Can you repair a sink hole? That one would scare the heck out of me. The crack would make me think there were foundation issues, so unless you had a report proving that there were no issues with either the sinkhole or the foundation, I would not be interested in your house. I wouldn't even be willing to pay for an inspection to see if it was an issue, I would move on.

A) The sink hole is where the builder buried debris. Very common in our area. Now illegal.

B) There is an entry door in between the two garage doors. The brick columns on each side of this door need to be lifted a smidge with a bracket/pier underneath the floor slab, then the mortar is repaired. $3000 job. Company will give a lifetime transferrable warranty on the work.

The crack above the garage doesn't suggest normal settling. It suggests inadequate structural support for the garage door header. I would not accept an obvious repair and brick repointing without a report from a structural engineer assuring that all of the structural issues were accounted for in the repair. No homeowner done job either. Either a local well respected contractor would need to have his name attached to the repair in addition to the engineer's report. Or, just the engineer's report, with a substantial discount taken for a repair allowance, and with me choosing who would do the work.

Same with a sinkhole. It would need to be professionally remediated and not by a few pickup loads of fill smoothed out with a rake. If the neighborhood was prone to sinkholes, like some notorious FL areas, then even repair couldn't convince me without a geological subsurface study being done.

Both issues are substantial enough to require disclosure, even if repaired and structurally insignificant post repair.

Chisue - This is a "depression" and it's nowhere near the garage side of the house. We're in a cul de sac and other neighbors saw the debris buried there.

Fix both! Even if the sinkhole issue is repairable, why would I buy your house, when I could easily buy one without? If you are giving an extra discount, in other words even more money off for the removal of the debris and then extra for the inconvenience, I might think about it.

I'd be leery based on experience in my neighborhood. Even though the builder's sink holes were filled in, the soil was not as compacted as in areas without a sink hole. Over the next 10-15 years, once the soil settled, the houses next to the sink holes developed cracks in the foundation.

We are definitely going to fix and disclose both. Homes usually sell very quickly in our neighborhood. Guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that with documentation from reputable companies, someone will still want to buy it. Kids are grown and we are ready to downsize.

I would have no hesitation buying a home that had structural repairs (from a well respected company with a lifetime transferable warranty, which sounds like the type of company you plan to use for the repairs). At least in my neck of the woods there are only two types of houses. Those that have had structural work, and those that will need structural work.

I am sure there will be a few people who will be put off that type of work has been done, but I think most of those people will be in the minority. I think almost everyone who has owned a home in the past wouldn't have an issue with the fixes.

I've never heard of builders burying building debris. Is this allowed by the municipalities? I'm glad someone clarified it is not a sinkhole, that sounds very bad. Do builders in your area provide ten year warranties?

It was quite common in Georgia until a law was passed in 1993 prohibiting it. The builders buried trash/debris to save money. Our home was built in 1992.

I thought as of 2005 you are required to disclose latent (i.e. material) defects in MD real estate transactions.

disclosure law

Simply put, latent means that it's not detectable by inspection and material means that it affects the value of the property.

I'm in Georgia. My question isn't about disclosing it (which I will because I don't want a potential lawsuit down the road). The question is "Would you buy a home that had this type of repair work done?"

Would I buy a buried trash heap in my yard, I wouldn't but it appears this trash burying is normal in your area, so maybe it is a nonissue. The cracks, I'd have an expert look at is, if it was deemed not structural, I'd not worry about it.

Our disclosure forms (midwest state) include a question not only about known defects but repairs made in each category of disclosure.

It has to be both latent (i.e. you can't see it) AND material. Material, meaning anything that could negatively affect the sale price or influence a
buyer's decision to buy the home. Yes, this is subjective; one buyer may not care while another does. It's pretty easy to figure out: When something later happens and it can be established that the seller knew but didn't disclose, s/he can be held accountable. So, if in doubt, you have to disclose. It's not really up to the seller to decide whether something is a defect or not. For instance, fires in the house have to be disclosed, even if they were remedied. Or in some states, if someone died in the house within three years, it has to be disclosed, even if there's really no tangible defect.

However, with respect to OP, I would want to know when this house was built because buried debris may take years to decay and then cause a sink hole; where the sink hole is; how large it is; I'd want to know who fixed the hole, how it was fixed, what happens if there are foundation issues or any other major negative consequences of that sink hole, in other words, whether there is some kind of warranty.

The questions on the GA sellers disclosure form ask about specific issues such as settling, flooding ... "are there now or have there been."

http://www.3treerealty.com/uploads/client_forms/SellersPropertyDisclosureStatement2013.pdf

The topic seems to have switched from "would you buy this house" to "would you disclose."

You're right. Sorry

They haven't been repaired yet, so I only have before photos.

Well, I would assume that a potential buyer may have similar questions as the ones I posted above.

Could we have a photo taken further back? It's hard to tell if the depression area is near the cracked area.

Tete_a_ tete: The depression area is on a different side of the house. Couldn't even get a picture with both in it.

I personally wouldn't buy a house with those issues, repaired or not. But, I think that the only way that you are going to be able to sell it is if the repairs have all ready been made, the warranties for these repairs are transferable to the new owner, and there is a report after the repairs have been made from a structural engineer stating what the condition of the structure is.

Thank you, that's exactly what we have done.