[quote=zzz]Applejack, my comments could be irrelevant to the specific house you’re looking at. We know a few people in Normal Hts and also have seen a few homes there. The primary reason we scratched NH off the list, is because there is a lot of expansive soil in NH. From what I understand, it is clay. Every house I’ve ever been into in the neighborhood has severe settlement – the house changes several feet in elevation throughout the home or slopes one direction. I have no idea if this pertains to the house you’re buying or that section of the neighborhood.
The only way you can find out for sure if the home you’re looking at is built on clay is to contact a soil engineer and have them look up that house, along with possibly having an inspection done by a soil engineer. IF the house is built on expansive soil, it can get very very expensive to fix by someone who knows what they are doing. Has this house has had any foundation work done due to settlement, and if so, how far down did they drill? If they didn’t go all the way into bedrock, that house is going to keep settling, just the nature of clay.[/quote]
applejack, this is a good excuse to state you have to hire a soils engineer to mine the property, especially around its perimeters. I have hired them before in escrow and they start about $400 on up, depending on how much time they spend at the property and other factors. I’m not an expert in this subject but, in my mind, in your situation, $400 – $1000 is a small price to pay for being able to delay the closing until 2-4 wks past the birth of your baby. This would make it infinitely easier for you to move. Just put the baby with grandparents (with a milk supply, of course) and move your household goods with your spouse, coming back to your baby in the eves, if the report comes out okay. Then you will feel much less stressed.
