There are lots of reasons that we end up selling our homes. Maybe the kids have moved out and it’s time to downsize. Maybe the family is getting bigger, and we need a larger home. Maybe we’re just tired of looking at that one particular neighbor. But suppose your house requires foundation repair?

When you put your home on the market, you’re legally obliged to let any potential buyers know about any damage to the home’s structure or foundation. Sure, these 2 issues tend to be the most common things that scare off buyers. But it’s not a guarantee that your house will never sell or a reason for you to panic. Foundational problems are serious, but they require a calm and sober approach. The first thing you need to do is review potential damage yourself. Here’s what to look for:

• Look at the walls of your home, both outside and inside, and keep an eye out for cracks. While cracks can be an indicator of foundational damage, they aren’t necessarily a guarantee. Document where the cracks are located, the shape, and how bad the cracks appear to be. Sometimes a crack is minor and has nothing to do with the foundation.
• Check to make sure all of your doors open smoothly and easily. When your foundation shifts, everything in the house shifts as well, and that includes the door frames. When the frames shift, it will cause the doors to become crooked. If the hinges of the doors are tightly screwed in, but the door doesn’t open the way it used to, there may be a problem.
• Outside the house, check the base of the foundation and look for pools of water. Your foundation is designed to drain water away from the home, but if water is pooling around the foundation, the foundation could be damaged.
• Your floors and ceilings should come together with the wall neatly. But at the point where they meet, if it looks like the wall is pulling away from them, that might indicate a shift in the foundation.
• Let your realtor know what you’ve discovered, and hire an accredited and reputable inspector to provide professional analysis.

At this point, you should have discovered what the problem is and how serious it is. Now you can make an informed decision about what to do next. Odds are, your Realtor will advise you pay to have the repairs done yourself instead of making the buyer deal with it. We get it, you’re not crazy about spending your own money on repairs for a house that you’re selling. But consider that you’ll lose less money paying for the foundation repair yourself as opposed to dropping your asking price for the house. Additionally, if you pay for and have the repairs done, you’re liable to boost the odds of a speedy closing since the buyer will have an easier time getting approved by the bank to buy a home with no foundation damage.

Finally, make sure you hire foundation contractors that have a good reputation. There are plenty of shady companies out there, and the last thing you need is to get ripped off just before your house sells. Do your due diligence and partner with a company that you like and can trust.