Are you purchasing a home knowing that it has sustained water damage?

Are you making a risky investment buying a water damaged house or business in East Alabama?

You found your dream home. Great location, ideal layout, perfect size and design with the right amount of rooms. You are ready to go and then you find out it has sustained water damage. This can be a risky investment. What kind of damage did the water cause? Structural damage such as unsound walls, support beam integrity, mold growth? If the damage has been mitigated, has all of the damage been found and identified? If you know what to look for and necessary precautions, you may have found your dream home. The extremity of the damage and cost for the necessary repairs needs to be carefully addressed before you make a choice that you may not be able to get out of.

It’s critical to find the answers to these important questions:

  • Where did the water damage come from – a leaky roof, burst pipes, appliance failures, or flood damage? 
  • What type and how much damage was done and how long did it take to notice the damage?
  • Was the source of the problem fixed and how was it addressed? Was there structural restoration? Was there mold remediation done? Did the electrical, gas/electric have problems and what about the HVAC system?
  • If the restoration work was completed, who did it? Do they have detail of the restoration work and how do the final results of that work stack up?
  • Was any follow up testing done to ensure the water source was fixed? Were all structural damages repaired and was all mold removed?
  • Who paid to have the restoration work done? If the home’s insurance covered it, will it cover future or additional problem’s relating to the water damage?

It’s important to ask the home owner or real estate agent for documentation relating to the above questions. Regardless of the documentation and possible satisfactory answers to these questions, the most important thing you can do for yourself would be to get a home inspection done by a certified professional. The experienced home inspector will be able to spot any hidden damage and possible dangers such as mold growth, leaking windows, faulty pipes, foundation cracks, etc. and supply you with a detailed report. If there could be hidden mold, you could have the inspector break out a chunk of wall to see if there is mold growth behind a wall, (which you would have to pay to repairs) or get an indoor air quality report. Once all of these reports are done, you can make the decision to move forward or not by consulting a contractor and getting an estimate on repairs. Be sure to use 3-4 different contractors that have experience in water damage repairs.

Get the market value of the home, (ask more than one realtor) minus the cost of repairs and then you can make an informed decision of you want to put in a bid on the home.

If you need water damage restoration estimates, contact Restoration 1 of East Alabama.