How about this???

[mrbstephens]

Big house (bigger than necessary actually), needs work (lots of water damage), 4 acres, bordered by preserve land on three sides, salvage yard on fourth side, great price. Yay or Nay?

http://www.mlsli.com/unidetailsredo_test.CFM?MLNum=2379798&typeprop=1&start=4&rpp=10

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Big house (bigger than necessary actually), needs work (lots of water damage), 4 acres, bordered by preserve land on three sides, salvage yard on fourth side, great price. Yay or Nay?

http://www.mlsli.com/unidetailsredo_test.CFM?MLNum=2379798&typeprop=1&start=4&rpp=10

Why the water damage?

 

[mrbstephens]

There is a balcony above the den and it leaked causing part of the ceiling in that room to collapse and ruined the Pergo floor. Another part of the ceiling looks to be leaking I think because something happened to the gutters on that side of the house. The basement is also very damp and smells like mold.

 

[Marianne]

The basement is also very damp and smells like mold.

If it smells musty, it is mold. Some of that can be dealt with by first correcting whatever is keeping/letting moisture in the basement, scrubbing everything with strong bleach water (wear a respirator), and painting on something like Dri Lock.
Don't forget to get ductwork cleaned, hidden mold places...

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

If you are serious, I would get testing to find out the mold issue.
Mold can kill, and at the price of the place, if its bad, then I would run away.

 

[lorihadams]

Yep....mold is no joke....if you are really interested get a home inspection done! At least then you know what you are dealing with.

 

[Sunny]

Yes mold can be a real bad thing. Its very hard to get rid of it. Growing up, my grandmas house had it. We removed it. Put in new walls, ceiling, and roof. Every thing. It never leaked to start with. But the mold was back in 3 years. Around here it rains alot. The air has lots of moisture in it. We live right by the ocean. Every place I have ever lived in here has mold in them. Expecially the bathrooms. Even when running a fan while taking a shower and leaving it on for an hour after. Windows open and every thing. Ive never been able to get away from mold.

Just from living around all the mold around here. I would run just because I know how hard it is to get rid of

 

[Marianne]

I can sure understand why, Sunny. You had tons of moisture, constantly.
I worked for a small company years ago that did restoration work following water damage, fire damage. The first step was to remove or fix what was causing the problem, then everything else was dealt with. But I don't live in a high humidity area.

 

[patandchickens]

Water damage can be a BIIIIIIIG ol' can o' worm$.

Sometimes it is no more than it appears; sometimes it is horrendous uninsurable almost-unfixable mold problems and/or severe structural damage in all sorts of places that neither you nor a home inspector can see.

Not saying don't buy it, but if you did you'd want to have a firm plan in mind for if it turns out to be one of the problem-child ones.


Pat, who poked at a few water-damaged houses back when we were looking for a place (places left unoccupied for a year and roof leaked), and the more walls I opened or went in the attic, the scarier they both got. I am sure this is not the ONLY kind of water-damaged house, but, ya know.

 

[mrbstephens]

What about it being next to a salvage yard? Do you think the ground water would be contaminated?