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Buying you first home: are cracks in the wall really that bad?

I've been looking at moving out, most of the homes/units/flats in my low budget show some signs of cracks. How much of a problem is it to repair? if your living in a unit complex, how does it work when a major repair comes up?

At the moment I've been looking for property in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne Victoria(australia).
A particulr unit i liked was a first floor unit based in a larger complex of about 17 other units. Saying if the cracks are signs of a foundation problem, will getting it fixed be a problem (e.g body corp/ other tenants not wanting to pay up to have the buliding repaired).

Depends on the size of the cracks & whether they follow the line of the brickwork or cut across them. I bought a unit in 1989 that had cracks in the walls. They are still now in 2008 & haven't changed noticeably in size.
At one point, I plastered over them and repainted. That lasted about 2 years, then the movement worked the plaster out. I haven't bothered since. The cracks, at their widest, are about the width of a match.
My uncle has a house that has cracks that you can stick a finger in. He has lived in it for around 40 years. The house hasn't fallen down yet. The worst for him is that when it rains, he can't open the doors. His house is half on clay and half on sand. When it rains the clay swells, the house foundations move, and part of the house shifts. Result: cracks and sticking doors. Even if he demolished and rebuilt they would come back because of the soil he is on.

That said, some cracks can be a sign of possible collapse. It would be best to get a structural engineer to have a look at them & give you a report. Base your decision on that. I did that when I bought my unit. a few hundred dollars now is better than several hundred thousand dollars later. Cracks nearly always mean the foundation is moving. That means to fix (as opposed to covering them up) them the foundations have to be rebuilt. Guess what that means to the structure sitting on the foundations
While you have the structural engineer out, get him to look for signs of concrete cancer. That is far more likely to be a major problem than cracks.

On to covering the cost.
That depends on the title the units are based on. If it is strata title (most units are these days, then you pay a regular levy that has two components: a floating fund and a sinking fund. The floating fund is intended for minor day to day work (lawns mown, carpets cleaned etc). The sinking fund is intended to cover major repairs like leaking roofs and damage to the foundation when and if it is needed. However, because people don't like paying money and not seeing obvious results, a lot of blocks of units don't have high enough levies to cover the long term repairs. That means that when they come up there is a "special" levy that means that the people owning the unit at the time have to pay extra. Depending on the work done that can be a huge impost. Check the state of the sinking fund too. Also go over past meeting notices and look for signs that there is enough in the fund. One big pointer here is if the managing agent recommends rate rises that have been rejected by the body corporate over several years. Another is if important repairs are put off or done poorly because they cost too much.
I can't comment on the way the other titles work as I have not had any experience with them.

HTH

always, always, oh, and sometimes, always get a "pre-purchase inspection" from a registered building inspector. you would ask the RACV for a vehicle inspection when spending $20k on a car, so apply the same good sense when buying a house.

costs around $300 and gives good piece of mind when spending hundreds of thousands.

If the cracks are like this one, perhaps best to avoid!

If the cracks are like this one, perhaps best to avoid!

No NO NO.
The Iemma government and RTA assured us this building was perfectly safe

Depends on the cracks

I bought a house to renovate and rent, and it had minor cracks from the corners of the windows up the walls. They were hairline plaster cracks only. The house was poured concrete and double brick construction, so there isn't a lot of room for expanding and constricting walls, hence the minor cracks. They are easily covered with a skim coat of plaster. If the crack is slightly deeper, you can remove all the excess material from over the crack, and apply several coats of plaster, thick crack stuff to begin with, working your way out to the skim coat, letting each dry. There are ways and means to reduce any further cracking, that arent overly expensive either.

If the house is old, say 50 years or more, and there is only very minor cracking, and only on interior plaster walls, then I wouldn't be worried. If it was major cracking, through the interior and exterior wall, and enough to let in light, then it's likely to be a structural issue, with a wall needing underpinned and raised. If you can get the house cheap enough and are confident the issue can be fixed, then this is a option.

PM me if you want more info. I knew bugger all when I started renovating, now I have all the tools, chemicals, toys, and skills to renovate. Just no money

Oh, and if you are going to renovate, do your bedroom first. Gives you somewhere nice to end your day. Trust me, it makes a difference.

thanks for your comments folks,

A couple of tips I learned from a house inspector.
Take a pair of small binoculars ( particularly if you are buying a two story brick house) and check all the bricklines.
Take a 1 meter spirit level and check all the external walls.
Check under the house and see if the house has moved on the stumps.
If the house is on a large slope get building surveyor / architect / engineers report.
If you have some concerns about he structure get a report.
Get a council drawing and make sure there are no "illegal" structures or building works.