Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 922 posts · 336 votes
12y
1. Foundation issues
2. Code violations (illeagal additions)
3. easement issues
etc..
Make sure you do your due dilligence when buying a house and take it out on price. the bigger the problem the better the price when it comes to you buying it. Cash or Wholesale. If you see a problem that is of huge concern, get a better price.
Involved In Real Estate · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2014 · 42 posts · 8 votes
12y
I'd say if it's a foundation issue i would run from it and that can be pricy and plus their tend to be surprises when construction begins with projects like that.
Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 12 posts · 5 votes
12y
@Steve Babiak Oh god, I've seen a buried oil tank found during a home renovation show on HGTV a number of years ago. Environmental engineers, heavy equipment, destroyed yards all the way around the house (because of course it's not buried where it's easy to yank out). And that was the good ending! They didn't find any leaks into the soil in the show I was watching, but I can't even begin to imagine how much that would cost.
Sure, but the amounts are predictable - seems most everything I look at or buy has need for roof repairs, so I'm not deterred by that. Just make a price adjustment on your offer to allow for that.
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
12y
Ah, there is another thing I avoid - sinkholes. @Steven Velez if that house is in an area known for sinkholes, you might have that. So first check for propensity for sinkholes there. If not a sinkhole ares, then you have a foundation expert give you an idea of what it would cost to fix.
Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 84 posts · 13 votes
12y
So I'm guessing a complete tear down & rebuild is not a good consideration on really bad damaged homes? But what if you get it dirt cheap? Say $10k on down.
Real Estate Investor · Richmond, TX · Member since 2014 · 48 posts · 22 votes
12y
Inspectors, and a great contractor that you can trust. I bring my contractor with me when he can make it. I also use a spreadsheet that my contractor and I went over, from kitchen to baseboards. It is very detailed. It gets me pretty dang close to the repair. I also always add 10% to my repair for the wth is that, repairs. I was talking to another investor one time. He was telling me that he bought this property and found that the water pipes were galvanized steel. The problem was back in the 80s when Houston was booming a lot of home builders was buying galvanized pipes, the outside was galvanized but the inside was not. Which over time will rust. It cost him 8k to replace all the plumbing on the property.
There can be a ton of stuff that could cost you a good amount. It really is hard to tell until you start demo. Obvious things are roof, foundation which could usually include doing some plumbing, termites could be a problem because its hard to know the extant of their damage, lead paint. Again, it is always good to have a contractor with you when you are looking at these properties because they might be able to catch something you don't see.
Real Estate Broker · Berkshire County, MA · Member since 2014 · 81 posts · 23 votes
12y
Location and functional obsolescence.
I recently passed up on a flip because the whole upstairs layout was odd and the ceiling height was 6' 6" and all the bedrooms were upstairs. I believe that would have drastically reduced my ARV and my pool of potential buyers. All the numbers made sense but I was worried it could have just sat on the market for too long, which I have seen before with odd featured properties.