Question about a house we just saw-engineering question

We saw a house in Commack that we decided not to put an offer on but I was curious if anyone had any knowledge about this. The neighbor of this house had a large pine tree and the roots were growing under the fence towards the house we were looking at. Also, there were cracks in the basement floor. What's your take on this? Thanks for the help!

Re: Question about a house we just saw-engineering question

by law, the the seller MUST disclose any known problems. i would ask the agent about these issues prior to making an offer. when and if you make an offer it should be contingent on an engineers report.

Re: Question about a house we just saw-engineering question

I thought the sellers had to disclose or pay that $500 fee, which is what most agents will advise their clients to do. I would definitely be wary of something like that. I remember reading about things to look for and cracks in the basement were a BIG no no, but I could be wrong.

Re: Question about a house we just saw-engineering question

It depends how deep the cracks are- if they go all the way to the outside of the foundation- obviously there will be problems. If so- you would need an excavator to come dig up around the crack from the outside and uncover it so someone could fix the crack. If you decide to purchase the house, maybe you can put that into the contract and get some sort of guarantee from the contractor.

If they aren't deep cracks, a concrete guy or waterproofing guy can come and seal up the cracks using a special solution.

I'm not sure about pine trees but my parents are having issues with their neighbor planting bamboos- the roots spread underneath and come up destroying anything they have on the surface- whether it's grass or brick or plants. Maybe a landscaper would know better about that.