So small update.
Ran into the neighbors on the other side of the money pit of doom and asked them if they knew anything about our potential sink hole.
They mentioned that the builder at the very start came by and asked them a bunch of weird questions about the lot, water issues and some shit about if they knew their block wall on their side was on their property or not lol They basically just told him to go away.
I didn't notice it until today, but the edge of the sinkhole pit is less than 4 feet from their 'border' wall. When that begins to slide, their wall is gone. I mentioned what I had found out and was doing and they were thankful and gave me their number to keep them in the loop as they were trying to figure out what to do as it had become apparent to them in the last week or two that this was also going to potentially damage their property.
They also mentioned that within the week of the hole being dug, it somehow got back to them from another neighbor that they heard there was now an issue with the building material costs being way more expensive than they had thought/been told/had in the contract.
From the GIS info from the city, I have the guys name, and the lot is under his name as well. Other than that, there is no builder or permit info at all, which was confirmed by the inspector.
My guess is (trying to find out if this is the case)that they bought the overpriced as shit lot and put it on a construction loan. if so, thats a huge problem for them with a standstill/financing issue/contract issue as a construction loan is usually for a short term, with a balloon payment at the end. Generally wouldn't the builder take this? Then you would get your mortgage for the construction loan + build costs and roll them all into it, correct?
If this is whats happening, it makes sense the builder is MIA as they were either fired and/or being sued or disappeared altogether. If the material costs thing is true for them, I don't see material costs coming down anytime soon either, which leaves them with a ticking timebomb in regards to the construction loan that they won't have the money to pay off at the end of.