Help for Houston home sellers

Many home sellers need engineering help to get a house ready to sell. Many homes in Houston have obvious irregularities, distress and/or damage that could be interpreted as being due to foundation movement. The owners of such houses can be faced with some real problems that can make selling their house more time consuming than it should be. Consider this common situation:

You want to touch up the house to make it look as good as practical before you put it on the market. There is nothing wrong with this, but if you make repairs that make the house more marketable, you have to be very careful to make sure that you make the necessary disclosures that can protect you from a future allegation that you simply covered up a serious problem. Your agent can help you with this. In many cases, you would be wise to get an engineering report before the house goes on the market.

Let me give you an example that happens every day. A homeowner needs to sell the house and it is in good shape except for one thing: there is a crack in the floor tile and it runs from one tile to another. Any buyer who sees it will immediately think: foundation problem.

Many sellers will be convinced that it is really nothing to be concerned about. The seller might not be concerned, but buyers will almost certainly be concerned. So will real estate agents. Once your home is on the market, it will be toured by all the agents in your area, usually the next Tuesday. Once the agents see the cracked tile, your home will be tagged as having foundation problems.