Selling a Houston House As-Is With Foundation Problems

What does as-is actually mean in Texas

The phrase has no definition in the Property Code. It comes from the contract, and the contract most Texas resales use is the TREC-promulgated one: the form the Texas Real Estate Commission publishes and a licensed agent must use for that transaction, with exceptions such as a form the owner's attorney prepared (22 TAC §537.11(a), read 2026-10-27). The current version is TREC form 20-19, One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), effective 07/01/2026 (TREC, read 2026-10-27).

Paragraph 7D defines the term: "As Is" means "the present condition of the Property with any and all defects and without warranty except for the warranties of title and the warranties in this contract." The buyer then checks one of two boxes: accepting as-is outright, or accepting as-is provided the seller completes specific named repairs. The same paragraph adds that accepting as-is "does not preclude Buyer from inspecting the Property under Paragraph 7A, from negotiating repairs or treatments in a subsequent amendment, or from terminating this contract during the Option Period, if any" (TREC form 20-19, effective 07/01/2026, read 2026-10-27).

So as-is answers one question: what will the buyer accept? It does not answer what you must tell the buyer. That is a different paragraph on the same form, 7B, and it points back to the statute.

What must I still disclose

The seller's disclosure notice is the written notice Texas Property Code §5.008 requires a seller to give a purchaser, in the form the statute prints. Read the form and you see what it asks about: defects in the "Foundation/Slab(s)", "Water Damage Not Due to a Flood Event", "Previous Fires", "Previous Structural or Roof Repair", "Improper Drainage" and "Subsurface Structure or Pits" (§5.008(b), read 2026-10-27). It also asks about present flood insurance, prior water penetration from a natural flood event, whether the property lies in a mapped 100-year or 500-year floodplain or floodway, prior flood claims, and any FEMA or Small Business Administration help received for flood damage (items 6 to 8).

The heading of the notice sets its limits: it is "a disclosure of seller's knowledge of the condition of the property as of the date signed by seller" and "is not a warranty of any kind by seller or seller's agents" (§5.008(b)). It is a knowledge statement, not a promise about the future.

Three points sellers ask about most:

• Deadline. The notice goes to the buyer "on or before the effective date of an executory contract binding the purchaser to purchase the property." If the contract was signed without it, the buyer may terminate for any reason within seven days of receiving it (§5.008(f)). The TREC contract repeats the seven days in paragraph 7B(2).
• Not knowing. If the information is unknown, the seller says so on the notice, and that satisfies the section (§5.008(d)). "Unknown" is not a loophole to hide behind, though: it is a statement that you do not know.
• Exceptions. The section does not apply to a list of transfers, including a sale under court order or foreclosure, a trustee in bankruptcy, "a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust", one co-owner to another, a spouse or lineal relative, a governmental entity, a new home never occupied, and property where the dwelling is 5 percent or less of the value (Texas Property Code §5.008(e), read 2026-10-27). A sale made as-is is not on that list. If you inherited the house and the estate is still open, read selling an inherited house in Houston and how an affidavit of heirship works, because the estate route can change who signs, not what the form asks.

Housing built before 1978 carries a second disclosure. Federal rules require the seller to give the buyer an EPA-approved lead hazard pamphlet and to disclose "the presence of any known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards," along with any records available, "before the purchaser ... is obligated under any contract to purchase" (40 CFR §745.107(a), read 2026-10-27). "Target housing" means "any housing constructed prior to 1978," apart from the exceptions in the rule (40 CFR §745.103, read 2026-10-27). The seller must also allow a 10-day period to conduct a risk assessment or inspection, unless the parties agree in writing to a different period or the buyer waives it in writing (40 CFR §745.110, read 2026-10-27). Paragraph 7C of the TREC form flags this federal disclosure.

Does as-is cover a foundation problem

In one sense yes: the buyer accepts the house with the defect, and 7D says so in those words. In another sense no: the defect does not drop off the record, because the notice asks specifically about the foundation and slab. An unresolved foundation issue is also the classic thing a lender's appraiser flags, and under 7E the buyer may terminate if lender-required repairs exceed 5 percent of the sales price (TREC form 20-19, effective 07/01/2026, read 2026-10-27).

What a crack means is an engineering question, and HTX Sell My House is not an engineer. Settlement, a plumbing leak under the slab and a poorly poured pier can all look alike from the driveway. A structural engineer's report is your choice, and an inspection is the buyer's; neither is something we require to give you a number.

Repairing it is also a permit question in Houston. The City's Floodplain Management Office lists "Foundation repair" as permit HPWFMO1010 — "the repair of the fractures in slabs," including "stabilizing a structure that has moved from its originally constructed design" — with plan review and inspection required (City of Houston, read 2026-10-27). For a slab-on-grade foundation the office asks for plans prepared by a State of Texas-licensed engineer showing the location, quantity and type of supports, and in Zones A, AO, AE, A1-30 and A99 it can ask for a signed, sealed cost estimate from a Texas-licensed engineer or architect or a signed, notarized foundation contract, plus a county or private appraisal. The same office issues floodplain development permits "for any construction activity in the 500-year floodplain, 100-year floodplain, and floodway" (City of Houston, read 2026-10-27). A repair done without that paperwork can become the next owner's problem, and it is one reason a buyer prices an unrepaired house differently.

What about fire or flood damage

Fire leaves two marks a buyer looks for: the "Previous Fires" line on the notice, and the insurance record behind it. The Texas Department of Insurance tells homeowners that "a company may nonrenew your policy if: Your house is in bad condition," and that instead of nonrenewal "the company might require you to repair damage before it renews your policy," usually with at least six months to do the work (Texas Department of Insurance, home insurance guide, last updated 2026-06-01, read 2026-10-27). A house that is mid-repair or uninsured is a different purchase from a house that is simply old.

Flood adds a federal layer. "Substantial damage" has a regulatory definition: "damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred" (44 CFR §59.1, read 2026-10-27). FEMA's guide to the 50 percent rule notes that most damage "occurs during a single and sudden event, such as a fire, wind storm, lightning strike, falling tree, tornado, earthquake, flood, or natural gas explosion," and that where a local official finds substantial damage to a building in a special flood hazard area, "the structure must be brought into compliance with floodplain management (and building code) requirements for new construction based on flood zone" (FEMA 213, August 2018, read 2026-10-27). The same guide says the estimate is made on the cost of full restoration, "even if an owner proposes to perform less than all of the work necessary to repair the damage completely."

Houston applies that through its permits. The Floodplain Management Office advises that if a home "has suffered flood damage and/or has been substantially damaged, a Floodplain Development Permit may be required, depending on your location and flood hazard zone," and that a flood-insured owner whose structure the City determines is substantially damaged may be eligible for Increased Cost of Compliance coverage, which the office describes as "funding up to $30,000 to elevate, demolish, or relocate your structure" (City of Houston, read 2026-10-27). That is insurance money toward a decision about the building, not a repair estimate, and no official Houston figure tells you what your repair costs.

This is why a flood-damaged house inside the Loop is often bought for its lot. Read what a teardown lot is worth in Houston for the public land values by ZIP code.

Who buys a Houston house with this damage

You have more than one buyer, and you can ask each of them for a number.

• HTX Sell My House, two ways. We buy the house as it stands, or, for an older house on a good lot, we take it to the builders for you. Either way, no repair is needed to get a number, you pay nothing to talk to us, and you see the buyer's name in writing before you sign.
• A listing agent. A damaged house can be listed as it stands. An agent's estimate from nearby sales is the number to hold any cash offer against.
• Other cash buyers and instant-offer companies. Each states its own terms and repair deductions. Compare what you would actually receive, and close through an independent title company you can call yourself.

What should I have ready before I ask for an offer

You do not need a repair bid, a survey or an engineer's letter to start. These help us answer faster:

• the address, the year the house was built, and whether anyone lives there now;
• what is wrong, and when it started — the crack, the fire, the waterline on the sheetrock;
• any engineer's report, foundation contract, permit or City notice, with its date;
• the insurance history: claims paid, a denial, an NFIP proof of loss, a FEMA or SBA letter;
• the HCAD account number, and any back taxes or liens you know of;
• for an estate, where the probate or affidavit stands, and who can sign a deed.

Send the details through the form on the home page, or call (346) 752-6836. An assistant answers and takes your details, and Susan or Alex calls back within one business day. We are not attorneys and not engineers, and this page is general information rather than legal advice; a title company, an attorney and, where the foundation matters, an engineer each answer the part that is theirs.

Questions people ask