House Has History Of Flooding
Okay guys.
Here's my situation. I've come across a bank owned 3/2/2 property in a nice neighborhood with comparables in the 95-110K range. It has minimal fire damage and has been red tagged by the city. I've delt with red-tagged props before so I'm not worried about the usual hoops you have to jump through in dealing with permits, inspection, etc., but after further research I've found that the house has a history or flooding (nothing drastic). It seems that the home builder didn't quite build up the lot high enough and that this house (only one in the neighborhood) has some drainage problems. I've gone through the house with a general contractor to inspect the fire damage that turned out to look worse than it is. The GC feels that he can be in and out with a turn key job at less than 20K. Now I know that I can pick this house up at 25K from the bank (less if I lowball but at the risk of losing out to another investor). The only worry I have is the unknow flooding situation. I've lived in this neighborhood and know that it doesn't flood but the realtor had to disclose any info she had.
Any ideas as to fixing this problem? Anyone think a simple gutter system and drainage overhaul could remedy this? There's enough money to be made on the deal that I could afford a higher ticket item and still make a nice profit but was wondering if there's any advice out there from the "Creative Investors".
Thanks in advance,
Patrick
Aren't you going to have to disclose this history of flooding to your own future buyer?
Check and see if you can build up the foundation and flatten the immediate outlying area so that the house is higher. Also, gutters as you mention with a leadout several feet away from the house. See if there is a culvert or something nearby that you can drain the yard to when it rains.
Yes. I will have to disclose any information that I have on the property but I can include an explanation on the seller's disclosure form stating that I've installed a french drainage system or such in order to remedy the problem. If the problem is fixed there won't be an issue. This neighborhood sells very well.
I'm just wondering if anyone has tackled somthing like this and could include me in any of the pitfalls they've encountered.
From what you are saying it sounds like you will get better answers from local contractors than you will here. They can inspect the property and recommend solutions based on what they find.
It seems that you would want to find a solution to this problem before you buy.
Man you guys are fast!! 2 replys in 5 minutes
Thanks for the info.
Anyone else have something to offer?
This isn't that dificult to analyze, simply standing back and looking at the house and the lay of the land around the house should be enough to tell you if there is an exterior rain water drainage problem.
Is the house sitting lower than the land around it? Is there room to bring in dirt to create a slope down from the entire house foundation perimeter? Are there gutters and down spouts running water away or into the foundation now?
When somebody say the house has a history of FLOODING I think of imediately of a river bank swollen with rain, flooding the house, the basement boxes swirling around in 4 feet of water.
If you have a moisture problem in the basement which could mean a damp spot or a little puddle here and there that is completely different.
We are talking about the basement with a moisture problem right?
If the house is sitting lower and there are rain water problems, a potential solution is terra forming the dirt around the foundation. However, it isn't unsual to think you have it licked only to find out that was just one part of the problem. It could lead to either exterior or interior french drain systems.
thank you again for the responses guys.
Rehab:
there is no moisture problem in the basement because I'm in southeast texas where the elevation is right at sea level. There are no basements here
I'm goint to have an engineer (have one in the family) take a look tomorrow and see what he thinks.
Thank you all again for the suggestions.
Patrick