I've bought and sold a couple of houses, I think you were totally within your rights to request an inspection by water and mold experts. Water and mold can turn into huge issues if not addressed adequately.

My current house has half basement, half crawl space, so we were able to look into the crawl space while we intially toured the home. I'm not sure I would have known enough about what I was even looking at though, so I relied on my home inspector to inform me after the contract was signed.

Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions to help you before you make an offer. People tend to cover things up so they look good, and any problems could hopefully then be detected by your home inspector after the contract is signed.

Good luck!

Two suggestions.

Look at how the soil slopes at the entrance of a crawl space or basement with a walkout door. The soil should slope away not toward the crawl space or walkout door or have a raised barrier to keep water out. With the increased rains in my area the 8 inch barriers like my neighbor has around the back basement entry is not high enough any more.

Talk to your insurance agent about flood insurance. Rain water unless it is through a window or door that is broken during a storm is not covered by many policies unless there is a separate rider.

Rachel I am curious because different things are handled differently in various states and cities but what is a certified contractor in you state and who certifies them?

maifleur: that is a good point. There was a patio sloping towards the crawl space. The seller took a section between two cracks in the patio and lifted it to slope away but then was uneven with the two sections on either end. It was assessed to be part of the problem.

rachel: when our attorney made repair requests she stipulated using licensed contractors but the seller countered that they would instead use skilled labor for concrete and crawl space work.

Walk away, who knows what else was done by "skilled labor"?

You can get any inspections you want at your own cost, so long as you have them done in the time allotted. This is clearly a basement with a significant water problem. I would call a professional in, determine how much to repair it, and either ask for a reasonable pitch-in, or walk away.

We walked away. The sellers said they had a professional come in and afterwards they said they would seal the vents and put a dehumidifier. We then asked for permits for vent sealing if necessary and for our own inspector to look at the crawl space one last time after they did that work. The sellers countered that they did not need permits to seal the vents and sealing the basement would cost 10k which was not worth it. Then they said it would be an as is sale so we canceled.

If a house has obvious signs of water damage, I would not consider it at all. But if you want to try to get a better idea of how bad the house leaks, go back and look at it on a very rainy day. If possible, after it's been raining heavily for several hours. I also think it's a good idea to look at any house on a very rainy day.

I'm just a homeowner who bought a 20 year old house with a leaky crawl space that was not obvious until there was a heavy rain shortly after we moved in. Also, one day I went to a nearby open house, just to see what it looked like inside a place where the local millionaires live. It happened to be raining. In the basement was a sliding glass door, and water was running in under it.