When one purchases a home, it generally appears to be perfect in most ways. Then the blinders are removed from one’s eyes, and flaws begin to become apparent. Or perhaps the house is actually what we imagined, and it is the flaws that are mirages.
I think this North Seattle home is one of those. CSES was called out after the purchase to address some concerns of the new owners. One of those concerns was minor cracking in the foundation. The foundation crack in the photo seems worrisome, but does not affect the performance of the foundation in any significant way. It is what we call a tension crack, and formed shortly after the home was built (1970s) as a result of curing shrinkage of the concrete. The footing gripped the soil, the tension built up, and a crack appeared at a weak spot, releasing the tension. It has been that way ever since.
There are some minor concerns. Some of the sheetrock is not properly installed, and pier footings for the elevated deck were placed on top of patio pavers – clearly not conforming to the relevant code. A minor rockery needed a bit of rebuilding. These are easily (and inexpensively) taken care of. Not all such problems are solved so easily. Good luck, folks!