Sinking Homes/Amherst/Clarence/Getzville

[ajacques]

Originally Posted by gonetoelpaso

yes, which the question needs to be asked, why did they build a home in that area in the 1st place

hmmmmm I wonder the same thing when people buy very expensive houses on the beach down here knowing that one bad huricane season will take their house and them with it.

[lucka33]

A map of the "reported/known" sinking homes. Now I'm even more nervous about buying in that area (though this is the area everyone tells me has the best schools - which is very important to me)

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by lucka33

A map of the "reported/known" sinking homes. Now I'm even more nervous about buying in that area (though this is the area everyone tells me has the best schools - which is very important to me)

The Map shows just what I said earlier, if you stay to the south of the Escarpment, (which more or less runs along Main St.), you're on higher ground and in the clear, and a good portion of that area is in the Williamsville district.

[CAugust]

Really guys, a good inspection and information on the particular neighborhood will tell you a lot. I live in that area and have no problems at all. Yes there are some homes, but the MASSIVE MAJORITY have nothing wrong with them. The area is still in high demand and yes the schooling is great, taxes are high, but you get what you pay for.

I missed you all while I was on vacation!!!!!!! glad to be back at least for the next week ......

[ritacatl]

My cousin bought a "sinking" house in Getzville (Amherst) NY. The realtor never mentioned any problems with the house (never trust a realtor). After 1 yr in the house the foundation cracked, windows & doors jammed, a 3/4" crack traveled from the baseboard up to the ceiling. He couldn't sell it and it would've been so expensive to fix, he let it go to the bank.
Most of the homes that are sinking have been built in the 2000's. They're the "newer" homes. If anyone plans on buying a newer home in Amherst, I would make sure none of the windows or doors jam (indication of a shifting foundation) and put a marble on the floor, if it rolls .... there's a problem. I would also strongly recommend hiring a licensed inspector. If you really want to be careful I'm sure you can go to town hall and maybe someone there can direct you where to look for info regarding land or geographics of the development. What had happened was that "garbage" land (swamp land) was sold to developers at a cheap price, they (the developers) filled in the land with hard fill (concrete pieces) and sand. Well, over time that hard fill shifts, settles, and sinks hence the building problems. Same thing is happening to the Galleria mall. It was build on a swamp and filled in with sand & hard fill. My father was offered the job for the concrete but didn't take it b/c he knew in time everything was going to sink/shift and crack and didn't want to be held responsible to replace (and take a huge loss) the damaged concrete. Next time you go to the mall, check out the cracks on the floor tiles and the columns.

[mikesuicide]

Most of the homes effected are north of Sheridan Dr between Transit and N. Forest

[mikesuicide]

Originally Posted by ritacatl

Most of the homes that are sinking have been built in the 2000's. They're the "newer" homes. .

Be careful, its way more then that, Ive seen plenty built in the 70's