past subsidence

**whammer** · 09-27-2009, 02:10 AM

Our building survey report said

'The property has undergone a degree of structural movement, which appears to be generally old and longstanding. The degree of structural movement does not justify the recommendations for further investigations nor is it considered likely to interfere with the availability and cost of normal buildings insurance cover which, as outlined, should include the risk of subsidence.'

We further found out that the property has had 2 occurences of subsidence. Each case was localised and did not affect the main body of the property..........
A report from a structural engineer was carried out in 2008 confirming that there were no current areas of concern, that the house is structurally sound and that none of the problems had any affect on the main structure of the house.'

My question is, would the past subsidence issues make it difficult or even impossible to sell in the future? (if house remained in good state from now). Is there a rough estimate of what % of house value could be lost due to past incidences of subsidence?

**AdamAgent** · 09-27-2009, 11:02 PM

Think about it from a buyer's point of view. Is everything functional and are there any cracks?

If so, cracks especially could erode the value of your home and I'd say it could be about a 10% drop because people are very wary of cracks.

If the doors or windows are hard to open or close I'd expect another 10% drop at least.

Function and look are king when it comes to value here. You could have the king of england give them a statement of soundness and too big of a crack in the wrong spot could have a buyer running for the door.

I would have your real estate agent take a look at any problem areas and give you advice.

I would make sure everything is functional and it looks good before trying to put it on the market for full value. This could be costly but you'd probably make your money back at closing assuming your house is in great condition otherwise.

**whammer** · 09-28-2009, 12:25 PM

ok, thanks. Good advice..

**Nick Brian** · 10-03-2009, 04:27 PM

A very good solution by Adam. This depriciation can be close to undone by repairment. But I doubt a full recover is never possible for any subsidence.