Throughout the month of November and well into December, I had a transaction going on an adorable, 600-square-foot home in our area, built in 1946. It was on a postage-stamp-sized lot with a 6-foot cedar fence surrounding the backyard. An old oak tree took up most of the eastern corner of the property line. I was representing the seller on the sale of this home.

The buyers had their buyer's agent's recommended full-house inspection. During the inspection, the inspector came up with the usual: some dryrot, a small leak under the bathroom sink, the underside of the house needed to be dug out to meet the 18" minimum clearance. The tree limbs were hanging over the house and needed cut back. Nothing too surprising.

Then he saw a crack in the foundation near the tree. Not tough stuff, but he recommended having a structural engineer come out and verify the east foundation wall where he saw the crack. The buyer didn't have much money for repairs, neither did the seller. So they both decided to have a pest-and-dryrot repairman come out to bid the repairs only. While there, the buyers had the bidder look at the wall.

The bidder found the wall was "not that bad" and he suggested we don't do a thing. My owner wanted to have two bids for dryrot repairs so I met our 2nd bidder at the house. He also looked at the foundation wall with me. He said the same thing as the other bidder -- not that bad. Then we looked closer...

It seemed like the original installer of the foundation had not formed the concrete very well. And the wall seemed to bow away from the home. Then the framing contractor just slapped some cedar lap siding over the top and created this weird, "bowed" look where the concrete met the siding. No big deal. The 2nd contractor said that just because the original builder did a poor job, didn't mean the foundation was all bad. But he suggested we get a letter of clearance from a structural engineer to be safe. Spending a couple hundred bucks on the engineer was well worth the peace of mind.

With two professional contractors' opinions, and both buyer's agent and myself wanting to be protected, we decided to have the structural engineer come out. Having the written opinion of a sound foundation would protect all of us, as well as the principals if the issue were raised again. So the engineer came out. His opinion was not what anyone was expecting...

Seems the foundation had shifted completely toward the east wall. Not just because of the tree's massive root system. But when the original contractor had poured the entire foundation, he'd done such a poor job on all four walls, the entire house had shifted sideways. According to the engineer, the home only had a few years before irreparable damage would be done and the home would need completely torn down and replaced!

Needless to say, this was an expensive fix. But had we not sought the opinion of a professional inspector, we never would have found out. And the buyer would have had a massive headache that could have involved both licensees and the seller down the road.

Be careful calling something an easy repair, as insignificant as it seems. Unless you are a licensed home inspector, leave the opinions to the professionals. And get the entire house inspected. In today's litigious society, one small "nothing" can come back to become quite "something" in a court of law.

Get a full-house inspection. It is well-worth the extra money over a simple pest & dryrot inspection only. If your buyer is a qualified contractor (or is just plain egostical) and wants to do their own inspection, or waive it completely, GET IT IN WRITING!! Or have separate electrician/plumber/HVAC pro/dryrot inspectors review the home during the inspection period. Always best to fall back on the professionals than to give your unqualified opinion and see it blow up. Losing your license or being sued for a massive repair is not much fun when a little preventive maintenance at the beginning of your transaction is so easy.

Hope this helps. As always, I appreciate all referrals. Have a great weekend! ~~ Bobby