House was built in 1997 by a sleazy contractor whom a lot of people would like to shoot, and who many have sued. Foundation is a single brick thick, with the floor joist band as well as the ends of the floor joists resting on the bricks. There is no termite shield, and none of the wood is treated. House is under a pest control contract.
There's no county zoning; city zoning concerns itself only with land use; there's no local building code. City building permit costs $10; building inspector is a fee collector. If he knows anything about building codes, he keeps it carefully concealed. AFAIK, there's no legal reason that the house cannot be built as it is.
The remainder of the house is of average construction with many above-average features, especially inside.
Local estimates put the cost to cure this type of foundation defect at $7,000 - $10,000. It cannot be affirmatively shown that our market of rednecks pays any attention to such matters; they'd pay the same for this house as they would for one with a proper foundation.
But this foundation is defective, and I know it. Despite the fact that rednecks in the market don't know any better, I must deduct for low-grade construction of the foundation some way or another. Morally and professionally, I can't do otherwise. But this condition isn't deferred maintenance; there's no settlement or cracking. Somehow functional obsolescence is a square peg in a round hole. My mentor/wife won't let me just say it's got a s***ty foundation.
How would you deal with this? Any and all suggestions appreciated. (BTW, this WILL be mentioned pointedly in the comments.)
There's no county zoning; city zoning concerns itself only with land use; there's no local building code. City building permit costs $10; building inspector is a fee collector. If he knows anything about building codes, he keeps it carefully concealed. AFAIK, there's no legal reason that the house cannot be built as it is.
The remainder of the house is of average construction with many above-average features, especially inside.
Local estimates put the cost to cure this type of foundation defect at $7,000 - $10,000. It cannot be affirmatively shown that our market of rednecks pays any attention to such matters; they'd pay the same for this house as they would for one with a proper foundation.
But this foundation is defective, and I know it. Despite the fact that rednecks in the market don't know any better, I must deduct for low-grade construction of the foundation some way or another. Morally and professionally, I can't do otherwise. But this condition isn't deferred maintenance; there's no settlement or cracking. Somehow functional obsolescence is a square peg in a round hole. My mentor/wife won't let me just say it's got a s***ty foundation.
How would you deal with this? Any and all suggestions appreciated. (BTW, this WILL be mentioned pointedly in the comments.)
). If this were disclosed or discovered by the knowledgeable buyer, I'd bet they would call for it to be fixed, or expect one heck of a discount. 
Don't think the UW would like it to be worded quite that way.
