Sell a Fire Damaged House in Frog Hollow, Asylum Hill, Barry Square or Hartford

The Dates Do Not Line Up

The concern is concrete poured from roughly 1983 onward. The great majority of housing across Frog Hollow, Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Behind the Rocks and the North End is a great deal older than that.

So for most city owners the foundation question resolves quickly and favourably, which is worth establishing early rather than carrying as background anxiety. The framework is on our page covering the foundation and the disclosure.

When Would It Still Apply in the City?

Where the foundation is newer than the house. A property that burned or was substantially rebuilt in the 1980s or 1990s may sit on concrete from that period even though the structure reads as far older. Additions and lifts produce the same result on part of a footprint. It is a lookup at the building department rather than an inference from the architecture, and on this site that case comes up more than it would elsewhere.

What Decides City Files Instead

Whether the framing survived. Timber of this era chars on the surface rather than failing at connections, so members can frequently be assessed, cleaned back and retained with damaged sections replaced individually.

What the house is worth repaired. From recent sales on the actual street, from somebody with no interest in the outcome. Everything anyone offers is a subtraction from that number.

Which of Those Matters More?

The structural answer, because it decides which market the property is in, and the two markets price very differently on the same address. Buyers working from photographs assume the unfavourable answer and discount for it, so an engineer's report frequently changes the offers you receive rather than merely confirming what you hoped. It is the highest-return small expenditure available on this stock.

We publish no structural conclusions, pour years or values for individual Hartford properties. An engineer, the building department and local sale evidence answer those respectively.

Multi-Family Stock Adds a Question

A large share of the city's housing is two and three family. Where a building is let, a fire empties it quickly and the practical questions multiply: tenancies, deposits, and whether a restored building would have to satisfy requirements the original did not.

Conversions carried out under earlier expectations are not necessarily what would be permitted now, and that is worth asking the city about before pricing a repair on the assumption that like replaces like.

Values Are the Constraint

Repair costs what the trades charge regardless of neighbourhood, and across parts of the city a full repair approaches the finished value. That is the honest constraint and it is why more owners here sell than repair.

The City in Context

Where the foundation question is central, see our page about east of the river. Where values carry the work more comfortably, see our page for the western towns.

The Provisions Behind a Connecticut File

Public Act 16-45 of 2016 requires assessors to inspect and reassess affected properties and bars insurers from cancelling or refusing to renew over a crumbling foundation. Public Act 17-2, June Special Session, section 336 created CFSIC.

The affected window runs from about 1983 to 2015, roughly 41 towns are potentially affected, CFSIC may pay up to $175,000, and buyers completing after 1 February 2019 need an engineer's report before closing.

City Questions

Do I Need a Foundation Test?

On original pre-1983 concrete, usually not. Check the pour year first, particularly if the house has been rebuilt or extended.

My Building Is a Three Family.

Then ask the city what a restored building would need to satisfy before pricing the work. Earlier conversions are not always replaceable as they were.

Will You Buy in Frog Hollow or the North End?

Yes, across the city and in any condition, including multi-family buildings.

Sell a Fire Damaged House in Hartford's Neighbourhoods