By Jason & Ivette FieldsA wet crawl space.
$5,000–$15,000A lot of homes here sit on a crawl space, two to three feet above the dirt, and East Tennessee is humid. Standing water, or no plastic vapor barrier over the dirt, and moisture works up into the floor: the smell, then soft spots, then mold.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. Find the crawl space photos in your inspection report. If the inspector didn’t go down there, ask why. Get a sealing quote before you close.
Ground that’s sinking.
$10,000–$100,000+A lot of East Tennessee sits on limestone. Over time, water dissolves some of it, and sometimes the ground on top gives way. Sinkholes aren’t just a Florida thing.
Walk the yard slowly. Look for dips, low spots, or ground sinking in a circle. Ask your insurance agent about sinkhole coverage. On a lot of policies it isn’t automatic.
Our tip. Jason’s call: walk away, unless a specialist looks at it and clears it.
A yard that slopes toward the house.
$1,000–$5,000Water runs downhill. If the ground tilts toward the foundation, every storm sends water straight at it. Stand at the corners and look down. The ground should fall away from the house.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. Get a grading and drainage quote and make the seller part of it.
Gray plastic pipe (polybutylene).
$4,000–$15,000It went into a lot of homes from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. It can fail from the inside with no warning, and some insurance companies won’t cover it. If the house was built in those years, ask what the pipes are made of.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. And call your insurance company before you fall in love with the house.
Synthetic stucco on older homes (EIFS).
Tens of thousandsOn many homes from the 1990s, water got in behind it and couldn’t get out. It looks great from the street. Behind it, the wood can be rotten. A regular home inspection won’t catch it. You need a separate stucco inspection.
Our tip. Jason’s call: if the stucco inspection finds water damage, walk away.
An old electrical panel.
$1,500–$4,000Usually in the garage or a closet. Two brands Jason never wants to see: Federal Pacific and Zinsco. They have a history of breakers that don’t trip when they should.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. Ask the seller to take it off the price, or replace it before you move in.
A finished basement with no permits.
It looks like free square footage. But without permits, the county doesn’t know it’s there, and if something goes wrong down there, your insurance might not cover it.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. Either the seller gets it permitted, or the price reflects that it isn’t.
A failing retaining wall.
$10,000–$50,000On a hillside lot, that wall holds back tons of dirt. Leaning, bulging or cracked isn’t cosmetic. Look at it from the side, not just the front. Rebuilding one can cost more than a new kitchen.
Our tip. Jason’s call: walk away, unless an engineer looks at it and the seller fixes it before closing.
Big trees right on top of the house.
$1,000–$3,000Roots push on the foundation and the pipes. Branches fill the gutters, and in a storm they can drop a lot more than leaves. Love the tree, at a safe distance.
Our tip. Jason’s call: negotiate. Get an arborist’s quote in writing.
The lipstick flip.
New paint, new floors, new light fixtures, and the same old systems underneath. Ask how old the water heater, the electrical panel and the plumbing are. If everything you can see is new and everything you can’t see is old, that’s a flip.
Our tip. Jason’s call: walk away, or have the seller show what was updated, with receipts.
