BiggerPockets

It's hard to tell what the repair costs might be without more detail. The best advise I could give you without knowing more is to have your contractor take a look and give you a firm estimate on the repair costs. Don't let that stop you from getting the property under contract, just make it contingent on the chimney repair estimates not to exceed $xxxx.xx. Then get your contractor over quickly to assess the situation. If the repair estimate(s) are too high, then either walk away, or use it to negotiate further.

I didnt look at the ram jack site,,,but mud jacking,,if its the same MAY help you out a bit. They inject mortar or grout and can lift huge weights back to where it was supposed to be hydraulically. it is a LOT cheaper than tear down, build over. Mostly made to level up uneven sidewalks and driveways. But bet they can do chimneys also. Cant hurt to check yellow pages and ASK!!

Jason,

all this advice about hiring companies like ramjacking, mudjacking and usingf metal ties to rig it is way off. Think about it, its only brick and mortar. just hire a cheap laborer to carfullly unstack and restack the entire chiney straight. They commonly clean and reuse the same bricks. In case a few are cracked you might have to match them up locally and have some replacements on hand. As you drive around keep your eyes peeled for a brick layer ar work. Approach him and get his number for this small side job. Should cost no more than 700 bucks and he can do it in 2 days with one helper.

Alot of advice you'll find here is from people who arent even really qualified, be careful. Tons of armchair qaurterbacks if you knoiw what I mean. Good luck.