Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Richjoanne
My whole message was deleted arghhh!
Anyway, long story short. After almost 3 years we are receiving a total loss settlement. We are thinking of not repairing, paying off mortgage and getting just personal property insurance. Is this a viable scenario? What is resale value of unrepaired properties? There is very little damage to the house and practically none since original activity 3 years ago.
|
Being in the geotechnical field and having been in the compaction grouting side, I've seen many boring logs. Depending where the house is and who wrote the engineering report, and the documented damage (dated photos), I would suggest as I did to many that asked the same question, keep the money or pay it off if required by the lender. Many of these damages are mostly poor construction and poor foundation designs. When the water table dropped during the dry period, some areas, the soils (sands) consolidated and because the of a poor foundation design and poor construction methods, some home started to crack and then stopped. If after three years and no new damage has been documented, then hold your money and hold on to your home. Keep a well documented (dated photo's) history on a monthly basis of any changes. Some of these homes may never see further damage and good documentation will show any potential buyers that the problem was not extensive. I would think your value will be affected to some degree depending on condition and where the home is at. Call it the bliemish factor. Depending on the condition, I would guess you could take a 10 to 20% hit in value if no new damage has occured and you have good documentation. In the past I've seen some homes take 20 to 80% hits on value. But if you understand the sinkhole market and what people do to each other, you would see why some took the 80% hit. The sinkhole market has become in some areas shady. Between engineers, sinkhole attorneys, grouting contractors and the grubs that buy these properties, this market has become a feeding feast on scared home owners.
Don't let anyone scare you into selling if nothing is wrong. Research everthing should you decide to fix it, then fix only if the poof is there. The fix will depend on many factors and some fixes are a complete waste time. Grouting is an acceptable method if loose sands were found and is done correctly, and underpinning is acceptable if soil conditions are right. Doing you own research and understanding your options will help you the most.
Good luck
To repair or not repair?
Linear Mode
