.
Severe cases of foundation concerns can also reach a finale of large cracks on exterior concrete. Since your house’s outward look determines its value, this can take down the resale value drastically. It can also offset the interested party.
Secondly, foundation problems culminate in issues on the floor too. Eventually, you will notice a swell in the flooring. In the long haul, this causes the tiles or wooden floorboards to pop up.
What’s clear from this is that no one would want to buy a house with a damaged floor even if the buyer agrees to compromise with the exterior look. As a result, no foundation repair at all will make it challenging to sell your home.
You may find some buyers though, but the chances of good resale price are poor. Kathryn Bishop, a Realtor® with Keller Williams Realty in Studio City, CA shared about this with Realtor.com. Bishop said, “Foundation issues can mushroom into a financial morass, so only buyers with construction knowledge or a very good friend who is a foundation repair expert will be attracted to the property.”
The only catch is that the buyers would take your prices down. Bishop, therefore, added,
“But these buyers know how to fix the issue and want to buy the property at the lower price, either for their own residence or to resell.”
Why does your home resale value go down?
Simply put, the additional costs that the repair work adds cuts the revalue value. Either you would bear the repair costs, or you can cut the price to make up for the expenses that will go to foundation repair. Whatever the case, the price goes down.
This cost of foundation repair work and the subsequent impact on the home resale value depends on many things. These include the type of foundation, the size of your house, the severity of the issue, and several other factors.
As per HomeAdvisor, the average cost of foundation repair lies between the ranges of $1,849 – $6,429. Minor cracks or other low-end problems can be fixed in as little as $450. However, major foundation repair jobs can take up to $11,888. Some damages can also take as much as $15,000 to fix as per DFW Foundation Repair.
Besides these direct costs of foundation repair work, there are also costs of referred symptoms. These include the problems that occur due to foundation repair including roof issues, sagging floors, cracked windows, compromised insulation, and so on.
These problems need to be fixed soon and also sip in money. Therefore, your house’s resale value goes down due to the repair costs of these referred symptoms.
On top of these expenses, your home’s resale value also declines due to the reduced curb appeal. This is because the first impression plays a detrimental role in a prospective buyer’s property evaluation. People want to buy a house that looks good as well as feels safe.
Ceiling cracks, sagging floors, and visible foundation cracks can be offsetting in this regard. This decreased curb value can seriously impact your house’s price in multiple ways.
Wrapping up
In sum, foundation repair makes it easy to sell your house at it enhances your home’s curb appeal and frees the house from foundation and associated issues. Not only will a pending foundation problem affect your resale value but it will keep you waiting in the market for longer too. Thus, making it tough to sell your house.
