Asking for a free estimate...opinions please!

[Anonymous]

Do you think it's unreasonable to ask a foundation specialist who does free estimates to give us an estimate on the foundation of a house that we don't own and aren't under contract on, but want to buy depending on the foundation repair costs?

[medicgrrl]

They may be willing to do that since business is probably slow.  You can always put in a contract that the total of repairs can't exceed a certain $ or you have the right to cancel the contract and receive your EMD back.  Then you can get all of your quotes and inspections.

[Anonymous]

It shouldn't be a problem......I did something similar to a house that I was interested in but it needed a lot of repair work.  So I told the agent that I was going to have a contractor come in and give me a work proposal on all the work I felt it needed. I called a general contractor up told him that I was interested in a property but wouldn't purchase if repairs were too costly, he agreed to come check it out.........And now I'm set to close May 22nd!!  So I suggest to try it never hurts, the most they can say is NO!! But a good way to sway them is to let them know before hand that you have intentions of using their service versus shopping around!!