I posted a blog a year ago about fissures "appearing in and around Maricopa and Pinal County" and surrounding areas, including Queen Creek, Arizona!!! It appears as though problems are still occurring, so buyers and sellers - please be aware.
Check out 
my blog from last year in order to grab the links to the information you might need.
As a Realtor, IF we are aware of fissures in locations throughout the valley, we have a DUTY to inform our potential buyers. ABOVE ALL, BE SURE to provide a Buyer Advisory to each buyer that you represent. That document provides necessary information - including information about fissures in our state.
As a direct result of my blog of last August on Active Rain, I received a call yesterday from a woman living in Queen Creek in the community of Pecan Creek - North. She thought maybe I could “direct” her to a place she could lodge a concern or complaint about the “sink holes” appearing in her yard and that of her neighbors’ homes.
The builder, Fulton, had not remedied her problem, and customer service seemed unwilling to work with her. (FYI, fissures can just suddenly "appear," without warning!) She told me that there were now issues with her water pipe. Her neighbor was experiencing similar problems and, in fact, cracks seemed to be causing stress on her patio.
My immediate thought was: “I was showing homes in that neighborhood last Saturday!!!” These are definitely warnings that need to be out there for potential home buyers/sellers!
My suggestions included: writing to Builder, reviewing the information HERE!!!! - and checking out the Arizona Department of Real Estate website as well as sharing information on Twitter and Facebook to get the word out. I also told her I would post it on my blogs so people could be on the lookout. Hopefully those Active Rainers in the Phoenix Valley will be vigilant in looking out for their buyers!
Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.382-8711 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit my website: HomesAzRE.com, or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice and AzLadyInRed!
Wow Teri thank you for the heads up.
Ricky, you're welcome. Something we all need to know since we live in the desert! ;-)
Teri, Oh my we have to worry about different things in different areas. Here it is flooding not fissures!
Marchel, it's true. No matter where we live, it's something isn't it? ;-)
Omigosh, Teri! That is truly frightening! The worst part is that if there is no warning, there might not be any way of predicting where they will appear next.
Well, this is the first I have EVER heard of fissures as something to look out for!
Yikes...glad we don't have those kind of issues here. Although we have other issues to contend with like ice dams on the roof:)
Teri - hmm, well that's something new for me. Here we worry about earthquakes, landslides and fires. Do these things get reported in a Natural Hazards Report?
Jeff
We have lots of snow and melting in New Hampshire... it seems like every region has something to be aware of.
Teri- Great post with very important information for those of us in the southeast valley... I've bookmarked this for future questions...
Wow, I am going to drive out there and see what's up. That certainly concerns me as an inspector. If I do an inspection on Monday and the sink holes appear on Tuesday I realize I am not liable but..... This could certainly get ugly. Thanks for the heads up on this.
Teri - That is crazy. I have seen the stories of the sink holes that open in the middle of the street and "gobble" up cars, what a tragedy if it happened to a part of a home??? Yikes. Thanks for the information.
Just something else to be aware of. I don't think we have that as an issue here. Good luck.
Hi everyone! I suspect that in every area, there is something. As Eric mentioned, we're always seeing stories of sink holes in the middle of the road....but this would be even more frightening. Just wanted to send out the alert. Thanks for stopping by. ;-)
On this computer I cannot copy and paste my signature. Seriously dumb!!! ;-)
Teri,
Boy I have to admit...glad we don't have something like that here....I am sure that people in your area are most appreciative of this heads up though...
That is frightening to think of! Great post this time around and the one before - people definitely need to be aware of this!
I did plans for a custom home for one of the development managers at Standard Pacific Homes. He said that they had a home that had a fissure move under it. There was over a foot of difference in elevation from one side of the slab crack to the oher. They built the home owners a new house on another lot. I belive that was the last time they built a house without a post-tensioned slab.
Teri It is interesting how the natural challenges vary throughout the country - we have marine clay Karen
Thanks again everyone for your insightful and interesting comments. It is interesting to learn of problems occurring in different areas of the country.
A young guy living in the foothills of Sacramento fell through his living room floor in April of 2006. A sink hole suddenly opened up, and he died. Turned out his home was built near an old collapsed mine shaft.
Elizabeth, are you kidding me....a sink hole? Whooda thunk - in California? Seriously, I know they happen everywhere....very scarey stuff. ;-)
Teri,
It was great to bump into you yesterday at the Active Rain Meet-up!
Mike in Tucson
Mike, as always - it's great to get a big bear hug from Mike in Tucson!!! ;-)
Teri,
I came back and re-read this post, and the comments as well. I had no idea this was an issue in Arizona. Imagine the horror the young man in Elizabeth Weintraub's comment must have felt!
Mike in Tucson
Hey Mike: true, true, true. I think some of these issues are very prevalent throughout areas in the west. I've heard of sink holes appearing on the news with too much rain, or just unprepared ground. Scarey stuff! ;-)
Terri,
We all have our differint problems depending on our location, don't we?
Hey Cynthia!!! Is that YOU? new photo and all? Great looking blonde. ;-) Good to hear from you.