Simple question: If you had a chance to buy a very nice house in every way - except about 10% of its sills were found to be decayed - would you consider making an offer on it anyway.?

Would appreciate all thoughts on this before I bite the bullet this weekend.

Nathan

Are you sure of how many linear feet the rot is limited to?

Yes, definitely

This would be a great opportunity for a deal. Since foundation problems scare most away.

Which translates into a good deal.

Just make sure you get a quote and they dont miss anything.

Then ask for a discount of 2 times the quote or more.

I once purchased a home for $150,000 instead of it's market value of $195,000 because the foundation had issues. More that just the sill. But since I'm a licensed contractor with the necessary tools an equipment to fix the issues -- I made a very good deal.

I own foundation jacks from 5 ton up to 100 tons per jack. Cement mixer, diamond saw and more.

After I jacked up the foundation, jack hammered the old broken sections out where necessary and then installed new forms, rebar and poured the new foundation. When set I installed the new sills and put the house back on the new foundations.

I then had to tear out some of the bad cracked stucco and re-stucco those areas. Then paint the property.

' Back in 1997 this cost me around $5,000. I saved around $40,000 doing the work myself. The previous owner got a quote of $50,000 so we both did well.

If the rot was caused from moisture problems & not termites, I wouldn't hesitate on making an offer. If it's "very common in older homes in this region" as you say there must be a lot of experienced contractors use to replacing the sills.

If it's a 1 or 2 story building with a slab on the first floor, the damage should be mostly on the perimeter walls. This could mean that the windows & doors might have problems due to the framing dropping down. If it has a wood framed floor then the problems will extend well past the perimeter.If the exterior is stucco it could be losing it's bond well above the first couple of feet. A non masonry exterior is less likely to have problems higher up the wall.

If you're not familiar with checking for these type of things you definitely should have an experience person check it out before making your offer. One of the best deals I ever got was for an old run down SFD that required replacement of well over 50% of the structural framing. More than 125 interested parties looked at this "Handyman" Special but due to the extensive rot no one else made an offer.

I moved a house 10 miles........ lost 1 gutter and 1 mailbox

1st thing learned from the event is plan plan plan

there is nothing you cannot do - once you get that attitude - life becomes better and you become a great investor where others will walk away

I do my own home inspections because like Robert (CA) - there is nothing I have seen already

do this house to learn more to become a great investor - they say you "cant buy experience" but buying this house and fixing the sill / foundation you can buy experience