I have personal experience w/a house w/foundation failure, so will add
another voice to those saying "get an engineer." And, get a GOOD one.
Either you'll find out what you need to know, (possibly for your own
safety), or you'll be able to put your mind at ease. In my area such
an inspection costs about three to four hundred bucks. More if they
have to do any testing. Though it's not guaranteed, a good engineer can
often spot signs that someone did an inadequate repair or concealed a
defect altogether.

This may or may not be anyone's fault. But if there is a problem it
doesn't say much about the builder if his houses only last 12 yrs. The
history of ownership and of any court records or complaints filed w/re
to that property or the builder or owners might be very telling. Do
your neighbors know if there were past problems? Depending on how
small a community you're in, a house that's had problems can be known
by quite a few people, like real estate agents, repair companies, etc.


Good luck...i hope it turns out to be nothing, but IMO it's worth a few
hundred to have some peace of mind.