Will you buy a duplex with multiple fire damage?

Question

Hello BP community, there's a duplex across my mom's house that has been vacant for a while. Last year, I saw some people worked on it and then soon after it got caught in a fire. According to my step-dad that house got caught on fire multiple times. I looked up the property in the county records and it's owned by the owner's living trust, and the last tax paid was year 2002. Assessed value is $175K and rents probably $600-700/unit. It's a 4BR 2B, so I'm assuming it will be 2BR 1B per unit.

My question is, will you invest in this property considering the history of multiple fire damage? If so, what strategy will you use (buy & hold, flip, or wholesale, etc) and what would the ideal offer be?

Jeremy VanDelinder · Answer

Good question--much of it is actually public information--you can do a public information request and get some that way. However to get it in more "real time"-- some departments even have a social media feed that posts about the fires they work. Between those and google alerts, you can find a lot. Yes, there are a few trade-secrets too (-:

Brandon Sturgill · Answer

@Jeremy VanDelinder You don't have to give away all your secrets in a public forum, but how do you locate your properties?

Jeremy VanDelinder · Answer

I actually flip fire damaged properties, so as @Brandon Sturgill said that isn't a deal breaker--just get the right people involved. I'd buy it if... IF.. IIIFFF... the numbers are right. Get a good contractor and factor in permits (the city knows it has had a fire) proper remediation and rehab.

Brandon Sturgill · Answer

@Dan V. There are a lot of factors here...are their liens on it? Have you been able to reach the trustee?

Assuming this is on the up-and-up, fire damage isn't the end of the world if you have a good contractor...and assuming the place hasn't sat in the elements for 2-years growing mold on drywall....still houses are sturdy and some of the things that scare people away can be fixed.