Buying a house with cracks in the wall

CPhoenix

I'm a first time buyer and I've been to my second viewing of a property I'm particularly interested in.

Getting straight to the point, the house sits above 3 garages (one of which belongs to the property), I've noticed that in the two outer garages there is a 1mm to 2mm crack which runs top to bottom straight through the breeze blocks themselves (NB. this is the on the inside only).

Now, after speaking to the owner she says the crack was there 7 years ago when they bought the property themselves and said it hasn't changed at all. My major concern is that it runs through each wall in practically the same place which could be a sign of a serious problem say 10 years down the line.

Obviously, I'll have to speak to a professional about it but who? and how should this effect my offer that I want to put in?

Cheers for any help you can give - its really appreciated.

CP.

craighock

Having just bought a house and gone through all of this.

I can offer the following advice.

1) Are you applying for a mortgage? And do the company supply their own surveyors who will inspect the property?

I had a bad experience with the mortgage lenders surveyor who was shall we say less than professional and i discovered after it would have been cheaper and quicker to find myself a chartered surveyor or ideally a chartered structural engineer. Check your lender will allow you to do this providing they are registered with their relevant professional body, smell rat if they wont.

I looked on the royal society of chartered surveyors website (RICS) and chose with recommendations of friends and family a surveyor and approached them, they recommended a structural surveyor who came and inspected the property within two days the report cost me about £200 but it was for an identifed problem not a full property inspection. I found it difficult to find a structural engineer but the surveyors pointed me in the right direction

If in any doubt get a survey done before making an offer. Or make an offer if its accepted get a survey done and if it shows problems negotiate a reduced price or pull out.

Hope this helps

Craig

Debt_Free_Chick

Internal cracks are generally not as serious as external cracks.

You want a structural survey ... or possibly an opinion from a structural engineer.

Go for the survey first and take it from there.